HUPD Prepares for New Locale

The Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) will soon move from its 29 Garden St. location to a University office building at 1033 Mass. Ave.

HUPD will relocate on Feb. 1 due to the start of structural renovations on the old building that have been held off for several years.

The move has some concerned because the new headquarters is farther away from the student-traveled route between Harvard Yard and the Radcliffe Quad. But it is a concern that HUPD Chief Francis D. “Bud” Riley said “couldn’t be addressed.”

“We would obviously like to be in the center of everything, but location is just one consideration,” Riley said. He cited other needs such as an underground garage and facilities to store contraband as issues the Harvard Real Estate Department had to consider in its search for a new location for HUPD.

Another concern is that the department is located on the sixth floor of the building, yet another factor that hinders student access.

“Being on the sixth floor is not optimal in terms of traditional police space, but it was the space most suitable for us,” Riley said.

Riley said the nature of the campus security has changed over the past few years, changes that impact the impending move.

“Undergraduates are not our only concern, and there are important staff and graduate facilities in the [new] area,” he said.

But Riley said HUPD does not plan to abandon the Harvard Square to Quad circuit—a new sub-station will remain in the current location, ensuring a police presence on the corridor.

The move will also force the police department to rely more heavily on their sub-stations for day-to-day operations. They are currently located in Weld Hall and in Cabot and Quincy Houses.

“The sub-stations haven’t been utilized to the extent that they should be,” Riley said. “Having to rely on them more will hopefully help create the kind of community police atmosphere I have been advocating.”

Riley said HUPD plans on increasing the staff and hours of operation of the sub-stations to make them more effective. In the past, sub-stations have been used primarily for officers to file reports and less as active branches of the department.

Riley said that while there are no plans to move back into the Garden Street location after the renovation is completed, the new location is by no means permanent. He even raised the possibility of another future move.

“This is not a final destination. Within the next 10 years there is going to be a lot of changes in the infrastructure of the University,” he said. “Senior officials at the University know we are on the lookout for a better space.”

Cabot resident Katharine S. Dain ’04 said the impending move does not disturb her.

“The station is just another thing I pass by on my way to the Quad,” she said.

But other Quad residents expressed reservations about the move.

“While I have never felt threatened walking to and from the Quad, I might rethink walking and take the shuttle from now on,” said Cabot resident Hilary C. Robinson ’03.

—Staff writer Jessica E. Vascellaro can be reached at vascell@fas.harvard.edu.