José A. Elique was appointed as UNLV's Director of Public Safety & Chief of Police on June 1, 2000.   As the Chief of Police at UNLV he brings over 35 years of police executive experience to his current role, and is responsible for providing police law enforcement and public safety services to over 27,000 UNLV students.   Prior to his appointment at UNLV he served as the University Director of Public Safety for the City University of New York (CUNY).   CUNY is the nation's leading urban university, and is comprised of nine senior colleges, seven community colleges, one technical college, a graduate school, a law school, a medical school and an affiliated school of medicine.   Over 200,000 students are enrolled at CUNY campuses throughout the five boroughs of New York City.

            Before that, José A. Elique was the highest-ranking Hispanic police officer in the history of the Port Authority Police Department of New York & New Jersey.   He was the first Hispanic in the department to achieve the rank of Police Captain, Deputy Police Inspector, and subsequently, Police Inspector.   This unique police force, comprised of 1,500 men and women police officers, protects and provides services to over 13 transportation facilities operated by the Port Authority in the states of New York and New Jersey.   These facilities include three of the nation's largest and busiest airports, John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia Airports in New York, and Newark International Airport in New Jersey.   The facilities list also included the World Trade Center and numerous other major metropolitan transportation facilities (bridges, tunnels, marine terminals, etc.)   The Chief served as Police Commanding Officer of the Port Authority Terminal in Manhattan and Commanding Officer of the police complement at Newark International Airport in New Jersey before being promoted to the rank of Police Inspector of Operations.

            Chief Elique holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Adelphi University and is also a graduate of Northwestern University's Traffic Institute of Police Administration, and the Police Executive Research Forum's Senior Management Institute for Police.   He is also a graduate of the United States Secret Service Dignitary Protection School in Washington, D.C.   He has been published in the F.B.I.'s Law Enforcement Bulletin and The Campus Law Enforcement Journal, a publication of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators.   Both publications have worldwide circulation among law enforcement communities.

            Chief Elique was raised in the Bronx, in New York City, and is a Vietnam War Veteran who served as a Navy Radarman aboard the Destroyer USS Purdy.   His parents were born in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico.   Chief Elique speaks, reads and writes the Spanish language fluently.