Ceperley named to campus security panel

Lt. Mike Ceperley of the Northwest Missouri State University Police Department has been appointed to a seat on the state's Higher Education Subcommittee of the Missouri Homeland Security Advisory Council, often referred to as HES-HSAC.

Ceperley, who serves as Northwest's emergency management coordinator, received the appointment through the State Department of Public Safety.

"Being appointed to the Higher Education Subcommittee is quite an honor considering the appointment comes at the recommendation of peers," Ceperley said. "These are the folks you work with on a daily basis and are leaders, not only across the Northwest campus but throughout the higher education world.

To have their support and recommendations, I feel very blessed."

A Maryville native, Ceperley joined the Northwest Police Department in 2006 and has served as a field training instructor since 2007. He is also the department’s active-shooter response instructor and supervises student employees who work on the university’s security team.

He was promoted to lieutenant in July and subsequently appointed emergency management coordinator.

Ceperley attended Northwest prior to entering law enforcement. He joined Maryville Public Safety in 1988 and was promoted to sergeant in 1992.

While a member of the Maryville force, he served as a field training and firearms instructor and helped establish a community-oriented enforcement initiative. He left MPS in 1999 to work in the private sector.

The Higher Education Subcommittee is chaired by Missouri Commissioner of Higher Education David Russell. It was established in 2007 in the wake of a mass shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in which 33 people, including the shooter, died.

HES-HSAC comprises representatives from state emergency management agencies, local and state law enforcement, and fire departments. It's 25 members also include students, educators, health and mental health professionals and information technology specialists.