A month after the University initiated a nationwide search for the next GW Police Department chief, students and faculty say they want the force’s next leader to bolster transparency and communication following reports of departmental disarray.
Officials on Wednesday announced the hiring of Public Sector Search & Consulting, a police executive search firm, which has assisted with gathering “broad input” from community members on GWPD’s next permanent leader over the past few weeks after former Chief James Tate’s resignation in October. Student leaders and faculty said they want the next chief to rebuild campus trust by meeting consistently with students and faculty and bolstering officer training — efforts that they hope will mitigate the gun safety lapses, staff turnover and lack of community engagement confirmed in a third-party GWPD review last month.
Officials anticipate interviewing candidates in the coming weeks, and a description of the chief position is “forthcoming,” according to the Wednesday release.
Candidates for chief will meet with University leadership, a union representing GWPD officers, members of the Campus Safety Advisory Committee, the Campus Safety’s Student Advisory Board and the GW Emergency Medical Response Group during the interview process, the release states.
“By collaborating with our many campus stakeholders in this search, we are prioritizing greater transparency and partnership on campus safety,” interim Associate Vice President for Campus Safety Katie McDonald said in the release.
McDonald’s office sent an email on March 19 — which was obtained by The Hatchet — that asked 17 “engaged stakeholders” to meet individually with representatives from the Public Sector Search & Consulting search firm to inform a “recruitment brochure” to attract candidates for chief.
Invitees included Dean of Students Colette Coleman, interim Title IX Director Asha Reynolds, Director of Conflict Education and Student Accountability Christy Anthony, Associate Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement Jordan West, Chief of Staff Scott Mory and Director of the Office of Advocacy and Support Elisa Davoodi.
McDonald also invited Student Government Association President Ethan Fitzgerald, GWPD’s Union President Ilia Chakiashvili, three faculty members and GWPD’s top six officers.
University spokesperson Julia Garbitt deferred comment on the GWPD chief search to the University’s Wednesday release. She declined to comment on who is part of the GWPD Chief Search Committee and how the third-party review of the Board of Trustees’ decision to arm GWPD officers will inform the committee’s search.
Dwayne Kwaysee Wright, a member of the Campus Safety Advisory Committee and professor of higher education administration, said he was one of the three faculty members the GWPD search committee reached out to last month.
Wright said he spoke with representatives from Public Sector Search & Consulting about the skills, experience and “temperament” that he thinks the next chief would need to helm GWPD.
Officials should look for a candidate who has previously helmed a campus police force and can navigate “various complexities” that President Donald Trump’s administration has “infected higher education with,” he said.
“We need to prioritize; experience leading a CAMPUS police force, knowledge of the GW Community, ability to balance the needs and desires of various (sometimes opposing stakeholders) and the ability to communicate with students, faculty and staff both outside and within moments of crisis,” Wright said in an email.
Wright said he is “encouraged” by how “inclusive” conversations with the search firm have been.
He said the University deserves “credit” for not repeating insufficient communication practices identified in the third-party review of GWPD’s arming rollout — which concluded that Tate and GW officials didn’t seek community input before arming because officials believed the campus’ reaction to the decision would be “universally negative.”
“However, true consultation only amounts to anything if it impacts the final decision,” Wright said. “It is yet to be seen if/how this level of engagement will proceed moving forward.”
Black Student Union President Kalah Neal said the University has not yet reached out to the organization during its search for a new chief, despite GWPD including the organization in past conversations about how policy changes, like arming officers, could affect students of color.
The BSU and GWPD held a joint town hall in September 2023 — just after the force armed its top two officers — on public safety and the arming decision. Tate also met with BSU leaders before trustees directed GWPD to arm about 20 supervisory officers in April 2023.
She said she wishes officials reached out about the GWPD chief search, adding that it’s been “radio silence” from GW over the last year.
“Things being done without the knowledge or the input of students just feels like an administration overreach,” Neal said.
Neal said that if the search committee had asked for her perspective, she would have told them to ensure the new chief has previous experience working with a variety of different races, ethnicities, age groups and in a school setting.
The next chief should also be familiar with GWPD’s fluid campus barriers, which leaves campus spaces open to non-GW community members, she said. Neal said GWPD’s gun safety concerns, including improper weapon storage, create a “sense of distress” among community members.
She added that a new GWPD chief who collaborates with the community could help assuage some concerns over armed campus police.
“I would want them to find someone with a diverse background,” Neal said. ”And not just policing but have they worked in the school system before? How do they deal with different groups of ethnicities and people and races and identities?”
Fitzgerald, the SGA president, said he met with the GWPD Chief Search Committee earlier this month and shared that strengthening officer deescalation and mental health response training would help in “bridging gaps” between the force and students.
The third-party review recommended that GWPD consider creating a dedicated mental health response team and a rapid response unit to improve GWPD’s responses to nonemergency situations.
“I emphasized the need for stronger and more consistent training for all GWPD officers, with a focus on de-escalation tactics, cultural competency and mental health awareness,” Fitzgerald said in a message.
SGA President-elect Ethan Lynne said he wants to encourage officials to include as much student participation in the chief decision-making process as possible by reaching out to student groups on campus.
Lynne advocated for student input in University-wide decisions, including the hiring of the new GWPD chief, during his presidential campaign.
He said he is looking for a chief who will help increase the department’s transparency by publicly sharing “consistent updates” and allowing community members to observe GWPD officers using the department’s training simulations.
Tate worked to increase departmental transparency by overseeing a series of reforms, including mandating body-worn cameras, implicit bias and deescalation training and adding Coffee with the Chief — a monthly opportunity for students to meet with GWPD’s leader to discuss campus safety, which interim Chief Ian Greenlee continued.
Lynne said the new chief should discuss with the community the errors that GWPD made in its arming rollout and what officials will do to ensure the issues aren’t repeated.
“We’re not going to move forward if we don’t acknowledge the past mistakes with the officers, with arming them, that whole process, that debacle that led to Chief Tate’s departure,” Lynne said. “I don’t think that those mistakes could be really rectified if they are not first acknowledged.”
