Forty members of the student security patrol have charged the University police officer who supervises the force with favoritism and with fostering what they call an atmosphere of distrust on the patrol.

In a letter dated April 10, the students--who comprise more than a third of the patrol's membership--charge that Captain George L. Walsh violated affirmative action guidelines and standard practices when he appointed a student as "roving field supervisor" this spring.

Vacancies in student supervisory positions have previously been widely circulated so that members of the force can submit their names for consideration. However, Walsh announced the appointment of Richard E. Schlaudroff '76 without previously publicizing the creation of the roving position.

Walsh yesterday declined comment on the students' letter, but said he plans to respond to the students in the near future.

David L. Gorski, director of University police and security declined yesterday to comment on the affair because he has not yet read either the letter or Walsh's rebuttal.

Schlaudroff said yesterday he was appointed to the new position because he had proposed its creation and was qualified to fill it. He said the job will cut down costs on the force by decreasing the number of supervisors necessary.

The students also charge that Schlaudroff was made student supervisor of one unit illegally even before he was made roving supervisor, because they charge that vacancy was never publicized.

But Schlaudroff said he was given that position because it was vacated in the middle of the semester when the previous supervisor left the College.

"It seems to me that even given that there is certain favoritism in student security--which I don't believe--the fact that you put up a list doesn't preclude favoritism," he said.

Walter J. Leonard, special assistant to President Bok for affirmative action, said yesterday that Harvard's affirmative action guidelines apply to all hiring in the University.

Posting job openings is a way of ensuring fairness in hiring, he added.

One student who signed the confidential letter to Walsh said yesterday, "Our primary objection is that it is a case of favoritism."

"But the main problem is the lack of a spirit of cooperation," the student, who asked not to be named, said.

The establishment of the position followed a series of memoranda from Walsh to the force calling for tighter discipline among patrol members.

In one memo, Walsh called the patrol's performance "very disappointing," and suggested that it lost a route recently through "the lack of interest and responsibility of some of the students on that route."

The students' letter to Walsh charges that Walsh has ignored what it calls "the larger reason" for the loss of routes, "the University's overall economic difficulties."

"The comparison of SSP (Student Security Patrol)"--which is staffed by students on financial aid--"to a company that offers security students to its clients is a false analogy," the letter states.

A student who signed the letter said, "It's possible that a certain number of people are not doing their jobs, but the atmosphere of distrust creates a negative response" to discipline.

In the letter, Schlaudroff's appointment is described as "a manifestation of the deterioration of relations in the SSP." The letter goes on to suggest that no student should be given "unrestricted authority" over other members of the force.

Schlaudroff said he has the power only to report to Walsh, and to make recommendations on disciplinary action. He said he has never recommended that a student be removed from the patrol, although he said he has found several tardy or absent from their posts.

The letter recommends the creation of a liaison committee, composed of both supervisory and non-supervisory members, to deal with grievances like those detailed in the letter.

Several students who signed the letter declined comment yesterday, because they said they hope to avoid increasing conflict within the force.

The patrol was investigated last year, following the disclosure of alleged mismanagement by senior student supervisors. Walsh's appointment to head the force was in part a response to that criticism