RICHMOND, Va. β The Virginia Commonwealth University Police Department is launching a new student-led committee designed to bridge the gap between campus police and the student body, offering students a direct voice in law enforcement conversations.
The initiative stems from a course VCU began offering in 2021 called "Bridging Perspectives," which brings local law enforcement and students together for dialogue.
"I was like, this gives students the opportunity to be a part of that change," said Johana Adams, a VCU student who joined the committee.
VCU Police Chief Clarence Hunter and Professor Brad Leahmann, who both participated in the original class, now help lead the student dialogue initiative.
"We discussed coming together more frequently. And so the idea came up about having a student committee that would meet with the police department on a regular basis," Hunter said.
The committee aims to include at least 15 students who will meet with police every other month. Students will gather feedback and questions from the broader student body to bring directly to the police chief.
"The plan will be for the students to go out into their student body community to get the responses or questions that they may have about law enforcement and then actually bring that to me as the chief of police," Hunter said.
Student Widad Khan sees the committee as essential for campus improvement.
"This is something that is very much needed," Khan said.
Both Khan and Adams joined the committee following heightened tensions between police and students after several protests over the last few years.
"Upon hearing about, oh, we have this opportunity where you can voice yourselves, where you can be a part of systematic change, I said why not," Khan said.
The students hope their classmates will take advantage of the opportunity to share concerns and hold VCU police accountable.
"They have the chance to say, hey, we saw this, we want to make this difference, and they have the opportunity to do that," Adams said.
"Working in this sort of in between means that you can come to me about anything," Khan said.
University staff believe the program will move the campus in the right direction.
"We do believe that this type program, giving our students voice, will be the right direction for us to go," Leahmann said.
Hunter encouraged students to participate in the initiative.
"Please give us the chance. We have put a lot of work into this. We really do want this to be successful, and we're going to do our very best to make sure that that happens," Hunter said.
Applications for students to join the committee remain open. Click here to learn more or apply.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
π²: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky | Facebook | Instagram | X | Threads | TikTok | YouTube
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, click here.
