Profiling and Harvard police

The Boston Globe
September 2, 2008

IF UNADDRESSED and unresolved, the intermittent charges of racial profiling on the part of Harvard University police officers could undermine confidence in the nation's top- ranked educational institution. University president Drew Gilpin Faust made a smart move last week by turning to an independent police review committee for answers.
There should be plenty of research opportunities for former Suffolk County district attorney Ralph Martin, who is heading the six-member committee. Black students and faculty at Harvard complain that they draw unwarranted police attention. Police queried students at a field day last year sponsored by two black student groups, though the participants had a permit. A prominent black professor has been mistaken for a robbery suspect. Last month, two Harvard officers were placed on administrative leave after a confrontation with a black high school student who was working on campus.
Harvard Police officers receive the same academy training given to recruits who join major municipal police departments. And minority officers comprise a respectable 22 percent of the 65-member force. But that is no guarantee of success when dealing with the concerns of minorities on or off campus. The Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association is now designing a curriculum to counter racial profiling with help from the State Police and police leaders from Boston, Woburn, Brookline and other municipalities. University police at Harvard and elsewhere should be integrated into this effort.
The age and experience of campus police officers could be a significant factor, according to Northeastern University criminologist Jack McDevitt, a national specialist on racial profiling. Campus officers who are marking time while awaiting appointments to city police departments, says McDevitt, may be inviting problems by looking for action where little exists. Universities often fare better with older or more experienced officers whose idea of a good day runs more along the line of helping a foreign dignitary than conducting a foot chase. [To read the entire editorial, go to: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2008/09/02/profiling_and_harvard_police/ ]