Following a study of the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) by a community policing expert, Vice President and General Counsel Anne Taylor this week restructured the HUPD to better reflect the needs and realities of the community policing program. Among other things, the department will increase the number of officers patrolling the campus and reduce the number of management positions, all part of an effort to increase the size and the responsibility of the community policing teams.

Taylor's changes involved eliminating seven lieutenant positions, creating four new administrators, and adding new patrol officers on campus.

The changes were recommended in a report prepared by George L. Kelling, a Rutgers University criminal justice professor and a research fellow at the Kennedy School of Government. The report, which detailed acrimonious relationships within the department, resistance to community policing by some mid-level managers, and a history of complaints from the University community, was delivered to Taylor in the fall, and was released to the full Police Department this week.

"Nothing is more important to this university than the safety and security of its people," said President Neil L. Rudenstine. "Our commitment to community policing has produced concrete improvements: a reduction in campus-wide crime and a new level of cooperation and involvement with the people whom the police are here to serve. I am confident that continued efforts to implement the community policing program will lead to even more improvements in the police force and its goal of preventing serious crime, and we have committed substantial additional resources toward that effort."

The "community policing" program emphasizes:

*Familiarity with the community through a "neighborhood beat cop" system that builds on frequent, positive interactions with students, faculty, staff, and visitors.

*A concentration on crime prevention designed to meet the unique needs of the Harvard community.

*A team approach to problem-solving, beginning at the patrol officer level, with collaborative citizen involvement.

*Increased training at all levels of the department, with a variety of public safety programs available to the community.

*A unified management philosophy governing decision-making at all

levels of the department.

The changes, and the series of decisions that led up to them, are detailed in a special report, Community Policing at Harvard University: Changing Strategies for Changing Times, contained inside this week's Gazette, and at http://www.news.harvard.edu. Schools or departments wishing to obtain extra copies of the report may contact John Mich at (617) 495-1585.