Ronni ButtsGrowing up, being a police officer was a common career aspiration among Robert Gaddy’s classmates. But Gaddy stayed true to his goal from the start. Now, he’s living his “best dream” as he steps into his new role as interim police chief at N.C. Central University.
But it wasn’t the police officers on TV or in movies that inspired him most. Gaddy recalls watching Billy George, who lived down the road from his childhood home, cruise down the long country road in his state trooper car. He admired the man, who would let him touch his “awesome” campaign hat and sit in his car.
He also spent time with James Walter McKinnon, New Bern’s first African American police department captain, who was a churchgoer at Gaddy’s mother’s church. McKinnon always treated Gaddy well, he said. Both these men inspired Gaddy and “solidified” his aspirations of becoming a police officer.
It’s been decades since Gaddy left his hometown of New Bern, North Carolina. But he’s since found a second home in Durham—and at NCCU.
Gaddy enrolled at NCCU in 1989 to study criminal justice. Attending NCCU was a “family tradition,” he said, so enrolling was no surprise. He followed the footsteps of his older sister, cousins, aunts and uncles. (He has been slow to fulfill his task given by his family to find an archived photo of his grandmother, who attended NCCU in the 1920s.)
Moving to Durham from a town of less than 24,000, Gaddy took advantage of the life and professional experiences that the city offered. When he came to NCCU with his high school best friend, he enjoyed the freedom college gave him—and the young women.
Playing basketball in the courtyard of the old Chidley Hall and socializing in the Alfonso Elder Student Union are among Gaddy’s cherished moments. And the quality of professors on campus gave students no excuses not to succeed, he said.
“My favorite English teacher was Dr. Mudy Stone—phenomenal lady. She adopted me as one of her own and always challenged me,” he said.
He said that his college experience felt like the one portrayed in the 1980s sitcom, “A Different World,” which tells the story of young Black college students at Hillman College, a fictional historically Black college.
“This is my Hillman College,” he said. “This is where I really feel comfortable.”
Gaddy has spent his whole career in Durham, and after 27 years at the Durham Police Department, he returned to his alma mater as an Operations Coordinator at NCCU’s police department in 2022.
“I can’t say enough about the staff,” Gaddy said. “Our staff is grade A—period. Even if you had to pick somebody that was bad, [they’re] still grade A. I have nothing bad to say about anyone here.”
Having college-aged children, like his daughter Aysia Hinton, who is a guard on NCCU’s women’s basketball team, makes him feel more connected to the students, he said.
“[Arriving on campus is] just like walking home and walking in my front door,” he said.
As Gaddy sat at his desk lined with NASCAR figurines in front of a wall covered with awards and Omega Psi Phi paraphernalia, he spoke with a smile and insisted that students approach him. (He gets his self-proclaimed talkativeness from his father, he said.)
“Come talk to me. I’m very approachable. If you see me out there, don’t be afraid. I like to talk, as you can tell.”
Some students may already know Gaddy from his years at NCCU’s police department and now, as a graduate student earning a master’s in criminal justice.
“It’s hard to hate somebody you like,” he said. “And so that’s our approach to our kids. We’re here to protect you, but we’re also approachable.”
Gaddy fills the position of NCCU’s former Chief of Police Damon Williams, who is much beloved by many students. But the self-proclaimed Durhamite said that although Williams has moved on, nothing at NCCU’s police department is changing.
“[Williams is] leaving us in a great position where we’re not coming in and having to rebuild or start from scratch…We’re just changing pilots.”
“We’re going to make this campus safe, and if anything…we’re going to try to figure out and make it safer.”
