Seniors Accuse CPD Officer Of Harassment

After experiencing what they described as "a blatant act of racially-motivated harassment" by a Cambridge police officer, three Harvard seniors on Tuesday demanded University action to prevent such incidents from recurring.

In a letter to Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III detailing the incident, Nester Q. Clark '98, Byron L. Logan '98 and Jason D. Williamson '98 said they were harassed by an unidentified Cambridge police officer as they sat on the steps outside Claverly Hall at about 10:30 p.m. last Friday.

The letter said the officer demanded to know who the students were and why they were sitting in front of Claverly.

Cambridge Police Department Sergeant Les Sullivan said yesterday that he promises to look into the incident.

"I haven't heard about it, but I'll definitely be investigating," he said.

Epps also said he will be investigating the students' claims.

"I'm not at all pleased that students were harassed by the police," Epps said. "I'm going to look into this further."

On Saturday morning, the three students said they asked Adams House Assistant Senior Tutor Alvin B. Tillery for guidance.

Tillery, who has been a resident tutor in Claverly for four years, said he has seen incidents like this before.

"This has been a pattern of unacceptable behavior from the Cambridge police," Tillery said. "I know these students well and I doubt they were doing anything to attract police attention, aside from how they looked."

Tillery recalled an incident last year whenCambridge police ordered black sophomores to "goinside" and stop playing their music on the stepsof Claverly.

"I've seen white students playing guitar on thesteps of Claverly at three in the morning,"Tillery said. "This is a pattern, and it isdirectly related to who the police see outside."

Clark, Logan and Williamson said they areconsidering filing a class action lawsuit againstthe University if Harvard does not "take concreteaction to prevent this from happening again."Williamson, who is president of the Black StudentsAssociation (BSA), has pledged BSA support forsuch a lawsuit.

"This is a pervasive problem that most of theblack men on campus have dealt with," Clark said."I feel like the University hasn't made an effortto address this problem."

Clark said he would like to see the Universitytake steps to publicly address the problem ofpolice harassment.

"I would like to see the Cambridge police takenoff the Harvard beat," Clark said. "They don'tknow who the students are and that is the cause ofa lot of friction."

Clark and Logan have lived in Claverly Hall forthree years. Williamson has lived in Adams Housefor three years.

Epps said police harassment is an issue theUniversity takes seriously.

"[Harassment] was a problem with Harvard policein the past and I think we've made some progress,"Epps said. "We've been working very hard withthem."

The Harvard University Police Department (HUPD)has faced claims of racial harassment in the past.

In April 1994, Inati Ntshanga '95 charged thatHUPD had falsely arrested him for trespassingafter he accused the department of harassment.

More recently, Michael Itagaki '97-'98 filedsuit against HUPD officers for humiliating him andviolating his Fourth Amendment rights.

Williamson said the worst thing about lastFriday's incident was not the police actionitself.

"The worst thing was that at first we weren'teven going to do anything," Williamson said."We've gotten so accustomed to the racialinsensitivity of the police that we didn't thinkabout it at first.

Tillery recalled an incident last year whenCambridge police ordered black sophomores to "goinside" and stop playing their music on the stepsof Claverly.

"I've seen white students playing guitar on thesteps of Claverly at three in the morning,"Tillery said. "This is a pattern, and it isdirectly related to who the police see outside."

Clark, Logan and Williamson said they areconsidering filing a class action lawsuit againstthe University if Harvard does not "take concreteaction to prevent this from happening again."Williamson, who is president of the Black StudentsAssociation (BSA), has pledged BSA support forsuch a lawsuit.

"This is a pervasive problem that most of theblack men on campus have dealt with," Clark said."I feel like the University hasn't made an effortto address this problem."

Clark said he would like to see the Universitytake steps to publicly address the problem ofpolice harassment.

"I would like to see the Cambridge police takenoff the Harvard beat," Clark said. "They don'tknow who the students are and that is the cause ofa lot of friction."

Clark and Logan have lived in Claverly Hall forthree years. Williamson has lived in Adams Housefor three years.

Epps said police harassment is an issue theUniversity takes seriously.

"[Harassment] was a problem with Harvard policein the past and I think we've made some progress,"Epps said. "We've been working very hard withthem."

The Harvard University Police Department (HUPD)has faced claims of racial harassment in the past.

In April 1994, Inati Ntshanga '95 charged thatHUPD had falsely arrested him for trespassingafter he accused the department of harassment.

More recently, Michael Itagaki '97-'98 filedsuit against HUPD officers for humiliating him andviolating his Fourth Amendment rights.

Williamson said the worst thing about lastFriday's incident was not the police actionitself.

"The worst thing was that at first we weren'teven going to do anything," Williamson said."We've gotten so accustomed to the racialinsensitivity of the police that we didn't thinkabout it at first.