Scott Hilden, chief of public safety, is pictured with his mask on. J.D. Scott | Washtenaw Community College
WCC’s Chief of Public Safety, Scott Hilden, leaves his position for a new job opportunity
by R.J. HUNT
Editor
After five years as the chief of public safety for WCC, Scott Hilden is leaving the position for a new job opportunity.
Prior to working at WCC, Scott Hilden had a 25-year career in Canton Township. While in Canton, Hilden spent some time as a school resource officer. As he became eligible for retirement, the opportunity at WCC presented itself. Instead of retiring he decided to join WCC’s safety team back in November 2016.
Hilden recalls when he first got to WCC; it was a security team without any police officers. Hilden was asked about any suggestions to make the team better, and he came up with the idea of creating WCC’s own police department. After months of discussion, the trustees voted to approve of the new police department. In November 2017, the department became official, with Scott Hilden being the first sworn-in police officer. Today, the department is home to seven full-time police officers and 20 additional public safety staff that help provide service.
Scott remembers how there was a time people didn’t want police officers on campus because of the police misconduct issues that had taken place.
“We worked really hard to try to build relationships and trust to engage the community as much as possible; wanted to look like partners of the community instead of enforcement,” says Hilden. He feels that doing that and earning the trust of those in the community was a huge part of his success at WCC.
The day-to-day life for Scott Hilden varied based on the reported events on campus that he and his team handled:
- Helping students start their cars
- Dealing with theft situations
- Attending to other criminal activity that occurred on campus
Hilden’s proudest situation is an incident that happened shortly after the department first began. The incident dealt with a young female student who a male acquaintance was stalking. The male was following the young female around campus and he kept trying to talk to her. He had knives in his possession, so campus safety was called. They were able to talk him down and arrest him with no one getting hurt. “I was very proud to see how great our team worked right out of the gate,” said Hilden.
Hilden had a message for the WCC community by saying, “In order for WCC to be the safest environment that it needs to be, the entire community needs to participate in that safety.”
Scott Hilden said how he really is going to miss his time at WCC by saying, “I had a really, really good five years here. I really had no plans to leave here.” Hilden is leaving for a new position; he will be the new chief of police for Northville Township.
“It’s an opportunity I couldn’t refuse,” said Hilden.
