| New Police Chief at Southern |  |
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| By Billy Washington -- Black College Wire | |
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Retired Baton Rouge City Police Capt. Ronald Stevens will be the Southern University police chief, one of seven positions recently filled at the university, starting this fall. "My main goal is to improve upon the rapport between the student body, staff and visitors,” Stevens said. “Let's throw out this ‘it's us against them’ mentality because when you enter this university you enter a family community and the compassionate mentality has to be spread across the entire university.” 
The Sounthern Digest
Chief Ronald Stevens
Stevens also said he is against the weapons on campus bill, a provision that would allow students and faculty to care concealed weapons, despite a record of increase weapons arrests in SUPD’s annual crime report. "To have weapons on campus would be a negative drawback for the university,” he said. “If you are bringing a weapon on campus, there must be a protection [or] security problem. That's why I'm here. If weapons are needed on campus then we (SUPD) must not be doing our jobs.” Stevens also said he is willing to accept a pay cut due to budget reductions. There is currently no contract or set salary in place. "I'm looking forward to the challenge ahead and I have no doubt the team that's been put together here will get the job done," he said. Stevens, who has over 30 years of experience in law enforcement, commanded the Operations Services Bureau at the Baton Rouge police department. These services included fire arms training, law enforcement and the D.A.R.E. program. Outside of his duties on campus, he works as an investigator -- on issues such as Medicaid fraud and abuse -- at the Louisiana Department of Justice in the State Attorney's General's office. Billy Washington writes for the Southern Digest, the Southern University student newspaper, which originally published a version of this article. |
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| Posted Nov. 05, 2011 |
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