24 Hours with HUPD

The public face Harvard shows to the world is a serene one: elegant libraries, commanding spires and stately brick facades.

But the men and women of the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) see a different Harvard. The stories they tell and the people they encounter will never appear in admissions brochures.

Harvard has all the problems of the big city around it. It relies on about 60 men and women, from those fresh out of college to others near retirement, to protect it from outsiders and, sometimes, from members of its own community.

HUPD prides itself on its smooth professionalism: it is a fully-charged police force with sworn, armed officers patrolling all day, every day. Instead of the security guards found at many colleges, Harvard's police department rivals any city's in its training and powers.

On any given day, HUPD officers patrol the campus in marked cruisers and unmarked cars, on motorcycles or bicycles and on foot. The department is on duty 24 hours a day, every day.

Last Wednesday, Sept. 6, was an average day at HUPD. As students trickled back onto campus, The Crimson joined officers for 24 hours.

It's been a busy summer--everything from an assault in the Square to an armed robbery near Mather House.

But the first watch takes over at midnight, the scanners are silent.

First Watch

12:08 a.m.-- The midnight-to-8 a.m. shift is HUPD's smallest, but officers are vigilant all night.

The shift supervisor flips through yesterday's incident reports, which contain details about arrests, crimes and new suspects. He reads the reports with the occasional joke.

The day's tasks become clear. Three criminals are on the prowl around Harvard. Near the Radcliffe Quad, a bike thief escaped during a recent foot pursuit. Another man has been breaking into the vending machines in the Law School's tunnels--every machine has been hit once. And the science labs have been the target of several larcenies in the last few days. The suspect in the larcenies is a 5-foot 10-inch 35-year-old black male. Everywhere this man goes, things seem to disappear.

Today's task: Find these three, arrest them and get them off the streets.

12:13 a.m.--Officer Andrew T. Gilbert slides behind the wheel of Car 296, an almost new Ford Crown Victoria. He flips the lights on, bleeps the siren once and tests the headlights.

"You don't want to be in the middle of a call and find out one of these doesn't work," he says.

He will cover Radcliffe and the Business School tonight, carrying him from the furthest athletic fields to Faculty Row above the Radcliffe Quad, from Storrow and Memorial Drives to the Somerville line.

His first stop is the athletic complex across the river. He walks from building to building, testing doors to make sure they are locked. One door swings wide open.

"This is a good thing I'm finding it before someone else does," Gilbert says.

He radios the dispatcher that he'll be conducting a search inside. But after looking in bathrooms, locker rooms, cinder-block hallways, and coaches' offices, he finds no one inside.

Back on the streets, most of his patrol will be spent watching sidewalks and alleys through the window.

While Gilbert is alone for much of his patrol, even on the graveyard shift he gets to know students. Undergraduates sit on the porches of Matthews and Weld Halls past 4 a.m. Later, as the sun rises over Boston Harbor, he'll offer escorts to varsity athletes headed to the Murr Center and nearby fields.

"I try to interact as much as possible," he says. "We're here for the students. We're here for the protection of the school."

Tonight, as the clock in the Square shows 2 a.m., a herd of tow trucks descends on Mass. Ave. The city sweeps the streets early in the morning, and anyone who has left their car out overnight faces a tow and a $100 fine. The tow trucks whoosh down the street like giant insects, pausing only briefly to grab a car before vanishing into the night.

2:48 a.m.--Gilbert parks outside Byerly Hall and heads into Radcliffe Yard. He's hoping to find the man who lurked around Byerly yesterday. But Gilbert has his priorities: before walking around the yard, he studies the sprinklers, trying to figure out which ones will go on next.

On quiet nights like tonight, two of his most potent enemies are sprinklers and roving skunks. One night, with the windows down, a sprinkler hit him squarely in the chest and face.

A skunk would be worse.

"You gotta keep your flashlight on, because you never know where you're going to find a skunk," he says.

2:59 a.m.-- Boston Herald workers fill paper boxes and toss freshly printed newspapers onto the sidewalk for newsstands. In another hour or so, the Globe will arrive; The Crimson hits the Square around 6 a.m.

3:03 a.m.--A motion alarm sounds across the river in Allston. Gilbert and his backup, Officer Terence Johns, race towards the site. Their blue strobes light up the darkened businesses, freezing them in the bright lights; the engine roars as Gilbert pilots his way across the river, screeching to a stop at the building within two minutes. He sees two Harvard employees just walking out as he pulls up. It takes 10 minutes to search the building--nothing is amiss.

"They probably just didn't make it out in time after setting the alarm," Gilbert says. But he'll return to the site later in the night. He eventually decides that the heating system was at fault.

Second Watch

The 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift is similar to that of any day job. Much larger than the midnight shift, HUPD's daytime officers watch over Harvard offices and students as they head to class.

The Longwood campus in Boston--which includes the Medical School, the Dental School, the School of Public Health and numerous Harvard-run institutes--is compact but jumbled. A half-dozen hospitals share the surrounding area with a half-dozen other colleges. All have security, but not all have police forces. Boston police, the Boston municipal police force, park rangers and transit police have stations nearby, and everyone shares responsibility for the area.

"If someone is in need of assistance, they don't really distinguish between the uniforms," Sullivan says.

8:46 a.m.--At HUPD's substation on Longwood Ave., the morning shift discusses the day. It's a small three-room station, dominated by a fish tank belonging to commanding officer Sergeant Arthur St. Andre. It's peaceful in the tank now, but once a tiny shark ate a couple of other fish. Patrolman James P. Sullivan explains that as soon as the shark got "belligerent," he had to be removed.

"We don't want a hostile environment anywhere here--even if it's in a fish tank," Sullivan explains.

Sullivan has been with HUPD longer than anyone else on the force. This week, he'll celebrate his 34th year with the department. His badge, given to the most senior officer, is number 01. Everyone else says it as "old-one."

"I guess that just comes with the badge," says the 57-year-old.

8:58 a.m.--Patrolman Stephan T. O'Connor, a two-year veteran of the force, heads out on foot patrol. The sun is just beginning to warm the chilly morning air.

Patrolling a major research facility poses some unique problems. Longwood is the land of a thousand labs--literally--where each room has an sticker warning about the flammability and toxicity of the chemicals inside. O'Connor and the other Longwood officers keep a special watch on the animal research labs, targets of numerous protests and threats.

He's only been stationed full-time at the Longwood campus for about six weeks, but loves the area.

"The time goes by a lot quicker here," he says. "If I can prevent a crime just by being visible, that's fantastic. If you prevent just a couple a week, it quickly adds up."

10:07 a.m.--As O'Connor leaves Vanderbilt Hall, where many medical school students live, he notices an ambulance parked across the street with lights flashing. Dodging the heavy morning traffic, he meets a paramedic trying to find the Mudd building. There, a man is bleeding from a head injury.

O'Connor trots towards Mudd while the medic pulls the ambulance around. Inside, a janitor is cleaning up the blood where a man hit his head after slipping. Co-workers stand nervously outside the door, waiting for news. O'Connor tries to figure out what happened while the paramedics carry the man to the ambulance--right out an alarmed emergency exit. O'Connor finishes his interviews with the alarm buzzing loudly in the background.

11:08 a.m.--In his patrol car, Sullivan loops out past Fenway Park, a Boston landmark he's been attending for over half a century.

Sullivan has seen many changes to the police department and policing in general in his three decades as a cop. When he went through the academy back in the '60s, for instance, domestic violence was never mentioned.

1:56 p.m.--While the Longwood officers continue routine patrols, one of HUPD's specialized units begins its fieldwork back in Cambridge.

Detectives Paul Westlund and David Burns, of the Criminal Investigation Division, leave HUPD's 29 Garden St. headquarters for the Harvard Sailing Center near MIT, where a wallet was stolen a few days ago. Thanks to a surveillance camera in a store where a stolen credit card was used, the detectives have identified a suspect.

"When you see a crime like this, you can start narrowing down some suspects," Westlund says. "Not everyone does this."

HUPD has five full-time detectives, including Westlund and Burns, in the division. The detectives don't do daily patrols. Instead, they take a longer view, following up on thefts and robberies and hunting for patterns.

A photo array does not positively identify a suspect in the Sailing Center theft, but the detectives remain hopeful as they head back to the station.

2:50 p.m.--Westlund happens upon a minor motor vehicle accident on JFK Drive and offers help.

2:57 p.m.--The report they've been waiting for all day finally comes in: someone matching the description of the lab larcenies has been spotted near Mallinckrodt Chemistry Lab. The report is about 20 minutes old, the dispatcher reports; a few minutes later, another officer radios that the man has boarded an MBTA bus.

Officers take off in pursuit, radioing for permission to stop the bus. Permission is granted after the units pass over the Somerville line. Officer Scott Green flashes his lights to get the bus driver's attention.

Green pulls the man off the bus and it drives off. Westlund and Burns interview him. But it's a false alarm--the wrong man, they decide.

Maybe next time, everyone hopes.

"The thing about Harvard is that because it's an open campus, you can get in and out pretty easily," Westlund sighs as he drives back towards 29 Garden.

3:37 p.m.-- He's almost to the garage when the radio crackles with a fresh report. Again a suspicious person is reported in the Mallinckrodt lab area. The lights flash and sirens wail anew. The description is the same as earlier. This time, the report is about five minutes old. The voice on the radio tingles with excitement.

"I've got a witness who places him in the building in the last couple of minutes!" an officer radios triumphantly.

Units begin circling, drawing the noose tighter. Burns hops out of the car as Westlund circles a nearby parking lot, just waiting for a sighting.

Officer Julie Bates radios that she's located the suspect and is in foot pursuit--words that throw the other units into high gear. Westlund races up and down Oxford St. in the unmarked cruiser, shouting "Where are you? Where are you?"

Suddenly, the chase crosses the road--a flash of gray and blue followed by the blur of Bates's black uniform.

"There they are!" Other units are pouring into the area.

Tires squealing, Westlund pulls up next to the lab and jumps out of his car, racing into the Lyman Physics Lab.

Two other detectives materialize outside the building, one taking the wheel of Westlund's car and racing around to the edge of the Law School Quad. Students leap out of the way as it barrels around the lab.

This one will not get away, everyone swears.

Detective Sergeant Richard Mederos coordinates the search from the Quad. Officers block off the exits of Lyman and the Croft Applied Science Lab, which are connected by an overhead tunnel.

Sergeant James L. McCarthy, the daytime shift supervisor, bounds down the road and into Croft, followed closely by another officer.

"He's got to still be in there," Mederos yells to no one in particular.

It's almost 4 p.m., time for the shift change, and officers working the 4-midnight shift are already waiting at HUPD headquarters. With all the cruisers out on the chase, they are left to their own devices to reach the scene. For many, the only means of transportation is running.

Officers, who haven't had time to change into uniforms, arrive at the scene in their civilian clothes--no badge, no gun, no radio, nothing but pounding adrenaline. They race into the building anyway. An old small car screeches to a halt and three officers dive out. One cop after another runs across the quad and inside.

Curious onlookers gather around the building, wondering what could possibly attract such a full-scale police response.

They begin a floor-to-floor search. Westlund finds the suspect hunkered down in one of the labs.

"I've located the suspect," he radios, followed moments later by, "I have him in custody." Frantic yells echo up and down the hallways as officers try to find each other in the huge building.

A cruiser backs up to a loading dock, and the suspect, handcuffed, is escorted to the car.

All the while, a father and son drive up and down outside Croft, trapped by the excitement: "They've blocked off all the exits," the father says forlornly.

Slowly, the officers trickle out of the lab and pile into the police cruisers.

"Outstanding job everybody," the radio crackles.

Back at 29 Garden, the garage is a jumble of cars as the shift change takes place and detectives and officers flood back into the building. McCarthy and Burns lead the suspect into the booking room to be processed.

There's plenty of incriminating evidence: A gray backpack found at the scene contains an assortment of electronics, including one laptop with the words "Property of Harvard University" written on it.

Detectives almost immediately hit the jackpot in the interrogation room. After being read his rights, the suspect voluntarily incriminates himself in other Harvard larcenies. Later, victims will be able to identify some of the stolen items.

By the evening's end, Dirk Q. Roderick, 41, of Mattapan will be transferred to a Cambridge police holding cell and charged with one felony, larceny in a building, and two misdemeanors, receiving stolen property over $250 and trespassing. The Criminal Investigation Division will continue its investigation in the coming days and consider additional charges.

But tonight is a time for celebration. Harvard is safer tonight, officers say. And that's what it is all about.

Third Watch

5:17 p.m.--Officer Amy DiVirgilio races towards the Quad, where a caller just reported a belligerent motorist in a blue Saab traveling the wrong way down the street.

DiVirgilio, a former Marine, came on the force last year. She's angry.

"I'd love to find him and have a little chat with him," she says. "I really don't like mean people. Anyone can make a mistake and drive the wrong way, but you have no right to be mean."

Almost every free moment of the next couple of hours will be devoted to searching for the blue Saab. Prowling near the Hi-Rise bakery, out on Mass. Ave. and down in the Square, DiVirgilio keeps watching for the car.

In the meantime, she revels in this afternoon's arrest--a foot pursuit that ended the way it's supposed to.

DiVirgilio's latest chase didn't end that way. Last weekend, a suspected bike thief outran the former Marine. Standing near Currier House, as officers fanned out across the Quad looking for the suspect, she muttered, "I'll get you."

Hiding in a nearby bush, the suspect thought DiVirgilio had spotted him and took off running. But in the ensuing foot pursuit, the thief got away.

Still, DiVirgilio has a good idea who he was, since she says she's seen his friends around the Quad in the days since.

"He'll be back," she says. "Then we'll get him."

7:04 p.m.--Officer Bates finishes processing the Roderick arrest and heads home, three hours after her shift ended. The extra time was worth it, she says--two laptops, a wallet and other computer equipment will be returned to their rightful owners.

8:56 p.m.--Officer Louis Favreau roams campus on foot, watching carefully. To all but the most intense scrutiny, he appears to be a college student, wearing a sweatshirt and jeans. On nights like tonight, when he's working undercover and everything is okay, he can pass an entire shift without being noticed. But last week, a drug dealer learned the hard way not to sell drugs under the nose of HUPD's plainclothes unit.

Favreau and Officer Brian Spellman were standing outside Store 24 in the Square when they witnessed a marijuana sale within arms' reach. The drug dealer and buyer looked shocked when they ended up in handcuffs, Favreau remembers.

While he does witness things no uniformed officer would see, foot patrol does have its drawbacks: no car.

"There's no rapid response for me," he laughs.

11:24 p.m.--Favreau heads into the Law School tunnels, checking to see whether the vending machine thief has struck again. Everything appears to be order, and Favreau buys a soda himself. They won't catch him tonight, but with one suspect locked up in the Cambridge jail, HUPD is still happy with the day's work.

11:43 p.m.--The shift supervisor radios that all units can return to the station. The third watch is over.

And so begins another day at Harvard. Now, it's Officer Gilbert's turn again. Within minutes, he'll be back out on the street, searching, his eyes sweeping side to side. Tomorrow's midnight shift has begun.