Reeves Calls for Pit Security

After witnessing acts of violence in the Pit next to the Harvard Square T stop recently, Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72 has asked Cambridge police to increase surveillance in the area.

Reeves told the Boston Globe last week that he has recently broken up several fights there.

But local teens interviewed yesterday said they don't want more cops around their hangout. Some even said that, in recent weeks, violence has decreased in the area around the Square T-stop.

"Most of the kids who come here come here because in their towns there's no place where they can go," said 17-year-old Jen Hosman, an Arlington resident who frequents the Pit regularly.

"[The Cambridge police] just come around here and kick us out," Hosman said.

While local teenagers said they feel safe in the Pit, Harvard students may not, Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III said yesterday.

"When we have asked for data on the crime in Harvard Square, that's an area where our students think they are most at risk," Epps said. "I would favor an increase in police there."

The teens interviewed yesterday said that local kids are not the source of existing problems in the Pit area.

"One night two guys got in a fight and they kicked us out, and the two guys had nothing to do with us," Hosman said. "There are bigger problems than kids hanging out in Harvard Square that they should deal with."

Reeves's request also followed a Boston Globe article that described substance abuse among teenagers who hangout in the area.

Hosman, however, said increased surveillance will not solve the problem.

"There's always been drug abuse in the Square and there always will be," Hosman said. "No one can stop it."

Det. Frank Pasquarello, a Cambridge police spokesperson, said the department would look into the mayor's request. But he added that the area is owned by the MBTA, which does not permanently station an officer at the Harvard Square stop.

"We'll review it but the Pit is also MBTA property," Pasquarello said. "They have their own police force, but we do have dual jurisdiction."

The police department is willing to work with the MBTA as part of "a cooperative effort," Pasquarello said.

No one in the mayor's office was available for comment yesterday. City councillor Kathleen L. Born said the matter should be carefully considered by the city council.

"We have to be very careful to use our police resources wisely and to use them where we need them," she said.