D. Joseph Griffin, the director of publicsafety at Northeastern University, said he agreedwith Rooney's assessment.

"I think any police department should be partof the community as opposed from apart from it--beit a college university or a municipality,"Griffin said. "Any organization should clearlyunderstand what their community is feeling aboutthem."

Leadership Qualities

Students, administrators and officers agreedthat the new chief should be an energetic andinspiring department leader.

McGaw said he hoped the new chief would besomeone with experience, knowledge, leadership anda professional mentality--someone other officerscould "follow and look up to."

"The department needs to be led by its chief aswell as be administered," McGaw said.

Epps said in an interview Monday that he islooking for candidates who have high ethicalstandards, who are capable of expressingthemselves and who can convince others of theirvision.

And according to Rooney, the HUPD would be bestserviced by a "modern, proactive, dynamic andintelligent professional"--one who has acommitment to community policing as well as afoundation of solid leadership in the force.

None of the officers or administratorsinterviewed listed race or gender as a criterionfor hiring the new chief.

"When you get to the level of top appointments,[you must maintain] strict adherence to specificcriteria," Epps said. "We must ensure that the[applicant] pool is diverse and able."

Epps said he does not support minority hiringor an affirmative action policy in the Universityas a whole.

"The presence of people of color in aninstitution is to give a signal to people of colorthat it is an okay institution, [that] it is notkeeping people out because of their race," hesaid.

Students said this week that the new leadershould not be judged on ethnicity or gender but onability to work competently in the position and todeal sensitively with the student body.

"I think anybody could do a good job regardlessof racial background and gender," Brown said."Personally I do like to see a minority or a womanget a high post, because just traditionally, youhaven't seen a lot of that in society as a whole.It sets a good example."

Inside, Outside?