ODU President speaks on campus crime

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - In his first interview about crime and the campus of Old Dominion University , President John Broderick told WAVY.com the college community culture is about to change.

Broderick is concerned about how students and the campus is perceived. With all the wonderful positives at ODU, it is clear the issue of crime on and around the campus is captivating the most attention.

Other than the family of slain student Chris Cummings, no one has been more impacted by Cummings' murder than Broderick.

Broderick said, "what happened over a short amount of time is unacceptable."

In his only interview dealing with crime and ODU, Broderick said when he went to Cummings' memorial service he said this to Cummings' parents, "what I did tell them is I hope they, and others will help me make sure there's never another Chris Cummings on our campus again."

To achieve that Broderick told the ODU Board of Visitors he will announce prevention initiatives in his State of the University speech next Tuesday.

President Broderick's Initiatives include:

• Expand the safety task force
• Hire a New police Chief who advocates community policing
• Get more police officers on foot/bike
• Establish a central office to gather ideas that benefit the entire campus .
• Push a new ODU culture that creates Monarch Citizens

"If you want to see change, you have to start with yourself," said ODU Senior Greg Walsh who has spent the summer developing Monarch Citizens.

"It's personal responsibility. If you keep your stuff square, eventually, if enough people are doing that then there's a transformation on campus," added Walsh who is also the student representative on the ODU Board of Visitors.

And transformation is needed.  Since February 17, there have been a large number of crimes within a one mile radius of many local colleges:

1. Norfolk State University : 599 crimes; 193 of them are violent crimes
2. ODU : 491 total crimes; 105 violent crimes.
3. Hampton University : 328 total crimes; 108 violent crimes.

These statistics come from area police departments, and other campuses are far behind the top three featured above.

For example Virginia Wesleyan College has 81 total crimes within a mile of campus, with only 14 labeled as violent.

Now to the Norfolk Police Department side of the problem. In the case of ODU, the Norfolk Police Department (NPD) and the ODU Police Department (ODU PD) have dual responsibility to patrol many neighborhoods around the campus.

The Norfolk Police Department has put these intiatives in place when patrolling the area around ODU:

• ODU Officers have accompanied NPD during sweeps of the area.
• ODU PD’s radios are interoperable with NPD enabling them instant communication with NPD Officers and vice versa.
• NPD has provided additional resources to include marked/unmarked vehicles, bicycles, as well as officers solely dedicated to the area.
• NPD Leadership is in constant communication with ODU PD exchanging information, intelligence pertinent to criminal activity in the area.
• NPD / ODU / ABC have conduct operations in the area targeting under age drinking.
• NPD / ODU Crime Prevention Officers work closely together educating students on matters of personal safety and well being.
• Last Fall, the two departments worked together in presenting the “Lock it Up, Light it Up” campaign.
• NPD is assisting ODU in developing a citizen’s academy .
• NPD sends representatives to the ODU Safety Task Force meetings.
• NPD affords ODU PD training opportunities to include Crowd Management and use of our pistol range.
• NPD / ODU have partnered to provide logistics for active shooter training.

WAVY.com ask President Broderick if it hits him in the gut when he reads headlines and sees stories on WAVY-TV 10 about crime on the campus.

"Of course it does. We have a tremendous obligation to the students and parents who come to ODU," answered Broderick.

And it is clear Chris Cummings family is never far from President Broderick's thoughts, "Oh, the pain they went through, and how great they were in the most difficult thing you can imagine."

The issue of crime has forced ODU to take a broader look at the campus in many areas that may have nothing to do with crime. President Broderick said he wants to make sure nothing happens to students entrusted in his care.