In an effort to increase the Harvard Police's visibility and availability in the Yard, the department plans to open a substation in the basement of Weld Hall in early March.

The substation, which has been in the planning stages for several months, will be staffed 24 hours a day by one officer charged with monitoring the computerized keycard system, which indicates when a door has been opened without proper access. It will also be home to a security guard unit, according to Harvard Police Chief Francis D. "Bud" Riley.

The SafetyWalk program, which provides escorts for students on night-time walks, will also be moved to Weld from the police department's headquarters at 29 Garden St.

The aim of the substation is to give students and potential intruders a sense of an increased police presence in the Yard, Riley said.

"The presence of a uniformed officer is an absolute deterrent [to crime]," he said.

Riley said he hopes students will also use the substation to consult police or report incidents.

He said he is not concerned that students will be made uncomfortable by the increased police presence.

Riley said he hopes the substation will enable police, guards and SafetyWalk to work "as a team and a resource for the students."

"I think the relationship with the students has been good lately, anyway," Riley said.

Dean of Freshmen Elizabeth Studley Nathans said yesterday that the increased presence in the Yard will be beneficial to first-years.

"Neither Chief Riley nor our staff confuses police pres- ence and visibility with inappropriate intrusion into students' lives or privacy," Nathans wrote in an e-mail message.

"We have confidence in [Riley's] recommendations, and confidence as well in the professionalism of the officers who serve under his direction," Nathans wrote.

The substation will take the place of a recycling room which has been moved to the other end of Weld's basement, according to Merie Bicknell of Harvard Yard Operations.

Other Efforts

In other efforts to boost police presence, additional cruisers will be patrolling the Yard at night and officers will be walking through the Yard more frequently, Riley said.

Security around the river houses is also being improved, Riley said, with a new officer and a plainclothes detective added to the rotation on the river patrol.

The police will also try to increase officers' visibility inside the houses.

Riley said he is negotiating a program with Harvard Dining Services to allow officers to eat in house dining halls at reduced rates.

"What I'd like is that when police officers enter a house, students don't ask, 'What are they doing here?,' so that they can become more of the community," Riley said