Derek McGork, a 23-year veteran of New York's Syracuse Police Department (SPD), has been named the new Director of Security at Le Moyne College, a private, four-year higher education institution located in upstate New York.

McGork currently serves as Chief of the Uniform Bureau at SPD, responsible for the executive leadership and oversight of the day-to-day operations of roughly 250 sworn uniformed officers. Prior to that, he served three years as Chief of the Investigations Bureau, where his duties included management of the Criminal Investigations Division, Special Investigations Division, Criminal Intelligence Section and the Emergency Response Team. He also served on the executive board of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Joint Terrorism Task Force. During his time as Chief of the Investigations Bureau, he also assisted with the development and implementation of the Syracuse Police Reform & Reinvention Plan, aimed at increasing police accountability, improving transparency and strengthening police-community relations.

Among his other roles during his career with the SPD were Detective Sergeant in the Homicide Squad, Detective in the Cold Case Squad, a Hostage Negotiator for the Crisis Response Team, and, since 2005, an instructor for the department. He began his SPD career in 1999 as a uniformed police officer.

In addition to his work at SPD, McGork has taught criminology courses at Le Moyne College since 2016, and he has also taught at Onondaga Community College. He is a member of the Le Moyne College Information Systems Advisory Board, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police, the Central New York Association of Chiefs of Police, the Onondaga County Association of Chiefs of Police and the Police Executive Research Forum. In addition to his undergraduate degree in business administration and marketing with a minor in information systems, he also holds a Master of Advanced Study from the University of California at Irvine, majoring in criminology, law and society.

“I’m proud and excited to return to my alma mater to serve our students and the campus community in this role,” said McGork. “Throughout my career in law enforcement, both as an officer and an administrator, I have enjoyed working collaboratively with a diverse group of individuals to build and develop positive relationships to ensure delivery of progressive, accountable, transparent and effective public safety services.”

Congratulations!