A Night in the Life of Harvard Police Officers

With sirens blaring and blue lights flashing, a Harvard police cruiser speeds down Mount Auburn St. at 1:30 a.m. and comes to a screeching halt just outside Leverett House.

Officer Jim Crowley hops out of the car. He discovers another car with its passenger window shattered. He glances around cautiously.

No suspect is in sight.

And so it goes. Another night on the job for the bullet-proof-vest-clad officer.

After several years of declining requests for ride-alongs, the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD), which is in the midst of implementing a community policing plan under new Chief Francis D. "Bud" Riley, allowed The Crimson to ride along with its two men in blue last Saturday night.

Riley has made an effort to make his officers more accessible to the community. In particular, the chief's plans are aimed at dispelling student opinion that the cops are either cold and distant or unprofessional.

But the reality of a day in the life of a Harvard cop is far from common perception.

The Shift

The shift begins in the bowels of HUPD's headquarters on 29 Garden St.

The officers gather for roll call in a bland, stark room that is plastered with pictures of wanted criminals. The watch commander reads reports from the previous two shifts, highlighting areas that need extra attention.

After 10 minutes, about five officers trickle out of roll call and walk through the booking room--a sanitized, predominately white room filled with finger-printing equipment and two holding cells.

They enter the concrete garage, which under its artificial lighting, resembles a miniature car lot specializing in white police cruisers.

They each slide into their vehicles and, driving through an automatic door, the officers ride out onto bustling Garden Street.

And the driving begins.

Harvard police officers patrol one of a handful of assigned sectors, including the Law School/Biolabs, the Business School, the Medical School, the River and Radcliffe.

This shift is uneventful. Crowley, who works the graveyard shift (mid-night to 8 a.m.) drives around, scanning the roadside for anything out of the ordinary.

Occasionally, he'll stop the car for a change of pace.

When not driving, the blond-haired Crowley sits in his parked car, amid a bank of flashing and beeping machines, watching the vehicles and pedestrians streaming by. He says he's always sure to stay on guard for anything unusual.

The HUPD radio hums in the background, rattling off an endless barrage of codes, car numbers and static. The stream of white noise is interrupted only by the crooning of the Bryan Adams and the Blues Traveler tunes playing on the radio.

Sitting in the Spartan vehicle, pressed against the blue cloth seats and listening to a strange combination of static and soft rock seems incongruous with the wild West image most have of crime-fighting.

Day-to-day, working on the HUPD may not live up to the thrill of the "COPS" television show. But Harvard police officers say they don't mind.

Sgt. James McCarthy says he does not regret working for a department that does not see a lot of action.

"They can keep it in New York City," McCarthy says. "I'm happy where I am. I've seen enough action."

If the action picks up, it does so after midnight according to McCarthy, "when people have had a few drinks in them."

"Any call that gets your adrenaline going--a fight in progress, an emergency call--that's kind of fun," he says.

The kind of incidents cops deal with, the officers say, range from the exciting to the benign, to the absurd.

Crowley recalls being parked in front of Holyoke Center one night, when a woman came hurrying out of the arcade and hopped in the back seat. Thinking the cruiser was a taxi, she told Crowley where to drive her.

Crowley looked back at her in disbelief.

The woman repeated her directions and only then did she notice his uniform.

Embarrassed, the lady tried to quickly exit the car, but as is the case in most police cars, the back doors cannot be opened from the inside.

Crowley got up, and opened the door for her to leave.

The taxi cab incident is surely not what Crowley first imagined cop life would be like.

Crowley says he first wanted to be a police officer after watching action-packed cops and robbers television.

As he learned more about the field, Crowley says that he "found it was more public service than chasing bad guys."

"I get just as much satisfaction helping somebody out that might be in a jam as I do making a big arrest," Crowley says in his thick Boston accent.

On the Beat

Crowley and the other Harvard cops may have chosen to work in a department that sees less action than most big-city forces. But the HUPD sees its fair share of gun-slinging.

"We've all been involved in car chases," McCarthy says. "Harvard has been involved in all of the things you see on 'COPS.'"

McCarthy says he remembers an incident last summer when he had to draw his gun.

He was standing at Au Bon Pain when he saw a car peeling around the corner at Holyoke Street. Upon seeing the driver, the HUPD sergeant recognized him as a man suspected of selling guns in the Square.

As McCarthy approached the car he says the man tried to hide a bag under the passenger seat.

"Do you mind if I take a look at the bag that you're trying to hide there?" McCarthy recalls asking the driver.

When he looked in the bag, McCarthy says he saw what looked to be a machine gun.

"Control, get me back up. I have a man with a machine gun," McCarthy called in to the dispatcher.

The suspect was arrested and charged by the HUPD.

Like McCarthy, Crowley also says he has drawn his weapon, although only "a few times."

"There is an awesome potential to take a life," Crowley says. "I am very aware of what I'm doing."

But Crowley says he only draws his weapon when he feels that he or someone nearby is in "imminent danger."

And Crowley is quick to say that it is important for cops to carry firearms.

"The Harvard community benefits from the fact that we are armed," he says.

Shattered Myths

Those who form their opinions about police work based on television shows may be surprised by policing Harvard-style.

"NYPD Blue" fans, for example, will be disappointed to learn that Harvard police--except for those who work at the Medical School near Mission Hill--do not ride with partners.

That's mainly an issue of staffing constraints, McCarthy says.

Police officers also do not get free coffee or donuts.

"It used to be the norm," says McCarthy. "If someone offers me anything free, I won't accept it anyway."

Crowley says that businesses occasionally offer him free food and beverages, but he always declines because accepting such offers "doesn't look good to the public."

"I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it," Crowley says.

Students may also be surprised to learn that HUPD officers do not patrol the undergraduate houses on Friday and Saturday nights looking to break up parties.

During the four hours spent with the officers last Saturday night, neither broke up any undergraduate parties.

"We don't just show up at parties," Crowley says. "We only go there if there has been a complaint."

McCarthy says students may have the wrong idea about the role of the police in breaking up parties.

"We are not out to bust the students. We are here to help the students," McCarthy says. "We don't go out sniffing for parties and sniffing to bust parties."

Cop's Sixth Sense

Logging so much time behind the wheel of a car allows officers to develop special talents.

Driving without seeming to look at the road ahead is a habit for the men in blue--although it can be quite disturbing for those riding along.

Instead of focusing on the road, their eyes hone in on roadside activity.

"I'm always scanning, looking to see if [I] recognize somebody out of place," McCarthy says.

Crowley says the habits he has developed as a police officer make it difficult to switch to being a civilian.

"My wife yells at me all the time.... She tells me I'm looking everywhere but in front of me," says Crowley, who has been married for two-and-a-half years and is the father of a pair of 17-month old twins.

Crowley says that being able to sense when something is not right comes with experience.

"You get a sixth sense of what's not right," McCarthy says.

Veteran officers, for example, often become adept at spotting stolen cars on a busy highway.

McCarthy says he wows his wife by pointing out stolen vehicles when they are driving.

Crowley says one clue to a stolen car is a missing trunk lock.

McCarthy and Crowley have also developed enhanced hearing as a result of listening to the constant drone of their police radio.

Both officers can pick out their number in the midst of the symphony of beeps, call descriptions and secret codes while in the middle of a conversation.

Policing Harvard-style

Since Harvard is not a walled university, the HUPD patrols the same streets as Cambridge city and Massachusetts state police, enabling Harvard cops to get involved in a variety of calls.

Harvard cops are licensed Middlesex county sheriffs and, as such, can legally make arrests anywhere in the county.

"We'll have almost every type of crime you'll see in a normal police department," McCarthy says. "Luckily we don't have a lot of major crime.

Harvard police go through the same training as their counterparts in city and state departments.

After being hired by Harvard, officers must go through an 18 week, full-time police academy run by the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Training Council.

Crowley describes the academy as "quasi-military style."

"It's not a cake walk," he says.

The academy emphasizes academics, physical fitness and fire arms training.

"The department that is assembled here is one of the best-equipped and [most] well-trained that you will find around," Crowley says.

Harvard police salaries are also competitive with those of other departments, he says.

In fact, Crowley says that if he were to work in the his hometown police department in Natick, he would have to take a cut in pay.

Working for Harvard also means that officers get to earn extra money working party details such as the Adams House Masquerade.

Officers work party details in addition to their 40 hour per week obligation to the University. The details are assigned to officers on a rotating basis.

Crowley says that the role of police at parties may be misunderstood.

"I don't want to inhibit anyone's right to have a good time," Crowley says. "I'm just there to make sure no one wrecks the property."

Crowley says that he chaperoned a final club party where the theme was "Leather and Lace."

"It was pretty strange," says Crowley.

McCarthy says he hopes the new community policing plan which permanently assigns officers to specific houses will improve relations and understanding between police and students.

Officers have already begun to eat in house dining halls.

McCarthy says he hopes that more students will begin approaching the officers in the dining halls.CrimsonMatthew P. MillerFRANCIS D. "BUD" RILEY, chief of the Harvard University Police Department.

And the driving begins.

Harvard police officers patrol one of a handful of assigned sectors, including the Law School/Biolabs, the Business School, the Medical School, the River and Radcliffe.

This shift is uneventful. Crowley, who works the graveyard shift (mid-night to 8 a.m.) drives around, scanning the roadside for anything out of the ordinary.

Occasionally, he'll stop the car for a change of pace.

When not driving, the blond-haired Crowley sits in his parked car, amid a bank of flashing and beeping machines, watching the vehicles and pedestrians streaming by. He says he's always sure to stay on guard for anything unusual.

The HUPD radio hums in the background, rattling off an endless barrage of codes, car numbers and static. The stream of white noise is interrupted only by the crooning of the Bryan Adams and the Blues Traveler tunes playing on the radio.

Sitting in the Spartan vehicle, pressed against the blue cloth seats and listening to a strange combination of static and soft rock seems incongruous with the wild West image most have of crime-fighting.

Day-to-day, working on the HUPD may not live up to the thrill of the "COPS" television show. But Harvard police officers say they don't mind.

Sgt. James McCarthy says he does not regret working for a department that does not see a lot of action.

"They can keep it in New York City," McCarthy says. "I'm happy where I am. I've seen enough action."

If the action picks up, it does so after midnight according to McCarthy, "when people have had a few drinks in them."

"Any call that gets your adrenaline going--a fight in progress, an emergency call--that's kind of fun," he says.

The kind of incidents cops deal with, the officers say, range from the exciting to the benign, to the absurd.

Crowley recalls being parked in front of Holyoke Center one night, when a woman came hurrying out of the arcade and hopped in the back seat. Thinking the cruiser was a taxi, she told Crowley where to drive her.

Crowley looked back at her in disbelief.

The woman repeated her directions and only then did she notice his uniform.

Embarrassed, the lady tried to quickly exit the car, but as is the case in most police cars, the back doors cannot be opened from the inside.

Crowley got up, and opened the door for her to leave.

The taxi cab incident is surely not what Crowley first imagined cop life would be like.

Crowley says he first wanted to be a police officer after watching action-packed cops and robbers television.

As he learned more about the field, Crowley says that he "found it was more public service than chasing bad guys."

"I get just as much satisfaction helping somebody out that might be in a jam as I do making a big arrest," Crowley says in his thick Boston accent.

On the Beat

Crowley and the other Harvard cops may have chosen to work in a department that sees less action than most big-city forces. But the HUPD sees its fair share of gun-slinging.

"We've all been involved in car chases," McCarthy says. "Harvard has been involved in all of the things you see on 'COPS.'"

McCarthy says he remembers an incident last summer when he had to draw his gun.

He was standing at Au Bon Pain when he saw a car peeling around the corner at Holyoke Street. Upon seeing the driver, the HUPD sergeant recognized him as a man suspected of selling guns in the Square.

As McCarthy approached the car he says the man tried to hide a bag under the passenger seat.

"Do you mind if I take a look at the bag that you're trying to hide there?" McCarthy recalls asking the driver.

When he looked in the bag, McCarthy says he saw what looked to be a machine gun.

"Control, get me back up. I have a man with a machine gun," McCarthy called in to the dispatcher.

The suspect was arrested and charged by the HUPD.

Like McCarthy, Crowley also says he has drawn his weapon, although only "a few times."

"There is an awesome potential to take a life," Crowley says. "I am very aware of what I'm doing."

But Crowley says he only draws his weapon when he feels that he or someone nearby is in "imminent danger."

And Crowley is quick to say that it is important for cops to carry firearms.

"The Harvard community benefits from the fact that we are armed," he says.

Shattered Myths

Those who form their opinions about police work based on television shows may be surprised by policing Harvard-style.

"NYPD Blue" fans, for example, will be disappointed to learn that Harvard police--except for those who work at the Medical School near Mission Hill--do not ride with partners.

That's mainly an issue of staffing constraints, McCarthy says.

Police officers also do not get free coffee or donuts.

"It used to be the norm," says McCarthy. "If someone offers me anything free, I won't accept it anyway."

Crowley says that businesses occasionally offer him free food and beverages, but he always declines because accepting such offers "doesn't look good to the public."

"I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it," Crowley says.

Students may also be surprised to learn that HUPD officers do not patrol the undergraduate houses on Friday and Saturday nights looking to break up parties.

During the four hours spent with the officers last Saturday night, neither broke up any undergraduate parties.

"We don't just show up at parties," Crowley says. "We only go there if there has been a complaint."

McCarthy says students may have the wrong idea about the role of the police in breaking up parties.

"We are not out to bust the students. We are here to help the students," McCarthy says. "We don't go out sniffing for parties and sniffing to bust parties."

Cop's Sixth Sense

Logging so much time behind the wheel of a car allows officers to develop special talents.

Driving without seeming to look at the road ahead is a habit for the men in blue--although it can be quite disturbing for those riding along.

Instead of focusing on the road, their eyes hone in on roadside activity.

"I'm always scanning, looking to see if [I] recognize somebody out of place," McCarthy says.

Crowley says the habits he has developed as a police officer make it difficult to switch to being a civilian.

"My wife yells at me all the time.... She tells me I'm looking everywhere but in front of me," says Crowley, who has been married for two-and-a-half years and is the father of a pair of 17-month old twins.

Crowley says that being able to sense when something is not right comes with experience.

"You get a sixth sense of what's not right," McCarthy says.

Veteran officers, for example, often become adept at spotting stolen cars on a busy highway.

McCarthy says he wows his wife by pointing out stolen vehicles when they are driving.

Crowley says one clue to a stolen car is a missing trunk lock.

McCarthy and Crowley have also developed enhanced hearing as a result of listening to the constant drone of their police radio.

Both officers can pick out their number in the midst of the symphony of beeps, call descriptions and secret codes while in the middle of a conversation.

Policing Harvard-style

Since Harvard is not a walled university, the HUPD patrols the same streets as Cambridge city and Massachusetts state police, enabling Harvard cops to get involved in a variety of calls.

Harvard cops are licensed Middlesex county sheriffs and, as such, can legally make arrests anywhere in the county.

"We'll have almost every type of crime you'll see in a normal police department," McCarthy says. "Luckily we don't have a lot of major crime.

Harvard police go through the same training as their counterparts in city and state departments.

After being hired by Harvard, officers must go through an 18 week, full-time police academy run by the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Training Council.

Crowley describes the academy as "quasi-military style."

"It's not a cake walk," he says.

The academy emphasizes academics, physical fitness and fire arms training.

"The department that is assembled here is one of the best-equipped and [most] well-trained that you will find around," Crowley says.

Harvard police salaries are also competitive with those of other departments, he says.

In fact, Crowley says that if he were to work in the his hometown police department in Natick, he would have to take a cut in pay.

Working for Harvard also means that officers get to earn extra money working party details such as the Adams House Masquerade.

Officers work party details in addition to their 40 hour per week obligation to the University. The details are assigned to officers on a rotating basis.

Crowley says that the role of police at parties may be misunderstood.

"I don't want to inhibit anyone's right to have a good time," Crowley says. "I'm just there to make sure no one wrecks the property."

Crowley says that he chaperoned a final club party where the theme was "Leather and Lace."

"It was pretty strange," says Crowley.

McCarthy says he hopes the new community policing plan which permanently assigns officers to specific houses will improve relations and understanding between police and students.

Officers have already begun to eat in house dining halls.

McCarthy says he hopes that more students will begin approaching the officers in the dining halls.CrimsonMatthew P. MillerFRANCIS D. "BUD" RILEY, chief of the Harvard University Police Department.