Cambridge--"Car 2 to base...a and b at the corner of Bow and Mass Ave." O'Hare cruises up Bow St. It's Fathers Six, again. Three Cambridge and four Harvard cruisers are already outside, lights flashing. A crowd collects. A woman, clouded by the Saturday night V.O.'s, grabs her boyfriend and cries. In the midst of the sea of navy jackets, a 20-year-old with blood all over his shirt holds his hand against an eye. Harvard police, equipped with first aid, attempt to help him. Cambridge calls an ambulance. He staggers away...he wants no part of it. Harvard police clear. It will go down as another assist.
Each call the police respond to produces an incident card for the computer and a report from the responsible officer. The supervisor for the evening, known as the watch commander, returns to Grays Hall throughout the shift to look over the reports and check for accuracy and the possible ommission of vital facts. He signs the incident cards. The chief will receive the reports the following day, as will the heads of the sub-units in the department.
The Harvard-owned area is divided into sectors--each policed by at least one cruiser. The Medical School and Peabody Terrace have their own so called "teams," which basically operate as separate units. "There isn't a day that goes by that we don't have a call on larcenies," Dougherty says, commenting on the Med School area. "The thefts really started in 1966...Some of the things that routinely happen now would be the subject of conversation for a week, then," Dougherty says.
In addition to the outside course instruction offerings, the police will be receiving some "in-house" training, Chafin says. He plans to personally train the crime prevention unit to improve their skills in burglar, murder, rape, larceny and assault investigation. In the future, Chafin believes there will be a rape prevention unit. "Paramount to the development of this is the hiring of women police officers and the creation of a 24-hour rape line," Chafin says.
The police are fast becoming a very professional force, thanks to new leadership and additional years of officer experience. But the humanness has not left--the friendly cop image still persists, as one officer gets out of his car to help a blind person across the street and another says hi to practically everyone on his beat. They take a sort of laissez-faire attitude toward student indiscretions within the privacy of their rooms, but outside in the street the police are constantly cruising, checking and rechecking to try to prevent that next crime. "The majority of the time it's just routine," Shannon says, "but other times the roof falls in."
"Car 4 to base"..."Someone on the corner of Harvard and Mass was seen making a Molotov cocktail"...'Where did you get this from, Car 4?"..."A fireman at the barn"...Three cruisers show up--two regular, one undercover. No person to be found. No Molotov.