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Officer upholds safety around campus by Cindy A. Abole Public Relations Chances are you've probably seen Kellie Neal in more than one place on campus.  Whether she's marching up the sidewalk towards the hospital on Doughty Street, roaming the halls of Rutledge Tower or chatting with a patient as they cross the university's visitor/patient parking lot, Neal can be found just about anywhere people are around. Her job as crime prevention officer for the Department of Public Safety does keep her on the move. “I enjoy meeting and talking to people,” said Neal, looking smart in her grey and charcoal police uniform. She assumed her new role in July, also  earning an extra stripe and fast promotion to corporal since joining the force in early 1999. Neal has always wanted to work in law enforcement. For starters, she comes from a family line of public servants in Maryland. Her great grandfather worked as a railroad police officer with the Federal Railroad  Administration. A grandfather has the distinction of being Maryland's first Emergency Medical Service (EMS) driver/paramedic. After exhausting all attempts to enter Baltimore County's Police Department, Neal packed her bags and headed south. In April 1991, she relocated to Charleston where she joined the Isle of  Palms (IOP) Police Department, climbing through the ranks as a reserve officer, dispatcher and finally full-time bicycle and marine patrol officer.  During her spare time, she worked with the Drug Abuse Resistant Education (DARE) program, a drug abuse and prevention project pairing the IOP police department and Charleston County Schools. As crime prevention officer, Neal handles all prevention activity around campus. In the coming months, she will conduct area assessments, interact with bike patrol officers and other staff reviewing post activities. Neal will submit weekly crime report statistics that appear in The Catalyst for public review. She is available to conduct security assessments for any department and will work alongside students in providing home security surveys. Additionally, Neal handles the department's public relations activities. In past years, public safety has played an integral role in providing security activities like fingerprinting children, crime prevention education and career presentations in school visits and community health fairs. What has been the most challenging part of her job? Neal shrugs as she thoughtfully considers her answer. “Receiving proper recognition as an employee who's just doing her job. I don't want people to say she got the job because she's a woman. Rather, I want people to say she got the job because she's good at what she does.” Moving past these and other stereotypes has had its challenges. The five-foot, two-inch Neal defies the most skeptical of looks as she handles disorderly subjects who physically tower over her or other unruly individuals found around campus. She's proud to say that she's never had to draw her weapon on anyone. Said Capt. Robert Brown, commander of support services, “Kelly brings a certain level of creativity to her position. She's an excellent communicator with the skills, ability and personality to interact well with our customers. She is a good resource for us and the university.”