|
Crime Data
Recently published data reveal that violent crime at Harvard has been increasing.
The total number of reported violent crimes at Harvard rose from 205 in 2001
to 236 in 2002. The sharpest increase was in the number of robberies,
which rose from 97 to 118.
There doesnt seem to be any real evidence of either a decrease or an increase
in the rate of reporting by robbery victims. The number of students
enrolled at Harvard grew by +3.7%; other factors
remaining constant, the risk of becoming a victim of a robbery at Harvard
increased
by +17.3% over
a single year.
risk = C ื (number of violent crimes reported) / (number
of students enrolled)
A cautionary note on the crime data: “The statistics represent alleged criminal
offenses reported to campus security authorities or local
police agencies. Therefore,
the data collected do not necessarily reflect prosecutions or convictions for
crime.”
Sources:
Harvard Univ., Financial Report to the Board
of Overseers of Harvard College, 2001-02 ed. (Oct. 2002) 12.
“Information & Services,” Playing
It Safe: A Guide for Keeping Safe at Harvard, 2003-04 ed., Aug. 2003, Harvard
Univ. Police Dept., <http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/2003-2004_Playingitsafe.pdf> 37-39.
U.S. Dept. of Educ., Office of Postsecondary Educ., Campus
Crime and Security at Postsecondary Education Institutions, 2002,
<http://ope.ed.gov/security/>.
--, --, OPE
Campus Security Statistics, 2002, <http://ope.ed.gov/security/Search.asp>.
The most radical shift in Harvard’s security policy over the last few
years has been the replacement of Harvard’s directly employed union
security guards with nonunion temp workers employed by an outside security-service
vendor. The
decision to introduce this new outsourcing policy is often attributed
to Chief Francis Riley.
Francis “Bud” Riley, a 24-year veteran of the Massachusetts State
Police, took office as Harvard’s director of police and security in January
1996. In the three years since, Riley has instituted a number of
community policing programs at Harvard.
John Lenger, assistant director of
the Harvard News Office,
spoke with Riley to get a progress report on how community policing is working
at Harvard.
Q:
What else did you do to involve the community?
RILEY:
I wanted to do team policing, and have the students and faculty and
staff know the officers,
and the students and the faculty and staff would
have a sense of connection to the police because they would know each other.
Q: How does this affect the security guards’ role in this model?
RILEY: The community policing model is based on a team structure to supplement
and work with the police officers. Security guards, whether they
are in-house guards or contract guards, are part of that team along with students,
senior
tutors, building managers and others in the community. One of the
benefits of this model is that, in a team effort, security and support to the
police
officers is not dependent on any one element.
Q: But there have been a lot of stories in the student press about
the reduction
in the number of guards and the effect on campus safety. Aren’t these
legitimate concerns?
RILEY: As I said, this is a team effort that does not rely on one particular
unit.
Source: “Community Policing: Questions and Answers,” Community
Policing at Harvard University: Changing Strategies for Changing Times,
1999, Specials, 16 Dec. 2002, Harvard University News Office, 2003 <http://www.hno.harvard.edu/specials/policing/bud.riley.html>.
While Chief Riley was clearly given the authority to implement the radical
new policy of removing Harvard’s own unionized security guards, the decision
to introduce this policy was undoubtedly made
by upper
management before the chief ever arrived here.
The individual bearing the
greatest responsibility for the security of the Harvard community is the
Vice President for Police and Security. Robert
Iuliano ’83, a former labor-law specialist who predated Chief
Riley by two years, is now serving in this capacity under the Summers administration. By
all accounts an honest and competent attorney, the new General
Counsel has made a serious mistake by failing to reverse his predecessor’s
misguided policies.
Upper management has sacrificed the security of the Harvard community
in a futile campaign to break Harvard’s own independent security workers’ union.
As management was reducing the number of
union security guards on campus from 62 in
1998 to 18 in 2002, the rate of violent crime per student was increasing
by 21 percent.
Every month (during the academic year), about nine or ten robberies and assaults with a weapon are reported
at the Cambridge campus of Harvard University.
Without a complement of experienced, committed security guards providing
support for its patrol officers, how effectively can the university protect
the
safety of its students and employees? The recent data are
sobering.
|
