Ex-sheriff to be security consultant
Former Franklin County Sheriff Zach Scott has become a man of many hats since hanging up his stetson. Scott, a former Columbus mayoral candidate, lost his re-election bid for sheriff in the Democratic primary in March 2016. His six-year term as the county’s top lawman ended in December.
He has been a full-time real estate agent since he left office. Now, he is starting a new job as a director and principal of the security consulting and risk management firm PICA Corp. Scott is going to work in the Ohio market, but he said he will travel around the world for the company when needed.
The new security job is on a consulting basis, Scott said.
“It’s going to be on a caseby-case kind of stuff,” he said. “They send me to go to different places and oversee some issues.”
That could include working for Ohio’s fledgling medical marijuana industry. Scott said the company has been approached to put together security plans for grow facilities and transportation for the industry.
PICA was founded in 1982, and the company says it “specializes in brand protection, loss prevention, enterprise risk management and security consulting” with offices across the world, including New York, London, Dubai and Hong Kong.
Scott will manage “enterprise risk, cyber and information security and international trade and supply chain and distribution channel integrity programs and investigations,” according to a company news release.
Scott’s law enforcement career spanned more than 30 years. He started as a deputy in the Franklin County jail in 1985 and spent time in several of the department’s units, including a stint in vice busting drug dealers.
He was appointed to oversee the department by the Franklin County Democratic Party in 2011 when longtime Sheriff James A. Karnes died of pancreatic cancer. Soon after, Scott started butting heads with fellow Democrats on the Franklin County Board of Commissioners.
Scott rankled his party when he decided to run for Columbus mayor in 2015 against then-city council President Andrew J. Ginther. The party endorsed Ginther in the primary and encouraged Scott to drop out, but Scott stayed in the race amid a nasty campaign. Ginther won the election in a landslide.
When Scott’s re-election bid started, the Democratic party endorsed Dallas Baldwin over the incumbent sheriff. Baldwin, a first-time candidate, beat Scott in the primary and became sheriff in January.
Vincent Volpi, PICA’s owner, was a contributor to Scott’s mayoral campaign.
“Zach and I both came from law enforcement, but I took a different path into private security while Zach made a distinguished career of public service. We have worked together since the early ’90s and become very close friends,” Volpi said in a statement. “Having Zach on our team continues our partnership to serve and protect our clients.”