Norfolk, Va. - Old Dominion University students are getting ready to celebrate the weekend, but they could come across some unexpected guests.
It’s a big weekend at ODU with their first football game and campus police along with city officials will be stepping up enforcement.
Earlier this week, campus police chief Rhonda Harris told NewsChannel 3 that a task force was created last year to monitor large parties.
This year, she says, they’re changing things up and adding undercover officers into the mix.
The change comes after recent violence in the area.
Two shootings took place just blocks from campus in the past few weeks.
The police chief believes people from outside the city may be coming to the area to go to large parties.
That’s why, she says, more officers will be out patrolling this weekend – some in uniform and some not.
“I don’t want any confusion about who’s the police and who’s not. But we’re going to be incorporating plainclothes into that. We’re going to be going into these houses and seeing firsthand what’s going on inside,” she says.
Harris thinks social media is playing a role in how word is getting out about these parties. She’s asking students to be smart about where they’re going late at night and to avoid large parties if possible.
Related:
Campus police now making changes after shootings near ODU
