From life-saving missions to high-stakes investigations, Rennie Wilson has built a career on protecting others. Now, he’s bringing that experience to New Community as its new Security Operations Manager.
With more than 25 years in law enforcement, Wilson has rescued people from burning buildings, solved a long list of missing persons cases, and even pursued robbery suspects on foot.
“I always get joy out of helping people,” Wilson said. “I don’t feel complete unless I can help people. I like to be impactful in anything that I do.”
Wilson made an impact over the years by serving with several organizations, including the Orange Police Department, East Orange Police Department, and the New Jersey Department of Corrections. He got his start at New Community as a Task Force Officer when he was hired by the previous Security Operations Manager. Now Wilson has stepped into that role himself. He said the people at New Community are the best part of the job for him.
“You get comfortable, you build relationships with people,” Wilson said. “It’s like home.”
A Newark native, Wilson felt encouraged to pursue a law enforcement career after meeting police officers while he was a young child at the Boys Club on Littleton Avenue in Newark.
“I was always impressed by them,” he said. “They were good people. I always thought that they represented the police department well, and I was inspired by them.”
Wilson has countless stories from his long and successful career. One time, while Wilson was at home off duty and spending time with his son, a food delivery driver in his neighborhood was robbed. Wilson sprang into action, chased down the suspect on foot, and caught him, a move that earned him a department award. His bravery also inspired his own son to pursue a career as a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent.
Wilson also had an impeccable record of solving missing persons cases while serving as a police detective: he found every single missing person but one.
“I was proud of that,” Wilson said, and added that the one unsolved case was eventually solved a year later by another detective. “People watch ‘Law and Order’ and they think you can solve every case you get, but that’s not the reality.”
Wilson plans to make modern training a priority as he settles into his role at New Community. He wants to ensure his staff knows how to handle people with special needs, such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, or autism.
“We’re in an era with security where we cannot afford to drop the ball,” Wilson said. “People need to be up to date.”
Wilson also wants his security officers to approach their work with compassion, and says success can come from noticing details about the people the department is protecting. For example, if a resident who usually comes down to the lobby each morning failed to appear, Wilson would take that as a cue to investigate.
“It’s hard to train people to be compassionate and to care, but that’s one of the main things I want to focus on,” Wilson said. “That type of attitude will produce the quality of officers that we want.”
When he’s not at work, Wilson enjoys spending time with his family in South Plainfield, where he now lives. He has two sons, one of whom is a DEA Special Agent and another who plans to study law at Rutgers University, and a daughter who is a registered nurse. He also enjoys riding his motorcycle and traveling the world. He cites France, England, and Hawaii as his favorite destinations so far.
For now, he’ll be spending time in Newark, keeping the residents, staff, and visitors of New Community safe.
“You have this bond with Newark,” Wilson said. “I’m always going to represent Newark. When I meet people from Newark, we instantly connect. There’s something about the people from Newark – it’s like a brotherhood or sisterhood type thing.”
