Former police captain to serve as first security director for Somerville church, schools

SOMERVILLE – Retired Captain Rick Proctor, who served 20 years with the Summit Police Department, has a new role − The Church of the Immaculate Conception's first director of security.

Proctor, who began his new post Monday, will oversee safety and security measures for the parish and its two parochial schools, Immaculate Conception School and Immaculata High School.

"With school security and safety in houses of worship at the forefront of discussions in many households, workplaces, and other public spheres, it has long been a heavily-weighed consideration as to how (we) might strengthen our own security procedures, preparedness, and training," said Monsignor Joseph G. Celano, pastor and director of schools, in a letter shared with school families on Friday.

"In the past few years, and especially in these past few months, our staff at all three sites has undergone rigorous safety and security training for those events we pray our community, or any community for that matter, will never see," the monsignor continued. "So while I am confident that we have both reasonable and effective security protocols in place for the protection of our students, faculty, staff, and parishioners, I am even more confident now, given Mr. Proctor’s great wealth of knowledge and expertise in assisting schools and places of worship in establishing safety and security measures."

Proctor, who retired in January, has more than 27 years of experience in law enforcement. He started his career with the Hillsborough Police Department in July 1999 after a stint in the Marine Corps, then joined the Summit Police Department, working his way up the ranks.

As a Summit police officer, he served as the operations division commander and the security liaison to the city’s businesses, houses of worship, and 12 private and public schools.

More: St. Thomas Aquinas abruptly fires school president less than nine months into tenure

Among his duties with the Summit Police Department, Proctor served as the active shooter training instructor and held a leadership position on the Union County Emergency Response Team (UCERT), in the area of civil disturbance response tactics.

Having served as both the DARE/community services supervisor, and as the city’s juvenile detective, Proctor is experienced in adolescent and familial issues and mediation.

Additionally, through his security firm, VIAT Consulting, he has conducted countless site security assessments for schools, businesses, and houses of worship, among them the Church of the Immaculate Conception and its two schools, and has led presentations at conferences around the country, including the Tri-State (NJ, NY, CT) Conference for Heads of School.

"I think it goes without saying that we are fortunate to now officially count Mr. Proctor among the members of our staff," Celano said. "It is my hope that with the establishment of this position, and through the hiring of Mr. Proctor, our parish and our schools will be well-positioned to proactively and continually assess our security procedures and to lead the way in security best practices."

The Church of the Immaculate Conception is a parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen with more than 4,000 registered households. Immaculate Conception School is a parochial grade school serving students in grades Pre-K through 8, and Immaculata High School is a co-ed college preparatory high school founded in 1962.

email: cmakin@gannettnj.com

Cheryl Makin is an award-winning features and education reporter for MyCentralJersey.com, part of the USA Today Network. Contact: Cmakin@gannettnj.com or @CherylMakin. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Former Summit police captain to serve as first security director for Somerville church, schools