UPD Chief is first recipient of national award for sporting-event security.

When University Police Chief Linda Stump attended a national sports summit to give a speech, she did not expect to leave with an award.

The National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security recognized Stump as its first “Champion for Change” on Jan. 16 during a National Intercollegiate Athletics Safety and Security Summit in Orlando. The award was created to increase diversity in sporting event security, which is male-dominated, wrote Lou Marciani, the director of the center, in an email.

“I had been asked to speak on a panel at the ceremony, and they surprised me with the presentation,” Stump said.

Stump was recognized because of the department’s implementation of safety measures at UF sporting events such as the clear-bag policy, event-personnel background screenings and enhanced perimeter protection at the stadium for police and emergency medical service use, according to Marciani.

The award was even more of an honor because she was the first recipient, Stump said.

“The UF police department is one of the best of the best in what we do for security,” she said.

Marciani said Stump was chosen among safety and security professionals in the industry across the nation.

“She’s always been ahead of everyone else, very progressive, and is a very strong leader,” he wrote.

Stump said the award represents an assurance of security to those at UF.

“It recognizes us as a contemporary leader that is striving to be a very professional organization in the world of the national sports arena,” she said.

Linda Stump