Paul and Larry's New Cars

The long-suffering Harvard Police Department finally has its Eliot Ness.

Herbert J. Vallier has taken over as the department's top administrator, and he is cleaning house. Manager of Operations for Security Robert J. Dowling is gone--after what associates describe as an "illness" (and, sources say, some Vallier pushing).

Vallier says he is spending most of his time with the department's security division. But his influence is now being felt among police officers as well.

Vallier keeps in close contact with his boss, Vice President and General Counsel Margaret H. Marshall. Both were reportedly steamed after Police Chief Paul E. Johnson and Lt. Lawrence J. Murphy bought new cars again this year.

The chief and lieutenant have traditionally received new cars, usually Ford LTDs, each year. Their old vehicles are then "passed down the line," according to one source, becoming squad cars.

But Vallier, reportedly acting on Marshall's authority, questioned why Murphy and Johnson needed the new vehicles.