Police Chief 'Reaches Out' To Refute Racism Charge

As part of his attempt to "reach out to the students at Harvard." Police Chief Paul E. Johnson last night attended a general meeting of the Black Students' Association (BSA) to discuss recent widespread allegations of racism among members of the Harvard Police force.

Although he said that individual officers may harbor discriminatory thoughts, Johnson reiterated his earlier denials of any personal knowledge of overtly racist incidents.

"The only way I find out about these incidents is when you bring them to my attention." Johnson told BSA members. "I'm hoping that if I talk to enough student groups, people will feel comfortable coming to me with complaints," he added.

Johnson explained that while the deparment has no formal policy defining what constitutes racist action, his officers are expected to act "professionally" at all times. In an instance last November, one of three which recently have provoked charges of racism, Harvard police stopped a Black student on the street, treated him roughly and neglected to apologize after the student was cleared of suspicion:

"In that instance the officers acted unprofessionally, and I reprimanded them for it and sent a formal letter of apology to the student involved." Johnson said.

In addition to answering questions from the floor. Johnson distributed an outline of the department's complaint procedure.

Only a little over a dozen students attended last night's meeting with Johnson.

Dissatisfaction

But BSA leaders said last night they were dissatisfied with the chief's proposals. "He seems willing to communicate, but we would like to see an official department policy outlining professionalism," said BSA President Timothy A. Wilkins '86.

BSA Vice-President Anthony A. Ball '86 proposed that his group print a statement of their feelings about police behavior and give it to all members of the police force.

Johnson said he would be willing to help distribute it, and Wilkins said the BSA executive board would address the issue at is weekly meeting today.

But Johnson cautioned the students about the potential limited effectiveness of a written statement. "I can give it to my officers, but I can't make them read it," the chief said.

Johnson added that some Harvard police do harbor ingrained racist attitudes, bet said he was working to "get rid of the bad apples." He added, "Direction must be taken from the top. If the boss won't tolerate such behavior, the officers won't do it."

Curently, 12 percent of the 65-member Harvard police force are minority officers, Johnson said, adding that he will be hiring new staff next month and that one of his goals is to increase minority representation in the department.

The Harvard Police, along with their Cambridge counterparts, came under fire earlier this year after three allegedly racist incidents occurred within three months.

Cambridge officials decided to set up a committee to review the incidents, and started proceedings to form a citizens' board to permanently keep an eye on police activities.

Johnson, who has held his office since December, had appeared before the Cambridge City Council and several other groups of Harvard students to discuss department attitudes