NEWS IN BRIEF: Harvard Campus Escorts Witness Assault

Two Harvard campus escorts witnessed an assault at the intersection of JFK and Mt. Auburn Streets while on duty around midnight on Saturday, April 16, and alerted the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD), who dispatched two officers to the scene.

According to HUPD Spokesman Steven G. Catalano, upon arrival the HUPD officers stopped and questioned the two individuals pointed out by the Harvard University Campus Escort Program (HUCEP) workers. They determined that one party had been assaulting the other, although the victim did not want to press charges.

Neither party in the assault had any Harvard affiliation.

Catalano said that the incident is an additional benefit of HUCEP, a campus safety program developed by the College and HUPD in which teams of undergraduates or graduate students provide walking escorts to students and faculty after dark.

“I think it’s a good example of the secondary benefit that HUCEP provides to the Harvard community and the Harvard Square community in general, in addition to having the walkers available to escort,” he said. “On any given night four to six more people are out there on the street observing things in the community, and with the ability and access to get that information to the police very quickly.”

—REED B. RAYMAN