The Harvard libraries have been the focus of other recent cases as well, including that of the "Widener slasher" which was cracked in part due to the assistance of the CID.
In the early 1990s, Harvard library officials were baffled by the unexplained destruction and mutilation of books in the Harvard libraries.
With the help of the CID, state and local police discovered that between 1990 and 1992, Stephen L. Womack mutilated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of books at Harvard and Northeastern University libraries.
Womack, a former Widener library employee, also threatened to blow up Widener and Northeastern's Snell Library unless all Jewish staff members were fired.
In a further twist in the case, the police linked Womack to a letter sent to the president of the Belmont Savings Bank, in which Womack threatened to blow up the bank unless a ransom was left in the Widener stacks.
As a result of the investigation Womack was found guilty last spring of attempted extortion and willful and malicious destruction of property.
"The CID is a preventative, proactive form of crime prevention." Sgt. Richard W. Mederos
"There needs to be a level of training and cooperation between the community officers and the CID detectives." HUPD Police Chief Francis D. "Bud" Riley