Officials at the police department have already met with the Committee for College Life and with members of Harvard's Undergraduate Council to discuss the plan.

"The entire police department has expressed the same concerns that students have expressed [about security on campus] and [is] looking for ways to increase the security here," said Undergraduate Council representative Elizabeth A. Haynes '98.

Although no official details about the liaisons have reached proctors or tutors yet, some applauded the spirit of the HUPD proposal.

"I certainly think the efforts on the part of the police to be in more touch with student concerns and be more accessible is a wise idea," Adams House Senior Tutor Michael J. Prokopow said.

Some proctors and tutors felt that liaisons might be able to put students more at ease in their relations with police officers.

"I think some students have an adversarial role with police," Stoughton Hall proctor David M. Lange '94 said.

"Having worked with Safety Walk when I was an undergraduate, I think the police department is very interested in students and helping students in every way they can," he said.

Brett R. Conner '96, co-chair of the Dunster House committee, said that bad impressions of police officers exist because students have little contact with officers. And when they do interact with Harvard's police, it is usually only for routine matters like lock-outs, he said.

"A lot of the images of the police are of people who take half an hour to get you into your room, which sort of skews people's perceptions of the police," Conner said.

Dunster House Senior Tutor Suzi Naiburg said she feels that students often see police officers as "authority figures," rather than community servants. Having liaisons "gives [police officers] an opportunity to play other roles and to be a resource for the students," she said.

In addition, getting to know students better will help police officers deal with situations on campus, Naiburg said, such as the occasional out-of-control party. "It's far easier to discipline students you know then to come in as a total stranger," she said.

Yet others are concerned that meetings with liaisons will not be effective and will take up too much of time.

"I think student undergraduate life is busy enough as it is, especially in freshman year, and I don't think they need to be educated in a conditioned manner about security," Holworthy Hall proctor Bruce S. Miller '90 said.

Proctors talk to students at the beginning of fall registration about security on campus and in the city, Miller said. He added that students are given an "abundance" of literature about security. Most notably, each registered student receives the "Playing It Safe" booklet which describes Harvard campus security in detail.

"I've felt that that has been a sufficient vehicle to get the point across to students, and I've never felt personally in my dorm that we needed more," Miller said of the literature.