Former long-time Salina Police Chief Jim Hill will take over security for an Oklahoma school district.

Tulsa Public Schools announced this week that Hill has been selected as the new chief of the Campus Police Department, pending approval by the Board of Education. According to the district, a selection committee comprised of principals, administrators, community members and other TPS leadership unanimously selected Hill as the top candidate.

After serving 22 years as chief of police for the Salina Police Department, Hill moved to the Tulsa area to be closer to his son, who is a sergeant with the Tulsa Police Department, and grandchildren. In Salina, Hill oversaw a force of 113 personnel members serving the community’s nearly 50,000 residents.

The Tulsa Public Schools Campus Police Department was created in 2008 after the Board of Education decided to create a professional police agency to increase the level of safety and security for students, faculty and staff of TPS. With the aid of federal and other grants, the department flourished to more than 50 personnel, including 23 sworn officers. Since its inception, the department has annually reduced the number of student arrests thanks to the proactive efforts of school resource officers stationed in primarily high school buildings.

It includes a state-of-the-art communication and security center in the Education Service Center, an emergency management director, a Gang Resistance Education And Training (GREAT) instructor, and a crew of security technicians maintaining more than 44,000 intrusion and fire alarms and almost 3,000 security cameras as well as police radio communications equipment.

Hill retried from the Salina Police Department October 1st of last year. Brad Nelson took over the position in December.