In the strongest public condemnation of the management of the Harvard Police Department to date, a union steward in the University security guard unit this week said his bosses engaged in a "pattern of retaliation" against guards who accused their supervisors of discriminatory practices.

The charges made by Stephen G. McCombe, a eight-year veteran of the unit, elicited immediate response from a top security official, turning a long, simmering public controversy into an angry and personal war of words.

McCombe said actions of four administrators had the effect of discrediting the guards and permitting retaliation against them. He identified the four as Police Chief Paul E. Johnson, Manager of Operations for Security Robert J. Dowling, Assistant Director for Finance and Administration Brian D. Sinclair '62 and the University's Associate Director of Labor Relations Carolyn R. Young '76.

"I can only go on what I've seen, but to me they are retaliating," said McCombe. "By what I've seen--which is a policy of treating one group different than the other--there are discriminatory practices."

Yesterday, Dowling broke a long silence on the issue of alleged mistreatment of guards. Dowling said McCombe had coerced guards to come forward with unsubstantiated claims of on-the-job discrimination. And he challenged McCombe to a debate over the charges.

"Mr. McCombe makes statements that he can't back up," said Dowling. "I don't have to discredit him. He does that himself."

Dowling said McCombe had engaged in a personal vendetta against him. He said McCombe, in trying to hurt Dowling's reputation, had duped several guards into wrongly believing--and The Crimson into reporting--there are discriminatory practices in his unit.

Dowling repeatedly stressed that guards had had a full hearing of their charges. And he encouraged any guard who honestly believed there was discrimination to cooperate with an investigation of the unit currently being performed by General Counsel Margaret H. Marshall.

"I asked for this investigation time and time again," Dowling said.

As a steward, McCombe has represented dozens of guards who have filed grievances contesting discipline meted out by the department's management. He also represented five of the seven University guards who have charged on-the-job harassment.

In interviews last spring, each of the seven guards said they were not coerced into making their charge.

Based on his experiences as a steward, McCombe said the four administrators--as well as former General Counsel Daniel Steiner '54 and Director of Human Resources Diane B. Patrick--failed to adequately address allegations of discriminatory practices in the unit. Separate investigations conducted by labor relations officials Young and Patrick, who used to work for Steiner, failed to interview guards. The investigations cleared the supervisors.

"They try to find a way to sweep it under the rug," said McCombe. "Carolyn Young had the opportunity and Diane Patrick also to investigate the department. They could have done away with all this problem."

McCombe said Sinclair and Johnson, who often preside at meetings to mete out discipline, condone discriminatory practices in the unit.

But Young said yesterday that she had not participated in or condoned any retaliation in the unit. She said she had consulted with members of the security department on some personnel matters, but would not comment on specifics.

"It's hard to know on what basis [McCombe] is making those charges," Young said.

Johnson was on vacation and could not be reached for comment yesterday. Steiner and Sinclair refused to comment. Patrick did not return telephone calls.

In a four-hour interview, McCombe detailed problems he saw in the department during his six-year tenure as a steward. He repeatedly stressed that his views of the department's management were his own and did not represent those of the union.

McCombe said he chose to speak publicly now because the four department administrators had attempted to discredit and discipline him.

"Mr. Dowling has made statements against me," McCombe said. "And they have tried to distort the truth about any guard who has gone to The Crimson."

McCombe said he saw discrimination in the discipline of five former and current guards he has represented: Pierre R. Voss, Steven Thompson, Rolando Diaz, Juan Figueroa, and a Russian citizen who asked not to be identified for fear of jeopardizing his immigration status. He said he could not tell if the discrimination was based on race or ethnicity.

Guards may be disciplined for any number of infractions, from being late or out-of-uniform to sleeping on the job. McCombe charged that discipline for those five guards was more extreme than for other guards. The steward also alleged discipline in the department is rarely enforced against guards who are friends of security supervisors and the operations manager, Dowling.

Dowling denied the charges and said his disciplinary record "speaks for itself."

McCombe said he had no personal animosity towards department officials, including Dowling. He added that he had worked amicably with Dowling in two previous jobs, and he said Dowling had recommended him to be a security guard at Harvard.

But Dowling called all those statements "not true." He said he had never recommended McCombe for the Harvard job, and he refused to comment on their dealings before then.

McCombe complained about other actions taken by other department administrators, including his boss, Dowling. Last summer, Dowling's lawyer sent McCombe a letter threatening a lawsuit over McCombe's allegedly defaming him. And McCombe said the department had changed his shift numerous times in the past year for no apparent reason.

Dowling said he had no choice but to move McCombe around. He said that whatever shifts McCombe worked would often be eliminated, as clients would instead request private security. "Those are details (shifts) we lost after he worked there," said Dowling. "You had to move him because there was no place to put him."

McCombe, who said he has trouble breathing, was assigned this fall to the "November" shift, a detail which calls for a guard to inspect most of the University's biological and chemical laboratories. After working one day near the chemicals, McCombe said, he drove himself to a local emergency room for treatment for shortness of breath.

The steward charged that Dowling and other officials knew of his breathing problem, because he was hospitalized for it and missed two weeks of work in 1988. He also said Dowling refused to accept notes from two different doctors when the guard missed time this fall because of the illness.

But Dowling said yesterday that McCombe had worked around chemicals for years, including for a time in 1992 at the Fogg Art Museum. He said the department was investigating the doctor's note and whether McCombe, in fact, has trouble breathing. Fogg officials were unavailable for comment.

Dr. James Ryan, a School of Public Health lecturer and director of the Logan Medical Station, treated McCombe in December, according to McCombe. Ryan was sick yesterday, according to his office, and could not be reached for comment.

Dowling said he suspended McCombe for the missed time. Johnson put McCombe back on the job 10 days later, according to the steward. McCombe and Dowling said the guard has not yet been paid for the missed time.

Dowling said department records would prove he had not discriminated against employees, but he added that he could not release those records because they are "personal and confidential" information about security guards.

He also said he hired 24 of the department's 27 minority guards. He said the charges and The Crimson's reporting of them had done "untold damage" to the unit.

McCombe, meanwhile, maintained that he had no personal motives for making his charges public. "The reason I got involved was my duty as a union steward," he said. "As a guard, I think truth and justice are important. In a police unit, you either have that or you have anarchy."

In spite of the ongoing investigation, McCombe was not optimistic about his own future or that of the guard unit. "I think they'll try to fire me as long as Mr. Dowling and his regime stay in there," said McCombe. "I know [the guards] are going to be harassed again. It just seems that Harvard University preaches one law, and lives another.