Dolores Stafford

Ms. Stafford served as the Chief of Police at The George Washington University in Washington, DC from 1992-2010. During her 26 year distinguished career in the law enforcement and the security industry, she served as a police officer, Sergeant, Assistant Chief, and Chief. She worked in Campus Law Enforcement for 23 years at Bucknell University, Butler University, and most recently, at the George Washington University, where she served as Chief of Police for a 176 member police department for 18 years. Chief Stafford is a Certified Litigation Specialist.

Chief Stafford led the GW Police Department as the agency became an internationally accredited law enforcement agency with the Commission of Law Enforcement Accreditation (CALEA) in March of 2006 and the agency was successfully reaccredited in March of 2009. The agency subsequently achieved accreditation with the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators in May of 2007. She was chosen to become an assessor for CALEA in March 2006 and she was part of the core team that developed IACLEA’s accreditation program (for which she also served as an assessor).. She has been a member of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA) since 1990 and she served on the Board of Directors from 2000-2005. She served as the Chair of the IACLEA Accreditation Commission from 2005-2008.

As one of the nation’s premier campus police chiefs, she is a much sought after speaker, consultant, educator, expert witness, and instructor on campus security, campus safety and law enforcement related issues and on compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (The Clery Act) and the security and safety requirements of the HEOA.

Chief Stafford has won numerous accolades for her 26 years of service in the law enforcement field. She served as the 45^th President of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators in 2003-2004, she was the first female to hold that office. She won the “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” award in 2002 in honor of her ongoing contributions to improving the law enforcement profession. In 2004, Stafford was honored by the European Association for Campus Security for her expertise and achievements in campus security. In 2006, Campus Safety Magazine developed a Campus Safety Director of the Year Award and in March 2007, Chief Stafford was named as the first winner of this prestigious award for 2006. In June 2008, Chief Stafford was presented with the Distinguished Young Alumni Award by her alma mater, Mansfield University in Pennsylvania. In 2018, Ms. Stafford served as the Commencement Speaker for Mansfield University’s 153^rd Commencement Ceremony.

Chief Stafford served on the board of the Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators for Delaware, DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia and served as Secretary/Treasurer, Vice-President and President from 1995-1997. She has been an active member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police since 1992.

Chief Stafford was a member of the IACLEA Government Relations Committee from 1995 to 2010 and was the Committee Chair from 1998 to 2000. Chief Stafford has testified at several congressional hearings, one at the request of the U.S. House of Representatives in July of 1997 and another hearing at the request of the U.S. Senate in March of 1998. Chief Stafford was selected to represent IACLEA as the primary negotiator during the 1999 and 2009 Negotiated Rule Making processes sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education regarding the development of final rules for the implementation of the Clery Act. Chief Stafford actively assisted Westat in developing the initial Clery Act Handbook for Campus Crime Reporting published by the U.S. Department of Education in 2005, and she participated on the U.S. Department of Education’s Handbook Review Committee in 2011. In 2014, she was named an expert advisor to the Negotiated Rule Making Team that dealt with the implementation of the Violence Against Women Act and in July 2015 she was invited to provide testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions.

Chief Stafford is a nationally-recognized expert on compliance with the Clery Act and has conducted countless Clery Act training sessions on the topic for various organizations, including IACLEA, NACUBO, the Stetson Law Conference, Security on Campus, Inc. (a.k.a. the Clery Center); and other video/teleconference training companies.

Chief Stafford has been a featured speaker in many other areas of federal compliance and campus safety and security for the American Council on Education (ACE); American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU); NASPA-Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education (NASPA); the National Association of College & University Attorneys (NACUA); the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO); University Risk Management and Insurance Association (URMIA); Stetson University College of Law; the National Association of Clery Compliance Officers and Professionals (NACCOP), and the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA).

She has published more than a dozen articles in various professional journals and magazines. She was one of the lead authors of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrator’s Blueprint for Safer Campuses: An Overview of the Virginia Tech Tragedy and Implications for Campus Safety. This document, unveiled at a press conference sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University on April 18, 2008, is a roadmap for campus safety and security. The Blueprint for Safer Campuses outlines the guiding principles for campus safety and security worldwide.

Chief Stafford has worked as an independent consultant in the compliance, law enforcement, and security industry since 1997. As a nationally-recognized expert in the Clery Act and Title IX, she has substantial experience helping institutions come into and maintain compliance with these federal laws. Chief Stafford has conducted independent audits, reviews, and/or training for hundreds of colleges and universities, including two-year and four-year, residential and commuter, urban and rural, and public and private institutions of all sizes.

In 2013, Chief Stafford also founded the National Association of Clery Compliance Officers and Professionals (NACCOP), which is a membership-based organization that addresses the unique professional development needs of institutional personnel responsible for Clery Act compliance. Chief Stafford serves as Executive Director of NACCOP, which offers the nation’s only Clery Compliance Officer Certification Program. NACCOP’s membership boasts over 1,300 members from more than 550 institutions of higher education. Chief Stafford also serves as a partner in NACCOP-AEGIS, LLC, a company specializing in software solutions for higher education. As Partner in NACCOP-AEGIS, LLC, Chief Stafford was instrumental in developing CleryEdge, a powerful, integrated suite of software modules designed to improve Clery Act compliance.

Chief Stafford has also assisted institutions by conducting general and targeted reviews of the security/law enforcement operations, including reviewing and assessing the organizational structure, physical security, and personnel-related issues.