Police Advisory: Too Little, Too Late

We are appalled by Harvard's inadequate response to several violent crimes which have occurred near and on campus in the past two months. We feel that the Harvard University Police Department and the administration have failed to publicize incidents that indicate a clear and present danger to members of the Harvard community and residents of Cambridge.

Last Monday, HUPD issued a four-page warning in response to three specific crimes. The crime which seems to be the main impetus for the warning was the rape of a female student sometime in September in the area between the Weeks Footbridge and the Weld Boathouse. The two other incidents mentioned were the following of a female jogger along Memorial Drive and the assault and robbery of a Mather House resident near Mather.

We understand that HUPD does not wish to alarm the community unduly, but this advisory is not only dangerously late, but dangerously incomplete as well.

To begin with, an announcement should also have been made after the initial and worst crime, the rape, became known to Harvard. This was a terrible and bold crime which occurred in broad daylight in a well-traveled and open area. According to a release issued by the Harvard News Office in response to the HUPD release, HUPD waited to issue the warning until the following of the female jogger because it felt that there might be a pattern.

By this rationale, another rape might have occurred before the first one became generally known. The police should have issued a warning as soon as they knew of the rape. This begs the question: when exactly did the police know of the rape? This is difficult to answer because Harvard. Police Chief Paul E. Johnson refused to comment on this. He instead referred queries to the Harvard News Office. Joseph Wrinn, Director of the News Office, also refused to say anything beyond what was in the safety advisory itself. That the police may have buried news of the incident is a possible violation of state law. That the Harvard News Office--Harvard's supposed information source--should refuse to comment on such a threat to students' lives indicates a disturbing lack of concern on the part of the University about its students' safety.

Best evidence seems to indicate that HUPD was not aware that a rape had occurred until the beginning of October, because the State Police originally handled the crime. This leaves a full month between confirmation of rape and the issuance of the advisory. In this time countless students have walked and jogged unaware through the crime scene.

And now we have learned that another violent crime may have been omitted from the warning. In a letter to the Crimson, Mash-tots Professor of Armenian Studies James R. Russell informed us that on the night of September 29 he and a friend were attacked and beaten by a gang of six young men. The attack occured in Kennedy Park, close to Professor Russell's apartment. He wrote in his letter that the men "said they wanted to kill us." He and his friend were able to run away.

According to Professor Russell, he reported the incident to the Harvard Police who subsequently buried it. We are forced to agree with this assessment due to the fact that the assault was conspicuously absent from the safety warning and that no independent mention has come to light in the five weeks since it occurred. Russell also mentioned that he has not noticed any additional security added to the area in the wake of his report. In addition to the assault on Russell, two weeks ago another man was assaulted on the Weeks Bridge, according to the Harvard Police blotter, Clearly this area deserves to be more closely monitored.

We call upon President Neil Rudenstine and Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles to investigate Harvard's handling of these incidents. The omissions and confusion surrounding these violent crimes are unacceptable to us and to any others who rely on Harvard to keep them adequately informed of dangers to their health and well-being.

More significant than the dearth of public information is the failed security system. The primary job of the Harvard Police is to protect members of the University community. A comprehensive plan needs to be developed by HUPD in conjunction with greater forces to keep the Harvard area safe from criminals. The police should focus their efforts on public safety--not student parties or visiting dignitaries.

We support the proposal of Prof. Russell in his letter. As he suggests, Harvard should increase patrols in areas which are known to be dangerous, Warnings are not enough. Police must take action so that we can jog down Memorial Drive alone, walk the streets safely and live in a more secure Cambridge.