The UCF Public Safety team welcomed two new officers at a swearing-in ceremony attended by family, friends and colleagues last week.

“We are very proud of our agency and the work that we do,” UCF Police Chief Carl Metzger ’03MS says. “We are making a difference in our community each and every day, and we are grateful that these two officers have chosen to serve UCF.”

The new officers will be assigned to the patrol division upon completion of their field-training program, where they will spend several weeks paired with senior officers to receive hands-on experience out in the field before graduating to solo patrol.

Meet the Officers

  • James Beam ’20 ’22MA comes to UCFPD after serving with the Orlando Police Department for about a year. He’s looking forward to being back on UCF’s campus, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science in 2020 and 2022, respectively. A military veteran originally from St. Augustine, Florida, James has traveled to 12 countries between two deployments with the Navy.
  • Chris Colvin, originally from Los Angeles, moved to Florida to attend Eastern Florida State College and later joined the Melbourne Police Department as a patrol and field training officer. He chose UCFPD for its focus on community policing and looks forward to meeting students and ensuring their first experience with law enforcement is a positive one. When not on patrol, he loves bass fishing and woodworking.

In addition to welcoming the latest public safety team members, UCFPD also celebrated two individuals who were recently promoted.

Recently promoted UCFPD officers
Left to right: Deputy Chief Robin Griffin-Kitzerow, Agustin Gonzalez, Jeffrey Panter and Chief Carl Metzger ’03MS. (Photo courtesy of UCF Public Safety)
  • Sergeant Jeffrey Panter was promoted from corporal in June. Panter joined UCFPD in 2015, where he started as a patrol officer and worked his way through the ranks to become a detective. He has served on a federal task force and most recently served as a corporal on Bravo day squad. Since his promotion, he now oversees Delta night squad at UCF’s main campus.
  • Corporal Agustin Gonzalez was promoted from officer first class in June. Gonzalez also joined UCFPD in 2015, where he started as a patrol officer and worked his way through the ranks to become a detective. He serves on the agency’s Special Response Team and supervises Bravo day squad for UCF’s main campus.

A live stream of the swearing-in ceremony can be viewed here.