"How could I, as a black man, tolerate a racist supervisor?" he told The Crimson at the time. "That wouldn't make any sense."

Crime: A Prince and the Slasher

Under Johnson, the department also faced a scandal involving the eight-week visit of a Saudi Arabian prince in 1990.

Harvard police were paid a reported $27,000 per week to guard the prince during his stay in Cambridge, an arrangement which some suggested seriously compromised the force's abilities to serve and protect Harvard students.

Johnson defended the operation, saying that the guard duty was being done on officers' personal time and that duties to students were in no way affected.

Not every moment of Johnson's tenure was scandal-ridden. He over-saw many successful investigations, most notably the capture of the so-called "Widener slasher" after an exhaustive five-year search.

In the case, which Johnson rates as his biggest success, an Arlington man terrorized Harvard libraries from 1990 to 1992, slashing millions of dollars worth of rare books and threatening to blow up a bank if ransom money was not left for him at Widener Library. He was finally apprehended by police in December 1994.

Harvard police worked with the FBI, the state police and the Northeastern University police to resolve the case, of which Johnson said at the time: "This is something which has plagued the department for years. And it's finally over."

Internal Relations

Johnson was criticized at times for appearing too mellow and indecisive, acquiring the chiding nickname "No Waves" for his willingness to remain content with the department as long as it appeared to be operating smoothly on the surface.

Several incidents arose in the fall of 1993, when Johnson was on sick leave.

In September, the president of the police officers' union demanded that the University, in the process of renovating the department's headquarters at 29 Garden St., look into possible connections between the building and officers' health problems.

At the time, the union was engaged in intense negotiations for the officers, who had worked for more than 15 months without a contract.

Later that month, a fist-fight broke out in the department between two officers because of what was described as a "difference of opinion."

Days later, a security guard became the fourth of the year to file a complaint with the state against the department, alleging that he was mistreated because of a health condition and his outspokenness on issues of discrimination within the force.