Police Chief Johnson Retires After 12 Years on the Job

When Paul E. Johnson first stepped into his role as chief of the Harvard Police Department 12 years ago, he promised to maintain an "open-door policy" and a commitment to crime prevention.

On January 1, Johnson turned over to successor Francis D. "Bud" Riley a department with modern equipment, better-trained officers, and a department with a general air of professionalism.

University officials and police officers alike credit Johnson with achieving his original goals.

Yet Johnson's legacy in the department will more likely reflect his handling of two key issues which have tainted the HUPD during the last decade: internal strife and accusations of racist actions by Harvard officers.

Johnson's department has been repeatedly criticized by community and College groups for its mistreatment of black students.

In selecting the new chief this fall, University officials said Riley's ability to deal with students, particularly minorities, was an important criterion in his appointment.

In the last three years, the department was also racked by a series of personnel disputes which Johnson was unable to successfully mediate to the satisfaction of all parties.

But not everyone has a negative opinion of Johnson.

Vice President and General Counsel Margaret H. Marshall says she believes Johnson has proven a capable leader and has weathered the storm of controversy.

"He has been a manager who has been prepared to look at those issues, take them seriously, address them," she says. "This is a department where if you look at the outcome--how safe is the environment here--he has been remarkably successful."

Dealing with Race

For undergraduates, Johnson's 12-year tenure at Harvard was largely defined by frequent tensions with police arising from allegations that officers were racist.

Most notable was a 1994 allegation by Inati Ntshanga '95, who was arrested and charged with trespassing while working in the linen depot in the basement of Matthews Hall over winter break in 1992.

Ntshanga charged that the police were looking to arrest him because he had previously made accusations of harassment. He said that officers who knew he was a student racially slurred him, at one point asking him for his welfare card.

Charges against Ntshanga were dropped, but the incident sparked debate on campus among police, student groups and administrators who sought to improve student-police relations.

Ntshanga's was the most recent and notable case of alleged police racism, but Johnson's tenure has been consistently marked by such incidents.

The first accusations came in February of Johnson's first year when a student, Thomas A. Harris '84, was given a written apology after alleging race-based harassment by the police.

A committee to explore police racism, including Johnson and a Harvard student, was named by the Cambridge City Council one month later, but the incidents continued.

In 1985, a black Law School student claimed police stopped him in the Malkin Athletic Center because of his race and demanded to see identification.

A group of local black teenagers filed a $2 million civil rights suit against the University in 1986, claiming they were stopped by police because of their race.

In 1992, after two further allegations that police harassed black students, the Black Students Association (BSA) charged the police with racism in a flyer, "On the Harvard Plantation."

Johnson defended his department, and said the controversial flyer contained "errors of fact."

Later that year, minority security guards alleged that they had been mistreated by their supervisors. A University inquiry deemed the allegations unfounded.

Despite the University's findings, students remained concerned that police continued to mistreat blacks.

"There is a serious problem with regards to how some members of the police department treat black students on this campus," Zaheer R. Ali '94, a former president of the BSA, told The Crimson in 1994.

Johnson, who is black, was known for unilaterally defending his predominantly white force, while also attempting to open up dialogue with the community and address any suspicions of racism.

"There is a certain amount of sensitivity that I think we did show, if somewhat belatedly," Johnson says. "In the long run, I think we did a good job."

Johnson says he played a key role in diversifying the police force, noting his hiring of the first Asian-American officer.

But during Johnson's tenure, some were unhappy with his hiring record. In April 1993, employees noted that all seven Harvard police lieutenants were white. Of the department's 13 sergeants, the four who are black were all promoted before Johnson arrived. And of the eight senior officers promoted under Johnson in his first 10 years, none was a racial minority.

While critics claimed racism within the department was becoming more prevalent and was being ignored, Johnson said in 1993 that accusations of racism could only be rooted in misunderstanding.

"How could I, as a black man, tolerate a racist supervisor?" he told The Crimson at the time. "That wouldn't make any sense."

Crime: A Prince and the Slasher

Under Johnson, the department also faced a scandal involving the eight-week visit of a Saudi Arabian prince in 1990.

Harvard police were paid a reported $27,000 per week to guard the prince during his stay in Cambridge, an arrangement which some suggested seriously compromised the force's abilities to serve and protect Harvard students.

Johnson defended the operation, saying that the guard duty was being done on officers' personal time and that duties to students were in no way affected.

Not every moment of Johnson's tenure was scandal-ridden. He over-saw many successful investigations, most notably the capture of the so-called "Widener slasher" after an exhaustive five-year search.

In the case, which Johnson rates as his biggest success, an Arlington man terrorized Harvard libraries from 1990 to 1992, slashing millions of dollars worth of rare books and threatening to blow up a bank if ransom money was not left for him at Widener Library. He was finally apprehended by police in December 1994.

Harvard police worked with the FBI, the state police and the Northeastern University police to resolve the case, of which Johnson said at the time: "This is something which has plagued the department for years. And it's finally over."

Internal Relations

Johnson was criticized at times for appearing too mellow and indecisive, acquiring the chiding nickname "No Waves" for his willingness to remain content with the department as long as it appeared to be operating smoothly on the surface.

Several incidents arose in the fall of 1993, when Johnson was on sick leave.

In September, the president of the police officers' union demanded that the University, in the process of renovating the department's headquarters at 29 Garden St., look into possible connections between the building and officers' health problems.

At the time, the union was engaged in intense negotiations for the officers, who had worked for more than 15 months without a contract.

Later that month, a fist-fight broke out in the department between two officers because of what was described as a "difference of opinion."

Days later, a security guard became the fourth of the year to file a complaint with the state against the department, alleging that he was mistreated because of a health condition and his outspokenness on issues of discrimination within the force.

In December 1993, months after the University released a report that found unprofessional behavior in the police's guard unit, the internal embarrassments continued as two guards were charged with stealing water coolers from a Law School room.

The case split the department, with some officers arguing against the guards' conviction while others testified for the prosecution. The guards remained in good standing with the department, although top officials argued for their guilt.

And the two guards, for their part, complained that Johnson took too long--nearly two months--to hold a hearing to address a grievance over their suspension from work during the trial.

During the trial, in which the guards were ultimately acquitted, Harvard officers admitted that the department had submitted false information and that there were numerous irregularities in the department's investigation into the actions of its own employees.

Johnson's Leadership

Members of the department acknowledge that Johnson employed a calm demeanor and leadership style, one based on talking openly with officers and community members when problems arose.

"Although we may have disagreed on issues, he was never underhanded in his dealings," says Officer Robert Kotowski, president of the union. "It never turned into a long, drawn-out banter."

Kotowski characterizes Johnson's leadership as neither militaristic nor laid back, defined most by the "open-door policy" Johnson himself championed upon his arrival at Harvard in 1984.

"He'd try to assist people in any way he could, whether the problem was at work or a family illness," Kotowski said, though he added that only some officers took Johnson up on his offer of an open door.

Lt. Lawrence J. Murphy, who served as acting chief during Johnson's sick leave, said Johnson was successful in resolving internal disputes by dealing directly with the personnel involved.

"Everyone has their own way, his own style, and that was his," Murphy says.

Despite criticism that he was not forceful enough, Johnson was praised by University officials for increasing the professionalism of the department.

"Johnson was one of the leaders on campus security during his period here," Marshall says.

Marshall adds Johnson's efforts to make the department more accessible to the University community and the collaborative relationships he worked out with other law enforcement agencies to the list of his accomplishments.

Besides the sensitivity training instituted under Johnson in response to the accusations of racism, officers were also enrolled in various training programs offered by the Massachusetts Training Council, Murphy says.

Whenever an opportunity arose for further training, Johnson would see that his officers were involved, Murphy adds, calling Johnson "a real innovator."

Johnson says that under his leadership, the police department has had an increased number of outreach programs with the gay and minority communities in the city and in the College.

Johnson also instituted the popular Rape Aggression Defense program (RAD), in which specially trained officers teach female students how to defend themselves from rape.

In addition to the extra police training, Kotowski says, officers negotiated a program of educational incentives into their contracts during Johnson's tenure.

With Johnson beginning his retirement, officers on the squad says that Chief Riley's transition has been successful, and that it is likely he will build on the programs Johnson initiated.

"Chief Riley can just pick up where Johnson left off, continuing with the modernization of the department and bringing it into the next few years," Kotowski says. "So far the transition seems to have gone smoothly."

While predicting a successful tenure for the new chief, Murphy says that the officers appreciate Johnson's service to the department and wish him well.

"Hopefully he'll enjoy his retirement," Murphy said. "He deserves it."

Johnson says that his time at Harvard was both rewarding and successful.

"It was one of the better experiences of my life," he says. "It's been challenging and very, very rewarding."

Johnson says he now plans to work as a part-time security consultant and will continue to live in the Boston area, as he has for more than 40 years.