The Grand Valley State University Police Department recognized the hard work and dedication of Kourosh Khatir on Tuesday, Nov. 7, by promoting him from security manager to captain and assistant director of the Department of Public Safety at GVSU.

The promotion was a joint decision between GVPD Acting Director Brandon DeHaan and university leadership, specifically D. Scott Richardson, acting vice president for finance and administration at GVSU. Khatir was honored to receive the promotion, stating that this milestone in his career provides a greater opportunity to serve the community.

In light of his promotion, Khatir has plans to make some changes in the level of security currently present on GVSU’s downtown Pew Campus. This would allow the downtown campus to have greater safety measures than what are currently present.

“One of my main areas of focus will be to facilitate the establishment of sworn officers working downtown at the Pew Campus,” Khatir said. “Currently, the Pew Campus has security staff. Our goal is to have sworn officers there working with security to provide law enforcement services similar to what we have in Allendale.”

Khatir’s passion for law enforcement began as early as he could remember. He said as far back as his memory goes, he’s always wanted to pursue a career as a police officer, an ambition evident in the childhood games he used to play growing up. After he graduated from high school, he joined the U.S. Air Force as a security policeman and was later employed at the Phoenix Police Department. 

“As long as I can remember, I have always had an interest in policing,” Khatir said. “I used to play cops and robbers as a little kid. The interest never went away.”

Khatir has now been employed at GVPD for two years, following his retirement at the Phoenix Police Department after 20 years of service. 

“I retired from the Phoenix Police Department at the rank of lieutenant, so this is my second career in law enforcement,” Khatir said. “My wife is from West Michigan, and we wanted to come back here to raise our family. I’m glad to be here at GVSU and am looking forward to contributing what I can to make it a great and safe place to learn and prosper.”

DeHaan said this promotion is a testament to Khatir’s leadership in the past two years. 

“I am very pleased and proud about the promotion of Kourosh Khatir,” DeHaan said. “His leadership will continue to help in reunifying the department under one umbrella and will help us better serve the Grand Valley State University community.”