{ "id": "2022-12-15-brown-university-residence-hall-safety-advisory", "slug": "brown-university-residence-hall-safety-advisory-2022-12-15", "institution": { "name": "Brown University", "shortName": "Brown", "state": "RI", "type": "private-r1", "alertSystemName": "Brown Alert", "enrollment": 11000 }, "incident": { "date": "2022-12-15", "type": "other", "cleryCategory": "community-notification", "resolution": "under-investigation", "headline": "Advisory on protecting safety in campus residence halls", "headlinePublic": "Advisory on protecting safety in campus residence halls", "summary": "Brown Public Safety [posted a public notice](https://publicsafety.brown.edu/alerts/protecting-safety-campus-residence-halls) on 2022-12-15. Full text is preserved from the [official alerts archive](https://publicsafety.brown.edu/alerts/crime-alerts).", "outcome": "See the official notice for investigation status and community guidance.", "casualties": { "killed": 0, "injured": 0 } }, "alerts": [ { "sequence": 1, "type": "initial", "timestampApprox": "Published on or about 2022-12-15 on the Brown Public Safety alerts archive", "channel": "email", "verbatimText": "As our fall semester nears its close, we are writing to share important safety information after two unrelated early December incidents in Brown’s residence halls required a response from Public Safety and, given the circumstances, understandably caused some unease. In both incidents, individuals unlawfully entered residence hall rooms. While active investigations remain underway, I write today with updates on the incidents; actions we are taking to reinforce the ways in which staff from multiple departments work to protect student safety; and key reminders and best practices for maintaining safety in residential settings.\n\nThere are important steps that both the University and students can take to be vigilant in protecting members of our community and their personal property.\n\nThe first incident took place on Sunday, Dec. 4, when DPS apprehended an individual who is not a Brown community member and who was occupying space in Wayland House unlawfully. The suspect, Thony Greene, was arrested, questioned, transported to Providence Police and charged with breaking and entering, and willful trespass. He was arraigned and remains in custody, pending next steps in the criminal justice process. These initial actions marked the beginning of what is now a deeper investigation focused on how long he may have been present in the building and how he entered. We now await the opportunity to conduct a follow-up interview with Mr. Greene, who has a long record of arrests in multiple Rhode Island communities, and previous citations and arrests by Brown DPS, for theft and trespassing in particular. We may seek additional charges as our investigation continues.\n\nFour days later, DPS responded to a report of a burglary in Jameson House in which a student’s wallet, Brown ID card and Apple AirPods were stolen from their residence hall room. DPS conducted a preliminary investigation, issued a Crime Alert describing a person of interest and launched a more complete investigation in cooperation with local law enforcement. On Monday, Dec. 12, we identified and arrested a suspect in the case. That individual, for whom we will not disclose identifying information pending formal charges, is now in custody awaiting next steps in the criminal justice process.\n\nWe may be able to report additional details as investigations into these incidents continue.\n\nProtecting the safety of community members on any college campus, but particularly in environments like ours in which University buildings are immediately adjacent to public streets and sidewalks, is a shared endeavor that relies on partnership between students, staff, faculty and community members. In the incidents above, we are particularly grateful to the students who acted quickly to call attention to the circumstances in their buildings, which proved instrumental in our ability to identify and apprehend suspects in both cases.\n\nUniversity staff have an important ongoing role to play in residential safety as well, and particularly those from DPS, Residential Life and Facilities Management. As one example, Brown employs four full-time facilities operations coordinators in the Office of Residential Life — these staff members are in residence halls daily, supporting the needs of students and residence hall staff, and serving as a liaison between Residential Life and Facilities Management. In addition, staff from DPS and Facilities Management have a regular presence near or in residential buildings as part of their ongoing responsibilities. Working together, we can all play a role in calling attention to issues that need to be addressed, including from a safety standpoint.\n\nIn response to this month’s incidents, staff from these critical departments are taking a number of additional steps, including the following:\n\nIn addition, we have engaged in preliminary discussions about the potential for new measures to strengthen safety on campus. Areas of focus include approaches to providing information about incidents on campus; suspect descriptions and safety tips; the possibility of additional safety checks conducted by staff who are in residence halls; and improved ways to make Brown staff and contractors easy to identity visually when they are working in residence halls (distinguishing them from unauthorized individuals).\n\nAs we all work together to protect safety, there are a number of steps that students can take to protect themselves and their property. Given the recent incidents, it’s particularly important to offer reminders on the best measures to take in residential settings, which include:\n\nAs chief of police and vice president for campus safety at Brown, I take the safety and security of our campus and our students very seriously — I know my colleagues in Public Safety, Residential Life, Facilities Management and so many other departments do as well. We appreciate your assistance and cooperation as we work through the specific incidents we’ve witnessed this month and continue our efforts to make Brown a safe place to be in community with one another.\n\nRodney Chatman\nVice President for Campus Safety", "isVerbatimConfirmed": true, "sourceUrl": "https://publicsafety.brown.edu/alerts/protecting-safety-campus-residence-halls", "sourceDescription": "Brown DPSEM public alerts archive (publicsafety.brown.edu)", "annotations": [ "Full text from official Brown Public Safety alert page paragraphs" ], "characterCount": 5118 } ], "context": "On 2022-12-15, [Brown University](https://www.brown.edu/) Department of Public Safety published a community-facing notice now archived at [publicsafety.brown.edu](https://publicsafety.brown.edu/alerts/protecting-safety-campus-residence-halls). The [crime alerts index](https://publicsafety.brown.edu/alerts/crime-alerts) lists multi-year Clery and community notices.", "keyFindings": [ "Full official text recovered from Brown's public alerts archive", "Verbatim transcription for emergency-management research use" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Advisory on protecting safety in campus residence halls (Brown Public Safety)", "url": "https://publicsafety.brown.edu/alerts/protecting-safety-campus-residence-halls", "type": "official-archive" }, { "title": "Brown Public Safety crime alerts index", "url": "https://publicsafety.brown.edu/alerts/crime-alerts", "type": "official-archive" }, { "title": "Brown University emergency information", "url": "https://www.brown.edu/emergency", "type": "official" } ], "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "community-notification", "residence-hall", "brown" ], "dateAdded": "2026-07-21", "lastUpdated": "2026-07-21", "addedBy": "ingestion" }