Distributed January 25, 2002 |
News Service Contact: Kate Bramson
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Capt. Rick Ziccardi retires as second-in-command at Police and Security Capt. Rick Ziccardi, a resident of Freetown, Mass., retires Jan. 31 from his position as second-in-command of Brown’s Department of Police and Security Services. PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Capt. Rick Ziccardi, one of the first campus police officers in Rhode Island and one of a handful of police officers worldwide who have attended a competitive training program at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va., is retiring from his position at Brown’s Department of Police and Security, effective Jan. 31, 2002. Ziccardi, 60, of Freetown, Mass., began working at Brown in April 1973 as a night security officer. Within a year of his arrival, a new state law allowed private colleges to have their own police departments. Brown’s security department quickly evolved into a law-enforcement agency, and Ziccardi began a steady rise through the ranks. Col. Paul Verrecchia, Brown’s chief of police, expects to advertise for the position beginning the first week of February. “I can’t speak for the officers, but I know they are really going to miss him,” Verrecchia said. “Rick has been here for 29 years, so for our veteran officers he has been here every day. It’s going to be a big change for them.” It will be a big change for Ziccardi as well. He is not sure what he’ll do next but expects to begin another career, possibly in sales. Calvin Watts, president of the Brown University Security Patrolperson’s Association, is a 28-year veteran of the department. Ziccardi “has always been straightforward, honest and fair – and that’s all you can ask for in a boss,” Watts said. Through the decades, “we kept everything separate. Business was business. Friendship was friendship. When we’re off duty, he’s Rick. When we’re on duty, he’s the captain.” Ziccardi and his wife, Kathleen, a high school math teacher, have two children. Their son Ryan plans to begin college in the fall, and their daughter Kara will begin at Bishop Stang High School in Dartmouth, Mass., where her mother teaches, in the fall. ###### | ||||
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