Police officers say Johnson has taken basically the same approach to handling internal divisions within the department. In November 1985, less than two years after he took office, the Harvard University Police Association, which then represented officers filed suit against the University and issued a vote of "no confidence" against Johnson.

From that point, police and security sources say, relations have deteriorated Some officers have taken to calling their chief "No Waves," suggesting that he cares more about appearances than internal tensions in the unit. So out of touch is the chief, some officers say, that he calls two five year veterans of the force by each other's names.

The complaint has changed little since the no confidence vote in 1985: Johnson doesn't back up his officers and he has consistently failed to resolve labor disputes within the department.

Problems in the Guard Unit

Nowhere has there been more evidence of this trend than in the police department's security guard unit. Over the past year, 11 former and current security employees have publicly claimed department supervisors discriminated against them. Some said the discrimination is based on race.

Although no one has charged that Johnson himself has engaged in discriminatory acts, some employees say he has not been vigilant enough in managing internal relations in the department.

Police and security officials, including Johnson, have denied the charges and suggested that some of the employees were problem workers. The chief said in an interview last spring that because he is Black, he would never tolerate racial discrimination in his department.

The employees say they only went public because department officials, including Johnson, had not taken their internal complaints seriously. The chief says the security employees went public after they lost their grievances on the merits.

"I do not regret one word I have said. Everything I've said is truth and can be proven," says security guard Pierre R. Voss, who is one of the II employees charging discrimination. "I went through the proper channels, I never would have gone to the paper if they had resolved it professionally."

A Search for Leaks

Even more indicative of a breakdown in professional behavior, police and security sources say is the department's attempt to figure out how security unit personnel records were leaked to The Crimson.

Initial suspicions about who leaked the documents centered on security guard Stephen G. McCombe. The late Edward Greene approached McCombe to write up a police report for stolen documents--even though McCombe says he had not reported anything stolen--so that the police could search the Crimson for the documents.

"Greene told me Chief Johnson had cent him. McCombe said in an interview in February. "They might have been trying to put pressure on someone for possession of stolen property."

When asked by The Crimson who directed him to take the report, Greene replied, "no comment."

McCombe did not give Greene a report then, and he refused a similar written request by the chief later.