Have a Warrant?

When a Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) officer knocks on a student’s door and asks to search his or her room, most students instinctively comply. When an officer asks “May I come in?” many students seem to ignore or forget the possibility of answering “no.”

This may be because many students are unsure whether HUPD officers even need a warrant to conduct searches on University property. According to Wesley Oliver, Climenko fellow and Thayer lecturer at Harvard Law School, officers do need a warrant—and we agree that HUPD, as a deputized police force, ought to be subject to the same constitutional limits under which public police must operate. However, since an individual’s consent is as good as a warrant, students may unwittingly be stripping themselves of vital constitutional protections when they let officers poke around. We call on the College to clarify this situation by making all students aware of their rights in relation to HUPD.

In two recent drug-related room searches—two of which ended in arrests—officers had not obtained warrants before attempting to search dorm rooms. In both cases, a warrant proved unnecessary when the students consented to have their rooms searched. And in both cases, not insubstantial quantities of illegal drugs were found, potentially leading to serious legal consequences for the students involved. While we are not questioning the propriety of HUPD’s actions, we are concerned that the students may not have known of their right to refuse entry to an officer without a warrant.

Students’ confusion may arise due to ambiguity over HUPD’s role within the University. On the one hand, HUPD is a branch of Harvard, privately funded and operated. On the other, HUPD officers are sworn special state police officers and are deputies of the Suffolk and Middlesex County Sheriff’s offices. Because of this, searches by HUPD carry the same consequences as searches by the Cambridge Police Department and ought to be subject to the same constitutional limits as any other police search. As officers of the University, resident deans may search a dorm without a warrant; as officers of the state, HUPD may not. This distinction must be clarified for students in order to prevent unwitting self-incrimination.

We also appreciate that students enjoy a special relationship with HUPD, whose discretion and sensitivity regarding the nature of their constituency can be invaluable to students. We hope and believe that greater awareness of their rights on the part of students need not lead to a more officious or calcified interaction between students and HUPD.

During freshman orientation and every term when students register for courses, the College reminds students of the state’s alcohol policy, voting registration guidelines, and other important information. Such avenues should also be explored to inform students of their rights in potentially legally hazardous situations. When a student opens her door to find a HUPD officer intent on searching the room, she should be aware of her constitutional right to refuse in the absence of a warrant.