The Harvard Police Department is encouraging students to "Drop-a-Dime" and "Stop-a-Crime" with its new 24-hour anonymous hotline.

The Crime Line was established so individuals can anonymously report crimes or other suspicious activity through an automated voice mail system, according to a crime line informational sheet.

Police encourage students to use the 496-2700 line to report crimes they are hesitant to disclose in person.

"Twenty-four hours they can pick up the phone and anything that is troubling them...will be followed up," Police Chief Paul E. Johnson said.

The tape from the crime line is reviewed at least once every 24 hours; it is not meant to provide emergency assistance to callers, he said.

The system has been in place for about a month.

Posters advertising the crime line have been displayed since last week at the Coop, among other places, Johnson said.

A press conference will be scheduled within the next month to kick off the program officially, he said.

The new hotline is not meant to replace the495-1212 emergency number, said Johnson.

But it is intended to aid individuals who donot want to reveal their identity when reporting acrime.

Police speculate the program should beespecially helpful for daterape and domesticviolence victims, who are often afraid to reportcrimes perpetrated against them.

The program has been in operation in the Bostonarea for about ten years, Johnson said.

Explaining the delay in the program'simplementation at Harvard, he pointed to therelative safety of the University's campus.

"We don't have a serious crime problem,"Johnson said