Harvard University Police Department

The Harvard University Police Department (HUPD), a private police agency of Harvard University, is a full-service police department responsible for the safety and security of students, faculty, staff, and visitors at the university’s Cambridge and Boston campuses.  The HUPD’s chief of police, since 1996, is Francis D. “Bud” Riley.[1]  The chief performs his duties under the direction of the university’s general counsel,[2] Robert W. Iuliano.[3]

HUPD Cruiser parked on Longwood Avenue in Boston
Harvard University Police
Agency overview
JurisdictionAll property owned or used by Harvard University
Employees80+ Sworn Officers
Agency executive
  • Chief Francis "Bud" Riley
WebsiteHarvard University Police

Divisions
  • Patrol Division
  • Criminal Investigation Division
  • Dignitary Protection Unit[4]

Law Enforcement Authority

All sworn members of the Harvard University Police Department are sworn as special state police officers under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 22C Section 63.[5] This gives them full powers of arrest in and upon all property owned or controlled by Harvard University.[6] Additionally, all officers hold commissions as deputy sheriffs for Middlesex County and Suffolk County, which gives them powers of arrest throughout Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston, where Harvard has facilities.[5]

Police logs controversy

The HUPD has been the target of requests for greater transparency in the records it keeps or publishes about its officers’ actions.[7][8] This culminated in The Harvard Crimson v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, et al. in 2003 where the Harvard student daily newspaper filed suit against HUPD in Massachusetts Superior Court.  The case was ultimately transferred to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court[9] and won by the University in January 2006.[10]

In January 2007 a bill, H. 3249,[11] was introduced in the Massachusetts legislature that would provide greater access to records at all private police departments throughout the state, including campus and hospital police.[12][13] An amended version passed the Senate and proceeded to a third reading in the House but was not enacted.[14]

MuckRock, a media site and site built around helping make Freedom of Information Act requests, noted in 2014 and 2019 that it remained very difficult to extract public documents from the HUPD.[15][16]

gollark: Well, it just prints them out and saves the best/worst so far.
gollark: This is from a while ago.
gollark: Using the objective ethics algorithm. I have a screenshot somewhere.
gollark: It's up to about half a million.
gollark: 3 is probably ethically neutral, I forget.

See also

References
  1. Playing It Safe: A Guide for Keeping Safe at Harvard Harvard Univ. Police Dep’t, 2007–2008, (Cambridge: HUPD, 2007)
  2. Harvard University Fact Book 2007-2008 Harvard Univ. Office of Budgets, Fin. Planning & Inst’l Research, (2007)
  3. Iuliano Named Harvard’s Vice President and General Counsel Harv. U. Gazette, July 17, 2003, online ed.
  4. Harvard Police Dept. May Reorganize Soon Joshua A. Gerstein, Harv. Crimson, Oct. 2, 1990, online ed., para. 3
  5. "About". Retrieved 2018-04-21.
  6. "Section 63". malegislature.gov. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
  7. Police at three private schools block access to police records (Winter 2003-04, XXV, No. 1, P.17 ). Student Press Law Center. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
  8. Crime under wraps A look at why administrators at some prestigious schools are reluctant to give out incident reports (Winter 2005-06, XXVII, No. 1, P.33 ). Student Press Law Center. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
  9. Harvard Crimson, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, et al., No. SJC-09434, Full text (2006). Findlaw.com. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
  10. Harvard campus police reports not subject to open records law, court rules Archived 2007-08-08 at the Wayback Machine(2006-01-13). Student Press Law Center. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
  11. College Police Officers Records Inspection Bill, H. 3249 185th Gen. Ct., 1st Sess. (Mass. 2007)
  12. College Police Officers Records Inspection Bill, H. 3249, 185th Gen. Ct., 1st Sess. (Mass. 2007), in Commw. of Mass. Gen. Ct., Bill Histories
  13. Private Colleges Would Open Police Records with State Bill Stephanie Perry, Daily Free Press (Boston U.), Apr. 18, 2008, online ed.
  14. College Police Officers Records Inspection Bill, S. 2657, 185th Gen. Ct., 2nd Sess. (Mass. 2008), in Commw. of Mass. Gen. Ct., Bill Histories
  15. Brown, JPat (27 October 2014). "Cambridge wants $3,648 for emails between Harvard University Police and the CPD". MuckRock.
  16. Brown, Jpat (18 September 2019). "I paid $125 for this photo of Angela Merkel". MuckRock.

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