Senior Consultant
Craig A. Stone
Craig A. Stone brings over 40 years of distinguished public safety experience, including more than 11 years in senior executive leadership roles across both municipal and university environments.
Most recently, he served as Associate Vice President and Chief of Campus Safety and Emergency Management Services at Syracuse University, a private research institution with multiple domestic and international programs. His leadership portfolio also includes executive roles at two flagship public land-grant research universities-the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and The Ohio State University-as well as Cleveland State University, a major urban public research institution.
Craig previously served as Deputy Director of Public Safety for the City of Columbus, Ohio, where he assisted in overseeing operations for the Divisions of Police, Fire, and Support Services-including Communications, Licensing, and Weights and Measures. This role included fiscal responsibility for a $623 million budget and direct oversight of approximately 400 civilian employees, 1,900 sworn officers, and 1,600 firefighters.
He retired from the Columbus Division of Police with over 29 years of service, holding command roles in Patrol, Staff Inspections, Internal Affairs, and Homeland Security. A dedicated advocate of professional standards, Craig served as an assessor and team lead assessor for the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) for 19 years. He successfully led multiple agencies to accreditation and reaccreditation, including three CALEA awards for Columbus, the first CALEA reaccreditation for The Ohio State University (2016), and both CALEA advanced and IACLEA reaccreditations for Syracuse University (2024, 2025).
His professional contributions extend to academia, where he served as an adjunct professor and subject matter expert at Franklin University. He also contributed significantly to statewide and national initiatives, including two terms as President of the State of Ohio Accreditation Resource, two terms as a Commissioner on the Governor of Ohio’s Commission on African American Males, and appointments to various community safety task forces.
Craig holds a Master of Science in Administration of Justice from the University of Louisville. He is a graduate of the Southern Police Institute’s 120th Administrative Officers Course, the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police Executive Leadership College, the IACLEA Executive Development Institute, and United Way of Central Ohio’s Project Diversity Board Leadership program. He has presented at numerous national conferences, including CALEA, IACLEA, the NAACP Ohio State Conference, and the National Homeland Security Conference.
Widely respected across the public safety profession, Craig is a transformational leader with a track record of mentoring emerging executives and building high-performing teams. His extensive national network and proven leadership acumen make him a trusted advisor in helping agencies identify exceptional talent aligned with their mission, vision, and organizational values.
