In a significant leadership shakeup following a campus tragedy, Brown University announced Monday that it has placed Chief of Police Rodney Chatman on administrative leave, more than a week after a fatal shooting that left two students dead and raised pressing questions about campus security.
The decision, delivered through an official university statement, signals a major step in Brown’s effort to respond to the growing scrutiny over its handling of the shooting and its broader security infrastructure.
Chatman, who also served as Vice President for Public Safety and Emergency Management, is being replaced on an interim basis by former Providence Police Chief Hugh T. Clements, a figure with national credentials and strong ties to community-focused law enforcement.
According to university officials, the move accompanies the launch of an externally-led “after-action review”, which will assess campus safety practices and emergency response protocols not just during the incident itself, but in the days and weeks leading up to the shooting. The review will evaluate the university’s preparedness, crisis response, and recovery efforts, and forms part of what Brown describes as a standard institutional response following a critical incident.
🚨 BREAKING: Brown University just put its police chief on LEAVE after the emergency response was horrifically BOTCHED, letting the shooter get away and kill an MIT professor
Trump administration is also INVESTIGATING.
BROWN MUST CLEAN HOUSE! Don’t stop with him!
This was a… pic.twitter.com/RDAn66pvdy
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 23, 2025
Yet the timing of the announcement has not gone unnoticed. More than a week has passed since the fatal incident, and some within the campus community have raised concerns about the delay in leadership accountability. While Brown has framed the review as routine, the removal of Chatman — even temporarily — suggests deeper concerns about how the university’s public safety apparatus performed before and during the crisis.
In tandem with Chatman’s suspension, the university is also initiating a rapid-response security assessment ahead of the next academic semester. This includes a thorough analysis of Brown’s physical infrastructure — building perimeters, entry points, surveillance systems, and emergency response technologies — with the goal of implementing immediate upgrades.
President Christina Paxson emphasized the appointment of Chief Clements as a move toward stability and trust-building. “This underscores our commitment to clear accountability, leadership continuity and a sustained focus on campus safety at a time when safety is a critical part of healing and recovery for our community,” she said in a statement.
Clements, who most recently served as the director of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, is expected to bring both experience and credibility to a university facing intense scrutiny — not only from students and faculty, but from the broader public and local authorities.
