Former teen beat cop now security chief for Huntley schools

After walking a police beat for 12 years, Adam Dean is in charge of keeping Huntley area schools' roughly 9,600 students and 1,400 employees safe.

Huntley Community School District 158 hired Dean as its chief security officer in October - a new position with a yearly salary of $86,751.

Dean, 35, most recently served as the Huntley Police Department's teen beat cop - a role he was assigned in January 2014 after officials saw an uptick in crimes committed by juveniles.

As the village's juvenile specialist and backup school resource officer for Huntley High School, Dean would make rounds on his bicycle through neighborhoods building rapport with youths. He served nearly three years in investigations with the police department, where he spent most of his law enforcement career.

"I owe a lot to the Huntley Police Department for the trainings and experience that I have received and (I'm) utilizing that in my role here," Dean said. "It's a new challenge for myself, and a promotion."

Smaller school districts don't typically have dedicated security chiefs.

Dean's hiring coincides with security enhancements within District 158 this year.

The district received roughly $231,000 in grants from the Illinois Emergency Management Association used for improvements at all eight schools, including the installation of shatter-resistant film for windows and doors at the main entrances, and enhanced access control systems.

"With the new access control systems, during the school day all visitors must stop at the front doors to be buzzed in by school staff," district spokesman Dan Armstrong said. "The system includes video and audio so that staff can see visitors on a video monitor and ask them the purpose of their visit before buzzing them into the building. We pursued these measures not in response to any particular threat, but rather as part of our proactive approach to student safety."

More kids coming

Huntley is anticipating an influx of juveniles in the next couple of years.

The student population at Huntley High School - roughly 2,700 students - is expected to peak at 3,000 as early as the 2016-2017 school year, per the district.

At the high school, the district now has a campus supervisor who greets students and visitors before they enter the building as an added security measure.

Dean said he is looking into best practices on everything from soft lockdowns, fire and tornado drills to active shooter scenarios. He has been consulting with security chiefs in larger neighboring districts, such as Community Unit District 300, to learn from their experience.

Building awareness and staff training also are key components of keeping people safe, he added.

"We will be starting to implement yearly training for our staff in safety and security type situations," Dean said. "A lot of these things are common sense ... if we can better help our employees to be more aware of our surroundings, to better prepare them (for) certain types of situations where they may need to react."

Dean, who lives in unincorporated Huntley, has a daughter who just started kindergarten in the district.