On Dec. 22 — just nine days after the Dec. 13 shooting — President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 announced that Hugh Clements would step into the role of interim vice president for public safety and chief of police.
That day, the University also announced that Vice President for Public Safety and Emergency Management Rodney Chatman would be on immediate administrative leave.
In the fall of 2025, the Brown Police Sergeants Union and Brown University Security Patrolperson’s Association issued votes of no confidence in the leadership of Chatman and Deputy Chief John Vinson, who is also on administrative leave, according to Clements.
On March 19, The Herald sat down with Clements for his first interview since taking over as DPS interim police chief.
According to Clements, there were vacant positions in DPS upon his arrival at Brown, which the department is working to fill. Hiring “a police officer is a lengthy — by design and rightfully so — process,” he said.
According to University spokesperson Brian Clark, there were 15 vacant officer positions in December 2025. As of March, there are 12 vacant positions. Clements said that the department is in the “latter” part of the hiring process for filling those positions.
DPS currently employs 70 officers, Clark wrote in an email to The Herald.
A 2025 Herald investigation revealed that officers had left the department due to allegations of sexual harassment and a toxic work environment. Another investigation that year found that officers believed leadership mishandled responses to bomb and shooting threats.
Clark said that both Chatman and Vinson remain employed by Brown, but Clark declined to comment on whether they will be returning to their positions when Clements concludes his time in the interim role.
Clements served in the Providence Police Department for a total of 38 years, acting as police chief for 12 of those years. In 2023 — when Clements retired from the PPD — he was named director of the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, where he “oversaw grants, training and technical assistance of 18,000 police departments,” he said.
Clements comes into his role at a time when Brown’s safety and security are being assessed following the Dec. 13 shooting. The U.S. Department of Education announced an investigation into Brown’s security and emergency notification systems on the same day Clements was named interim police chief.
On Jan. 29, the University announced that it would be working with global consulting firm Teneo to conduct two external security assessments following the shooting. According to Clements, DPS is waiting for those reports to be finalized before enacting changes to the structure or practices of the department.
But he noted that DPS may not follow all recommendations provided by the reports. The department will “pick and choose what is right for Brown,” he said.
“They make recommendations. They’re not mandates,” Clements said. “We will take a look to ensure that we maintain that Brown stays Brown.” He added that the department aims “to build a sophisticated, smarter safety and security system” at Brown.
Clements said that when he arrived on campus, he and University leadership knew it would be important to help the Brown community feel both a “perception” and a “reality of safety.” He noted that security provided by DPS has been supplemented by the PPD, as well as two contracted private security companies: USENTRA Security Services and Allied Universal.
He said that the two companies provide security officers who monitor fixed locations and do not have the power to arrest or carry weapons, unlike DPS officers, who are armed.
“We felt from the beginning that it would be important to have that added presence,” he said, adding that conversations about security levels would be ongoing.
He noted that there have been some complaints that contracted security has been inattentive, including instances where staff have been on their phones while working or not watching building entrances. DPS addresses these concerns during daily meetings with supervisors from both agencies.
“We need someone who’s doing their job and paying attention and trying to keep that building safe, or that community safe,” Clements said.
Clements said that DPS is waiting for results from the comprehensive security review to determine if the department should expand its staffing or if the “hybrid approach” of having outside agencies supplement security is sustainable.
Clements also addressed recent security threats on campus, including a March 13 burglary in Vartan Gregorian A, during which laptops and iPads were stolen.
DPS issued a timely warning three hours after the incident.
According to Clark, “there are federal standards and guidance” for issuing a timely warning, which require that the event in question poses a serious and ongoing threat, but not an immediate one. Timely warnings differ from crime alerts, which are issued when there is an active threat to people on campus, Clark said.
Clements explained that DPS decided to issue a timely warning on March 13 because, based on the information available at the time, “we felt that for that night, the threat had been mitigated,” because the subjects had left campus.
“You have to certainly have your facts in place before you put out information,” he added.
According to Clements, DPS has heard “mainly positive” feedback from the Brown community — including parents and alumni — about added security resources. He said the department routinely tweaks its security response when given suggestions from community members.
“No one has as great of a lens as the students. They’re here 24/7. They have a very wide lens of everyday life,” Clements said. “So those conversations are important, and a big part of our conversations is listening.”
Emily Feil is a university news and metro editor covering staff & student labor and RISD. She is from Long Beach, NY and plans to concentrate in English and international & public affairs. In her free time, she can be found watching bad TV and reading good books.
