A Day in the Life: Reggie Chavis

When Reginald Chavis was hired in 2008 as a casual security officer, his new hire training consisted of one week. Nine years later, under his leadership, new security officers receive 80 hours of classroom training and eight weeks of field training.

Reggie Chavis.

In 2010, Chavis was promoted to security manager and in 2017 he was given the responsibility for developing, facilitating, and tracking training for Yale Security managers, officers, and new hires.

His training experience began in the U.S. Navy, where he served for 10 years. As he rose through the ranks, he was responsible for training petty officers assigned to the Master-At-Arms unit. After he left the military, he worked for 20 years at the Department of Corrections, where he was also responsible for training personnel. In his personal life, Chavis, an ordained minister, provides spiritual training and education at his church and other churches.

“My life has been geared toward training and teaching. I have a passion for it,” said Chavis. “My vision was to develop a best-in-class training curriculum. I took the one-week training that was in place and expanded it.”

Courses for security personnel include professionalism and ethics, bias training, situational awareness, customer service, active shooter, physical security access control and fire safety, bomb threat etc. Additionally, managers can track and monitor officer training in real-time.

Chavis explained how the courses were created to bolster security officers’ confidence and equip them to perform their duties proficiently and professionally for the university and New Haven communities.

“What the officers do is pertinent,” said Chavis. “They understand that their job is to make immediate notifications to the appropriate parties on campus. Security officers provide the right service to the right location at the right time.”

In 2022, the team was expanded to include Anthony Cuozzo, who created online training components for the officers and expanded the team’s training outreach across the Yale community.

In addition to training Security personnel, the two-person team creates customized training modules and facilitates training for departments, museums, and galleries on campus. They also collaborate with Yale Police training officers who conduct training for security officers.

“I’m happy to see how the training program has grown,” Chavis said. When I’m standing in front of the officers or staff from other departments, and I see the lightbulb go off in their eyes, that’s the most fulfilling part of my job — taking my labor of love and making it come alive.”