A bell rings in an underground office between downtown Greencastle and DePauw University. A badge is painted onto the wall in gold and navy blue, with a silhouette of East College in the middle. A small lamp illuminates a golden tiger statue on the side tables. The Police Department is available to all students, but it hasn’t always been there — neither has its people.
At the head of it all is the first African American police officer in Putnam County history.
“I think it was a fluke that I ended up here,” said Charlene Shrewsbury, DePauw’s Chief of Police.
In 1999, a job opening for a police officer at DePauw University appeared in the Banner Graphic, Greencastle’s local newspaper. When Shrewsbury took up the position, she thought she would stay for only a handful of years as she planned on finishing college.
Yet she realized how much she enjoyed being at DePauw. It was her hometown.
“I was born and raised in Greencastle, actually just a few blocks from campus. I grew up in the neighborhood of Crown and Howard Street, right up the road from Delta Gamma. At that time, the majority of African Americans in Greencastle lived in that neighborhood,” Shrewsbury said.
While riding bikes with her best friend downtown, DePauw’s campus was always on the periphery. When Shrewsbury got older, her mom finished her master’s and doctorate degrees and started teaching in DePauw’s education department. However, her family ties to DePauw went much deeper.
“My grandfather was also on campus when he moved up here from Tennessee, leaving my mom, her brother, and his wife behind to find work.”
Shrewsbury’s grandfather ended up being a hod carrier for Mason Hall, one of DePauw’s dormitories, and worked at the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity as a house man for years. Her grandmother also became a cook for the Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority.
When Shrewsbury went into high school, she started working with campus security as DePauw had yet to form its police department. She worked evenings during the summer, answering phones at the office.
After graduation, Shrewsbury performed factory work at the local Walmart Distribution Center. However, she felt dissatisfied with the work and benefits. She took up a position at the Plainfield Correctional Facility and maximum security male facility nearby.
Years later, when Shrewsbury realized she was having a baby, she immediately wanted to move back to Greencastle to be close to her family. Ironically, the same gentleman who hired Shrewsbury to answer phones at the police station during high school would hire her again as a police officer.
“Being a single parent, I wanted something closer to home, so I wasn’t driving thirty minutes to work every day,” Shrewsbury said. “I talked to my mom, she said it would be a good department to work for, so I applied and ended up getting the job.”
After being away from DePauw for a while, Shrewsbury found the community and relationships ready to welcome her back. However, when the Police Department didn’t have a great relationship with the students, Shrewsbury questioned whether or not she still needed to be at DePauw and if she could truly do the job that the university asked her to.
“A few of (the students) I met in situations that were not very becoming of them, but out of that we built that relationship,” Shrewsbury said.
Despite occasional conflicts in handling security cases with the DePauw community, Shrewsbury wants students to know that the officers from her department are approachable.
“Even my quietest officers, who don’t talk that much, have even had conversations with me about how friendly and open the students are and how refreshing it is to get to know them on that level,” Shrewsbury said.
Over the time of her career, Shrewsbury said she could go back and recall students’ names over time. They were 80 percent of the reason why she is still here.
“When they come back to town, they always make sure to reach out to see where I am going to be to reconnect,” she said.
The other percentage involves the relationships she built with people in the DePauw Police Department, even those who have moved on. She said everybody in the office is her extended family.
“If it wasn’t for the people I work with, I don't know if I would still be here,” Shrewsbury said.
For the upcoming plans of the department, Shrewsbury hopes to enact safety and security measures to align with the university’s evolving needs and keep the university as safe as possible.
When asked about her personal goals for the future, Shrewsbury paused. Her police jacket hung up next to her — a reminder of her journey from and back home to DePauw. She takes pride in her work, but most importantly, her community.
After a few seconds, Shrewsbury looked up and smiled.
“I think every goal I have is for the university or for the students,” Shrewsbury said.