photo by: Kevin Anderson/Journal-World Photo

Schuyler Bailey, right, has received the prestigious Silver Beaver Award from the Heart of America Council for his more than 15 years of volunteer service to Boy Scout Troop 59, chartered to Lawrence First Presbyterian Church. During a recent scout meeting, Bailey listens while, from left, Steele Jacobs, George Woolverton and Matthew Solcher talk about an upcoming campout.

He’s best recognized as longtime police officer on the Kansas University campus.

But outside of work, Schuyler Bailey is also known for his involvement with Douglas County Cub and Boy Scouts over the years.

“You like to think that if you’re dealing with young men as a Scout leader that you won’t deal with them in my profession, at least not in a negative way,” said Bailey, who is a captain with the KU Public Safety Office.

Recently, Bailey received the prestigious Silver Beaver Award from the Heart of America Council for his more than 15 years of volunteer service to Boy Scout Troop 59, chartered to Lawrence First Presbyterian Church. It’s the highest award a volunteer can receive at the council level.

“Schuyler has been one of those guys who consistently worked to make sure that the program is as good as it can be for the boys who are involved,” said Keith Wood, an assistant Scout master with Troop 59 who also serves on the Pelathe District committee in Douglas County.

Bailey began volunteering when his son Josh started as a Cub Scout. Josh Bailey, who is now 26, worked his way to Eagle Scout.

Schuyler Bailey kept volunteering and is currently involved with Boy Scout Troop 59, and he’s the unit commissioner for Cub Scout Pack 3363, which is chartered at the Lawrence Housing Authority and is geared toward providing Scouting opportunities to low-income families.

“He’s not doing it for his own child, and I think that’s what’s exemplary,” said Frank Wright, the current Pelathe District chairman.

Bailey for more than a decade has also taken a week off during the summer and taken a group of Scouts to Camp Bartle in Missouri.

He has come to enjoy camping, and he says scouting teaches leadership skills.

“To some extent it helps bring a young man out of his shell,” Bailey said. “It teaches them life skills, like how to work together with people you may not know or even get along with all the time.”

He received the award Nov. 17 in Kansas City, Mo.