Thursday, Feb. 16, the College of William and Mary Police Department hosted an open forum in Sadler Tidewater A. Associate Vice President for Public Safety, co-chair of the Emergency Management Team and Chief of Police Deborah Cheesebro, Deputy Chief of Police Major Don Butler and other WMPD officers gave a presentation on general safety, the Good Griffin policy, the mass notification system and WMPD statistics.
After a round of introductions, Cheesebro and Butler started the forum with a discussion of WMPD statistics on arrests and traffic stops in recent months.
“Because what you can see in that time period, which is just short of two years, we’ve made 31 arrests. Now, we've certainly apprehended more people committing crimes than 31, but as Chief Cheesebro mentioned, we have other ways of dealing with them other than arrest,” Butler said. “And, you know, there's some cases, [like] a felony case, we're required to make an arrest, so we do so.”
"We're not spending a lot of time in court. You're getting educational materials from the Dean's Office, and you're not living with being arrested or jailed or locked up for the rest of your life."
Butler emphasized the department’s collaboration with the Dean of Students Office.
“The vast majority of our cases are referred to the Dean of Students Office, [and the Department of] Community Values and Restorative Practices, so that you're not going to court,” Butler added. “We're not spending a lot of time in court. You're getting educational materials from the Dean's Office, and you're not living with being arrested or jailed or locked up for the rest of your life.”
Sergeant Carlos Moran, who supervises the WMPD day shift, said students should not be afraid to reach out to WMPD for assistance.
“If something happens on campus, don't feel as if you're about to walk away in handcuffs or get a ticket or anything like that,” Moran said. “Don't ever be afraid to call us if a friend had too many to drink. We'd rather get you first fast and get them to the hospital right away so they can get taken care of.”
Butler then discussed the College’s Good Griffin policy. The policy provides academic and conduct protections for students and witnesses if medical assistance is sought for the consumption of alcohol or other substances. He noted that a similar policy has been enacted statewide and addresses situations that require bystander intervention policies.
“Good Griffin, it's not called that, of course, but there are laws now in Virginia where if you've got basically bystander intervention and trying to get someone life saving help and that includes alcohol overdoses, drug overdoses, etc., the commonwealth exempts those folks from prosecution.” Butler said. “William and Mary has been doing that for a long time.”
Butler was referring to a section of the Code of Virginia that mandates legal protections for individuals who seek out medical assistance for individuals experiencing an overdose of alcohol or marijuana and remain on the scene.
Butler then laid out how WMPD has been navigating both the state and College policies.
“We used to put out, and this was many years ago, just to clarify with students, that Good Griffin didn't apply to the police department,” Butler said. ”And now we can't say that anymore because the commonwealth of Virginia requires that and our folks support it and always have. So we've been doing it longer than most agencies. Good Griffin applies administratively for criminal charges for us and administratively the university.”
As part of an effort to tackle substance usage issues, Butler said WMPD officers carry NARCAN nasal spray, which can be used to treat overdose emergencies. Butler said they have not had to administer the medication so far.
Cheesebro then discussed the mass notification system, which the WMPD utilizes to relay crucial information to the College community.
“What happens when we have something that we think is an emergency, and we have a very specific idea of what that means: What that means is there has to be some sort of threat that we think is imminent on campus. And then, the timing of giving that out is going to vary a little bit because we have to make sure that the information we send to you is accurate,” Cheesebro said.
Under the Clery Act, federal law requires the College to notify the community of certain incidents through timely warnings. According to Deputy Chief Butler, crimes covered by the law are called “Clery crimes.” These include generally serious offenses such as criminal homicide, sexual assault, robbery, arson, motor vehicle theft, aggravated assault and others.
"The last thing we want to do is constantly be putting out stuff and then have to retract it and say, ‘Oh, that wasn't real.'''
For a timely warning to be issued, the crime has to have occurred on campus.
“The last thing we want to do is constantly be putting out stuff and then have to retract it and say, ‘Oh, that wasn't real,’” Butler said. “You know, you get the cry wolf thing where people think it's probably not real anyway. We want it to be when you see it, it's real. You know it's real.”
Cheesebro emphasized the need to be careful and not tamper with any ongoing investigation that other jurisdictions are handling.
She recalled an incident after she came to the College where WMPD provided updates regarding an incident in the city too quickly. The suspect read the information that the department had put out and it led to a major problem, Cheesebro said.
Additionally, Cheesebro said an upgrade to the emergency notification process is coming to the College, where new poles and speakers will be installed across campus. The speakers, during emergencies, will sound a siren followed by a message providing the details of the situation. She said acoustic tests were conducted to ensure that the sounds can be heard from all across the College.
Cheesebro thanked College President Katherine Rowe for her assistance in the process of setting up the new system.
Answering a question from students, Cheesebro suggested that conducting a campus-wide active shooter drill would be more traumatic than useful, emphasizing the importance of an understanding of broad concepts such as “run, hide, fight.”
“We are very concerned, as Chief mentioned, about triggering events for people,” Butler said, “And that can be very, very traumatic if you haven't been there in person, which most of us haven't.”
Police Officer Specialist First Class Bojana Radden then noted that students should not stand as onlookers when an incident is occurring and there are officers on the scene. Cheesebro reiterated the statement, citing the December 2021 unfounded bomb threat made on the Sadler Center. Cheesebro said she appreciated the College community collaborating with the department.
"I was standing in that student union feeling it. These things have incredible power. But you can have knowledge and you can have the thought process and you can survive.”
Officers then showed an educational video from the FBI on how to act in an active shooter situation. Cheesebro, who received a master’s degree in criminal justice with an educational concentration from Michigan State University, alluded to the recent shooting incident that took place at the Michigan institution.
“I was listening to live radio, police radio, while the incident was going on,” Cheesebro said. “In my head, and I’m old enough to retire now, but in my head, I was back in college. I was standing in that student union feeling it. These things have incredible power. But you can have knowledge and you can have the thought process and you can survive.”
Cheesebro again emphasized the importance of the accuracy of emergency alerts, citing the false reports that were taking place at the shooting incident at MSU, and how those might have had negative consequences for the victims and others involved. She then explained the evolution of the WMPD’s tactics in responding to active shooter situations.
The department revised its policy that previously required officers to formulate a team of four before actively going into the scene. That number was continuously lowered down and now requires only a single officer to respond.
“I'm telling you, in Uvalde, Texas, those officers that did not go in, that was criminal,” Cheesebro said, referring to the Robb Elementary School shooting in May 2022. “That is not how you're trained, that is not what you do. You do not stand back and let children get shot. We will not stand back and let people get hurt. We will go in. We will breach the door. We will come in. And we will be armed, and we will have our game face.”
Cheesebro also highlighted some resources for students, such as the Rave Guardian app, which she calls a “portable blue light system.” Radden said Rave Guardian allows users to directly connect with WMPD dispatch and set a timer when traveling from one location to another. If the individual does not make it to the designated location in time, WMPD will be notified and will check up on them.
Cheesebro said WMPD proposed upgrades to the blue light system, in compliance with the Vision 2026 strategic planning. She said students should report any issues with the system to the WMPD by calling the department or talking to a police officer.
Attendee Jake Stiles ’25 said he hopes the Rave Guardian app is advertised more on campus and hopes that there are more events like this.
President of the Panhellenic Council Ellie Wess ’24 said the organization faced safety issues last year when she was serving as Vice President.
“We had some issues where there were a lot of safety concerns around sorority court, safety issues in bars and at fraternities,” Wess said. “And the police department did a great job clarifying things for us, letting us know resources we could use to feel more safe, and I thought that that presentation was a great reiteration of those resources, and I look forward to bringing them back to my council.”
"We found our home here. So you've got a wealth of law enforcement experience in this room that is here to take care of you all."
She noted the significance of the Good Griffin policy and the similar state statute that Butler mentioned. While the council and the WMPD have not had much of a relationship until safety concerns arose two semesters ago, Wess said she wants to bridge the gap between the two bodies, and believes that the WMPD could improve their transparency.
“As someone who went to that forum, I now understand the thought process behind their safety alerts,” Wess said. “But I think if all students knew that, it could be helpful.”
Cheesebro, the first female WMPD chief, is retiring after the end of the Spring 2023 semester. Her deputy, Butler, will succeed her as interim Associate Vice President for Public Safety and WMPD Chief.
“I wanted to point out that every officer from the chief on down, as you saw tonight, has a lot of years of experience in other places,” Butler said. “We found our home here. So you've got a wealth of law enforcement experience in this room that is here to take care of you all."
CORRECTION (2/23/23): Article was updated by the Standards and Practices Editor (Sarah Devendorf) to give credit to Peerawut Ruangsawasdi for taking the article’s featured photo
NOTE (2/26/23): Article was updated to include graphs that showed WMPD interactions by university affiliation, race and sex