The editor in chief of The Northern Star, Northern Illinois University’s student newspaper, is accusing the campus police chief, Donald Grady, of offering him a job if he would write a favorable article about a police officer who resigned earlier this year under a cloud, according to The Daily Chronicle, a newspaper in DeKalb, Ill. The job offer was made in the course of an interview in which the editor, Justin Weaver, said the police chief also yelled at him and threatened him. The incident took place in August but was disclosed only on Thursday, in a Northern Star editorial calling for Mr. Grady’s dismissal. The university said it was investigating the allegations.
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Now there is a higly trained, new age security person showcasing the latest practices in keeping the peace on campus. Northern Illinois should immediately create a Con. ED. course entitled “Modern Campus Security Techniques” and name this guy the instructor – who can boast of actually practicing these techniques. The class should be open to security personnel throughout the entire Mid-west region. It will be a financial bonanza for NIU.
Unfortunately, Donald Grady’s behavior has been a concern for a LONG time – at least to anyone that has had the unpleasant experience of disagreeig with him. He belittles and humiliates anyone who has a differing opinion and runs the NIU police department like they’re at war. The university has lost a lot of promising officers because of his behavior, he has berated both staff and administrators, and by the looks of it he has now started on the students. Shame on NIU for allowing it to get this far. Is this really type of behavior you want to condone? I understand providing the accused his due process. So do it quickly. Aside from this latest incident, there are plenty of other instances that will corroborate the Northern Star’s portrayal of Mr. Grady.No one can really say whether the incident Mr. Weaver described actually occurred. But given Mr. Grady’s past behavior I’m inclined to believe it did. Now is the time for NIU to do the right thing and get rid of this menace and find someone who is genuinely interested in serving the faculty, staff, and students without the militaristic (and obviously unethical) tactics that Mr. Grady has brought to the university community. He won’t leave on his own (he makes a very generous salary and he has the run of the place), so the senior administrators will have to do what they are being paid to do – BE LEADERS.