William Paterson’s police director acknowledged in an exclusive interview with the Beacon that some students come to campus with “preconceived notions about who we are and what we do,” and hoped students will grow to appreciate them “as human beings and not just as a badge.”

In a 21-minute interview at the William Paterson police station, Charles Lowe emphasized the importance of programs to create connections between officers and students, such as barbecues, mental health walks, job fairs, and a program named “Coffee with a Cop.”

“If we can humanize the police officers, then automatically it changes the way you deal with them when you see them as human beings and not just as a badge, and at the same time, they have to behave in a way that humanizes themselves,” Lowe said. 

Lowe, who has been the director of public safety and university police since October 2016, said the department has adopted new technology such as body cameras that are “making things more accurate and less likely for stuff to slip through the cracks during the training process.”

Lowe said the university does not monitor Fizz and other social media apps to evaluate crime trends. But he added that the police do “use them in specific investigations” such as when students are being stalked or planning unsanctioned events on campus.

Lowe said the department also prides itself on hiring WP alumni to better connect with current students. “These folks are here because they choose to be here,” he said.

He mentioned that WP’s police department, which is short-staffed, collaborates with police in Haledon and North Haledon, which also has staffing shortages. He explained that although WP is located in Wayne, university police do not collaborate with the Wayne police because Wayne has a police force large enough to handle its work without WP’s assistance.

A former Air Force officer and public safety administrator at Florida Atlantic University, Lowe also highlighted the department’s collaboration with New Jersey State Police on the Pre-Police Academy, where students are introduced to “the challenges and adversities police officers encounter daily.”

Juniors or seniors from any major who maintain a 2.5 GPA can enroll in a college-credit internship with the Pre-Police Academy.

William Paterson provides crime statistics as mandated by the Clery Act, a federal law that requires colleges and universities to report campus crime data. The most recent crime statistics available on the WP site, from 2021 to 2023, show no reports of murder or robberies. But the statistics show a consistent number of disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations (36 in 2021, 39 in 2022, and 38 in 2023) as well as an up-and-down number of disciplinary referrals for drug abuse violations (76 in 2021, 18 in 2022, and 39 in 2023).

The Beacon has submitted a public records request for 2024 crime statistics and is awaiting a response.

Lowe did not volunteer recent crime statistics. “I wouldn’t wanna tell you that there’s no crime,” he said. “Every institution has crime.”

Lowe contended that WP police officers could make more money working off campus.

“They enjoy working with young people,” he said. “One of the things that I hear is you never know when something that you have done is gonna impact the life of a young person positively.”