Interim Police Chief Mark Lahue returned from an approved leave of absence on Oct. 11 according to Leslie Berger, senior director of university communications.
LaHue’s leave of absence followed allegations made by a campus police officer against LaHue accusing him of making homophobic and sexually inappropriate comments.
“He returned to his position as sergeant because Interim Director Citty is now here running the police department,” Berger said.
William Citty, campus police interim director of operations, was named to the position Oct. 9.
Isaac Sorell, acting junior, said he is concerned about LaHue’s return because of the allegations against LaHue.
“I definitely think it’s the police’s job to make sure the students feel safe, and obviously as someone who identifies as queer, that has not made me feel safe at all,” Sorrell said. “Especially knowing that we have such a large LGTBQ+ population on campus, that should definitely be a place of concern for everybody.”
LaHue should apologize to LGBTQ+ students, Sorrell said.
“He should reach out to those student groups, like SPECTRUM, and other groups that have LGBTQ+ populations and let them know that he’s on their side,” he said.
Destini Carrington, psychology senior and president of the Black Student Association, said LaHue should also reach out to the multicultural organizations and be available to students on campus.
“He should be visible,” Carrington said. “He’s supposed to be a resource, and we don’t know about resources we can’t see.”
Carrington said she thinks Citty will provide positive guidance for campus police.
“I think he will be a great way to start making changes,” she said. “I’ve already heard that he’s reaching out to the multicultural organizations and asking how he can make sure we can feel safe.”
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