Police Recruiter Speaks Here

A sergeant of detectives in the New York City Police Department urged an audience of about 40 Harvard students last night to become policemen, saying that police work offered an opportunity to "affect radically the quality of life" in the cities.

David Durk-currently on a one-year leave of absence from the New York City Police Department to serve as a visiting follow at the Justice Department's National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice-brought to Harvard a personal recruiting campaign which has taken him to Yale, Columbia, Princeton, and other colleges in the East.

Speaking to an audience in the Leverett JCR, Durk said that entering a police force offered "the same satisfaction which many people got in theearly Peace Corps-a gut feeling that things are a lot better because they're there."

Durk said that a patrolman has almost complete freedom of action on his beat. "Insofar as it's your sector you are the law," he said.

Durk said that his campaign-which is not sponsored by the Police Department-has already produced more than 50 applications. "I signed up about 20 at Yale, but people just kept calling," he said. "Now about 40 have applied from there," he added.

About 15 students at the meeting expressed interest in taking aptitude tests for the New York and Washington police.

Joseph B. Green, a first-year law student, said he was at Harvard while waiting for his application to the New York Police to be processed. "It's a really good way to learn about the city-and to be in control of certain situations," he said.