PLAYING IT SAFER

Walking along the Charles, in the shadow of Harvard's bell towers, it is easy to be overcome by the serenity of the river.

But when a student is mugged, assaulted or raped, the peaceful vision of campus life is shattered and the startling reality sets in.

Cambridge police report 34 violent attacks in the city--which they classify as "Assault and Battery"--in the last eight months, with the majority having occurred on or near the Harvard campus.

Last year, thieves robbed suites in as varied places as Matthews Hall and Eliot House--in one instance stealing valuables from a room even as the victims slept.

Other students have been mugged near Mather House, and one girl reported that she was sexually assaulted on Linden St., near Adams House.

In petty theft, too, Cambridge was named in recent years the bike theft capital of the United States.

Harvard University Police (HUPD) Chief Francis D. "Bud" Riley, still in his first year at the helm, has tried to make community policing the buzz word in his department in hopes of increasing the level of protection around campus.

And, by all accounts, Riley's new initiatives are working.

Students have called the HUPD to praise the effectiveness of bike patrols instituted this summer and lauded Riley's commitment to integrating police into the Harvard community.

"It goes back to the old tradition of the beat cops, where everyone in the community knew the officers' names and what they were there to do," says Riley, adding that a record number of students have registered their bikes with the HUPD this year.

And by the end of the month Riley will appoint both a captain of crime prevention and officers to oversee all sectors, or beats, on campus.

These reforms are part of Riley's overall plan to revamp the image of the HUPD, which under his predecessor, Paul E. Johnson was plagued with accusations that officers were racist and insensitive to student concerns.

Riley has set as his goal the "integration of the campus community into the fabric of the safety system."

Policing the Cops

To ensure a productive dialogue between students and HUPD officers, a student-police advisory board will be formed for the first time ever this year.

The board will include five students, among them two from the Harvard Foundation, one representative from the Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Student Association (BGLSA), and two students that will be appointed by the Undergraduate Council.

The board was created last spring on the suggestion of three students: Marco B. Simons '97, Bridge E. McGaw '97 and Alicia Moretti '96.

"It's really an important step towards opening the channels of communication between students and police," says council Vice President Lamelle D. Rawlins '99.

Rawlins says the council's Student Affairs Committee will review applicants for its two board positions and make appointments within the next few weeks.

Student board member Ciara C. Torres '97, who will represent the BGLSA, says she hopes to increase police officers' awareness of gay issues.

Torres says one of the primary obstacles to the safety of gay students on campus is misinformation.

BGLSA Co-chair Jonathan Harlow '99 says while Harvard is gay-friendly, it is by no means a safe community.

"[Campus safety] is a concern of ours as people in the community who do face the risk of verbal and physical harassment," says Harlow. "Especially since a lot of times [the harassment] wouldn't be reported."

Torres says the advisory board will be an important forum for minority students' issues as well.

"I've had perfectly upstanding black students come to me and tell me how they've been stopped and asked for ID by HUPD [officers]," says Torres.

Director of the Harvard Foundation S. Allen Counter Jr. says he hopes to see the board facilitate discussions on race-related issues.

"Since [the Foundation] is focused on issues of racial and cultural diversity, as the College grows more diverse, we need to cultivate an understanding of what that means," says Counter. "This board will be an integral part of that process."

Although no final appointments have been made, Torres says she expects minority students to represent the Foundation on the board.

But Counter says minority students may not necessarily be chosen for the board, although any representative will have an awareness of race issues.

Takin' a Bite Out of Crime

While Riley says he looks forward to input from the advisory board, he says he hopes to make safety awareness the focus of his crime prevention strategy.

As part of that initiative, in the last six months Riley has put 12 officers on police bike patrols, installed new police emergency phones and updated the crime prevention technology available to his officers.

In cooperation with the Graduate School of Design and Harvard Planning and Real Estate, HUPD has developed detailed maps of crime on campus.

They have also set up a database to analyze from where calls for help are received so that Riley can reassign police beats to cover the parts of campus most sensitive to crime.

Riley says HUPD also plans to use the map-making technology to create a map for students that indicates the location of "blue light phones," as well as "preferred routes of travel."

"We try to be known as a hard target for professional criminals," says Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III.

"Police reaction time is two minutes and you should always be able to see a police car five minutes away from where you are," Epps says.

Epps says enhanced publicity campaigns and presentations have been crucial in tightening campus security this year.

As in years past, police handed out the "Playing It Safe" booklet and posted red safety flyers around campus.

But this year, Riley also set up a booth to register bikes as first-year students arrived and initiated safety presentations by police officers in numerous dorms and houses.

Riley says the initiatives are meant not only to educate students, but also to acquaint them with the officers.

Also an important part of improving campus policing, Riley says, is enhanced cooperation between the HUPD and the security guards.

"We are the eyes and ears of the police," says Superintendent of Security Calvin J. Kantor.

"Guards in the houses know most students by name," says Kantor. "If students don't feel comfortable talking to us, then there needs to be more education because that's how we get a lot of valuable information, from students themselves."

Officer Maureen Morrison says the success of community policing depends on students interacting with police officers.

Morrison, who helped found the Rape and Assault Defense training program (RAD) with officer Robert Sweetland in 1994, says students shouldn't feel intimidated by campus police.

"A lot of times students talk themselves out of calling by saying, 'Oh, someone else will call,' or by telling themselves it's nothing," she says.

"But I'd rather get there and have it be nothing than miss something important," says Morrison.

Women's Safety

The recent alleged sexual assault on Linden Street and the series of rapes reported near the Charles River last year renewed concern among female students regarding on-campus safety.

According to HUPD records, there have been four reported rapes in the campus area since last March and four cases of indecent assault and battery.

The RAD program, which includes two eight-hour-long sessions, is designed to help women confront safety issues in an urban environment.

The College administration endorsed the RAD program this fall by a approving a subsidy that enables undergraduate women to take the course for free.

"It's unfair that women should have to plan safe routes to the library, but it's true," says Assistant Dean of the College Virginia Mackay-Smith '78.

Mackay-Smith says one reason the College administration decided to fund the RAD program is the interest students have shown in increasing their knowledge of safety.

Morrison says that staying on one's guard and being constantly aware of one's surrounding are two of RAD's main principles.

"You can't focus on a specific place as dangerous really. You should just trust your instincts: If you feel unsafe about a place, don't go there. Awareness is a big part of the RAD program."

Students have taken the initiative to form safety organizations that both heighten awareness of safety issues on campus and deal practically with the realities of student life.

Members of the Radcliffe Union of Students founded the Harvard Alliance for Safety Training and Education, (HASTE) last October after a Cambridge woman was raped in broad daylight on the banks of the Charles. With Undergraduate Council support, HASTE became an independent campus organization and coordinated safety outreaches like the widely publicized Take Back the River Run.

Women can protect themselves from being victimized in the long run through educational programs like RAD and HASTE, but for day-to-day safety concerns, such as walking home late from the library, an escort service is essential.

Safetywalk is the only available pedestrian escort service at Harvard and it is coordinated and staffed by student volunteers. Although it operates on a volunteer basis, Safetywalk has had difficulty getting students to take advantage of the service.

After nearly folding due to lack of interest last year, Safetywalk organizers decided to provide walkers Sunday through Thursday from 12 p.m. to 4 a.m. as opposed to last year's 10 p.m. to 12 p.m. schedule.

"We're hopeful that more students will take advantage of the service now that we're available from 12 to 4," says Co-Director Karen M. Paik '99.

Walkers work on a volunteer basis, working in teams in cooperation with campus police.

RAD, HASTE and Safetywall heighten awareness and safety, but no program offers foolproof protection.

"Even on well-lit paths and at appropriate times, all we can do is take steps to reduce the odds," says Mackay-Smith.

University as Watchdog

In addition to enhanced police presence and availability of education programs, the College has played a key role in establishing a firm safety infrastructure.

Shuttle service hours have been extended this year and new buses have been purchased, Epps says.

For late-night transportation, students can also call the campus escort service that is managed by University Transportation Services.

General Manager of Shuttle and Fleet Management Services Peter Witt, who runs the escort service, says few students are aware of the service despite advertisements on shuttle schedules and the World-Wide Web.

"The number of students who call for vans is very sporadic," says Witt, who attributes the service's relative obscurity to the fact that individuals must call to request transportation.

"There are some students that come often, but we operate on a first come first serve basis," he says.

For students who choose to walk around campus, safety phones provide added protection.

This year the College has added eight new phones--at a cost of about $600 each--including two deluxe models, one of which is located in front of Loker Commons.

The second phone will be installed just outside Johnston Gate by the end of this year.

If these new phones are successful, five new units will be installed later this year and may eventually replace the older models.

The new models are both centrex and emergency phones and are equipped with strobe lights to attract the attention of police cars responding to a call, says Director of Yard Operations Merle Bicknell.

These high-tech phones are monitored by a computer system that automatically checks their operation and sensitivity every hour.

Bicknell says that the phones have internal heating devices to prevent the keypad from freezing over during the winter months.

"We received calls complaining the keypads were hard to operate in the cold, and we responded with the new style phones," says Bicknell.

Safe at Home

Perhaps the most jarring type of crime is home invasion and theft.

According to a flyer on dorm security distributed by HUPD, 99 percent of thefts from students' rooms are caused by leaving the suite door opened, ajar, or unlocked.

That means of the 97 burglaries committed last year, almost all were caused by student negligence.

"Our principle policy is that we have two locked doors between students and the street," Epps says.

"I haven't found an instance [of campus theft] yet where a door was kicked in," says Riley. "It's too easy for thieves to find an open door."

While key card access has had a positive impact on campus theft, students who don't lock their doors are jeopardizing the safety of others within their building, police say.

"There's a false sense of security within the houses that you can leave doors open," says Riley.

"But the policy is to have those two locked doors there to protect students, and when you leave your door open or let someone in [to the building] you're breaking one of the barriers," he says.

Installing key card access has reinforced the safety barriers provided to students by the College.

The administration has been gradually phasing in a key card access program over the past five years with the goal of becoming fully key card accessible by next September. The only houses which are not currently key card accessible are Cabot, DeWolfe and Winthrop House.

"The program has been phased in because of expense," said Epps. "But it has already had a dramatic impact in decreasing the number of on-campus thefts."

Riley says Yale campus police officers came to Harvard recently to evaluate the usefulness of key card access on the Yale campus.

Yale does not have key card access yet, but relies instead on mandatory safety information presentations and pedestrian escorts, says Lieutenant Anthony Diorio of Yale University Police Department.

Riley says he shares information and policing techniques with security officials, like Diorio, from across the nation.

In an urban setting like New Haven, the emphasis is on information sessions and student-run escorts. At the more suburban Princeton campus security tends to focus on transportation options and the prevention of bike theft.

Harvard, too, faces a bike theft epidemic. Last year, 299 bikes were stolen, down slightly from 316 in 1994.

"The thing that irks me is to see bikes stolen when there are such great locks available that insure for up to $1,000," says Bicknell.

Riley says HUPD will share a database of bike thefts with Cambridge police and MIT to help catch bicycle thieves more quickly. Riley says he expects the police bike patrol will also serve as a deterrent.

Aware and Alert

The best safety advice, police say, is to stay on your guard, avoiding places where you feel unsafe and always stopping to make sure there is a cruiser or safety phone along your route.

"It's very difficult to say certain areas on campus are unsafe, because everything's relative," says Riley.

"It's an urban area and we can't predict what a predator might do in an open space at 3 or 4 in the morning if a cruiser isn't around. People need to be aware and take precautions," he says.