Brown University Police Chief Rodney Chatman is on leave effective immediately, President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 wrote in a Monday email to the Brown community. Her message also outlined three immediate actions the University is taking in the wake of the shooting: the continuation of rapid response security measures, the commissioning of an after-action review and the initiation of a campus safety assessment.
Paxson’s email comes just after the U.S. Department of Education announced that the Office of Federal Student Aid is launching an investigation into the University’s security. University spokesperson Brian Clark wrote in an email to The Herald that the initiatives Paxson announced in the Monday email are “separate” from this investigation.
In August, the Brown Police Sergeants Union issued a unanimous vote of no confidence in Chatman’s leadership, and in October, the Brown University Security Patrolperson’s Association did the same.
Hugh Clements, former chief of police of the Providence Police Department, will be serving as interim vice president for public safety and police chief in Chatman’s place.
Clements’s role entails overseeing “day-to-day” operations of the Department of Public Safety, Paxson wrote. This includes the continued implementation of the University’s rapid response enhanced safety measures, which include doubling the number of police and security personnel and increasing patrols from multiple law enforcement agencies.
The University also plans to install additional security cameras and new blue light phones equipped with integrated cameras. There will also be more panic alarms and duress systems installed “with a focus on front-facing service areas and late-night operations,” Paxson wrote in the email. Additionally, the University will expedite its transition from key-based building access to card-based access.
Classroom and exam locations in Courses@Brown and the classroom assignments webpage on the Office of the Registrar’s website will now require Brown credentials for access.
The University is also working towards “resuming full academic and residential operations” ahead of the return of students, faculty and staff after winter break. Paxson added that the University will consider the relocation of spring classes and lectures from “sensitive areas” within Barus and Holley. She noted that the School of Engineering and Department of Physics complex will remain “fully closed” at this time.
Paxson also announced that the University will undergo two evaluations: an after-action review and a campus safety and security assessment.
The after-action review will focus on the response to the shooting on Dec. 13 and the periods before and after the incident. The campus safety and security assessment will evaluate the quality of the University’s current systems and approaches to on-campus. Both reviews will be conducted by external organizations and overseen by a committee of the Brown Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, the email read.
“I understand the gravity of the concerns about safety that follow a tragedy of the magnitude that Brown has suffered,” Paxson wrote. She added that University officials are “taking all steps to ensure that our campus is a safe place to work, live and learn.”
Annika Singh is The Herald’s tech chief and a metro editor from Singapore. She covers crime, justice and local politics, but mainly she stands in line for coffee and looks up answers every time she attempts a crossword.
