On a chillly September evening, first-years fidgeted in their Science Center seats and watched Officer Kevin P. Bryant approach the podium, sporting a Glock .40 semiautomatic pistol, handcuffs and a nightstick hanging around his waist.

Giving the audience a menacing glance, Bryant smiled and yelled, "What class is this?" A quiet "2001" ruffled through the crowd.

"I don't think you heard me!" Bryant said. "What class is this?"

The students shouted: "2001!"

"Welcome to Harvard University!" Bryant yelled over enthusiastic cheers.

Bryant is one of nine officers who volunteered for the Harvard University Police Department's new community policing program, started this fall by Chief Francis D. "Bud" Riley, which emphasizes personal interaction with students.

Substations and Speeches

The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program puts officers in direct contact with students through the construction of three new police substations in Weld Hall and Quincy and Cabot houses. These substations complement informational appearances by officers such as Bryant's.

At the substations, students can register their bicycles, file a police report, talk to officers and sign up for the Rape Aggression Defense course. The officers' safety discussions include tips on locking doors and preventing strangers from following students into dorms.

Jenny Allard, a proctor in Matthews Hall, says her police study break in October was one of the best attended among her proctor group. "They touched on a lot of important subjects," Allard says. "It's a great program. I hope it continues."

Christopher Lim Park '01, who attended a security study break in Mower, agrees, but questions the talks' effectiveness. "I didn't really learn anything new but it was a nice gesture," he says.

Officials say the program also marks a change in attitude that will hopefully make Harvard a safer place.

"There has been a separation between the University and the police," says Sgt. James L. McCarthy, an eight-year HUPD veteran. "There wouldn't be any interaction so it sort of breeds mistrust. We're trying to get back to the old style of policing where the police knows everybody in the neighborhood."

McCarthy recalls an officer he knew while growing up in New York during the 1960s. "On the corner on the way to school was Tony the cop," he says. "I remember him clearly to this day. He was out there every day.

"I bet you he knew every single thing that went on on that whole block in New York. And that's what we've got to get back to," he adds. "Everybody knew Tony, and everybody respected him. I think if we start working to get to that ideal, it'd just be a whole lot better."

Joining a National Trend

The COPS program began more than 18 months ago when Riley approached the department about jumping on the national bandwagon of community policing.

The movement toward community policing began decades ago but got a big push the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which put more than 100,000 officers on street and neighborhood patrols.

"It's the wave of the future in police work," says McCarthy, who runs the Cabot House substation with Officer Jim Pinone.

This February, sergeants who volunteered for the program began preparing for the program's launch by meeting with tutors, proctors and House masters.

"We were laying a foundation," McCarthy says, "starting to get to know people, and giving the administration someone to go to."

This summer, the officers took a series of 14 three-hour training classes to prepare them for their new roles. The classes, which included learning the structure of University administration, public-speaking skills and sensitivity training were a big help.

"There were officers who have been here 20 years that learned things they never knew," McCarthy says.

'Tutor With a Gun'

Finally, this fall, officers began developing contacts with students through meetings, office hours and informal conversations.

McCarthy, for instance, introduces himself to students as their "tutor with a gun."

"We're responsible for getting you through your college life safely and to give advice, so how is that different from what a tutor does?" McCarthy says.

Officer Bryant says the program has improved relations with students.

"Just last night I was walking around the yard and four students came up and said 'What are you up to Kevin,'" he recalls. "I said, 'Nothing much, hanging out.' They said, 'You want to go eat?' I said, 'OK, sure.' So I went, and that would have never happened without the COPS program."

McCarthy says he agrees. "It makes the community feel better about police, It's not like, 'Oh God, the police are here.' Now it's, 'Oh it's Jim, he can help us out.'"

McCarthy hopes to play intramural hockey for Cabot House, and Pinone has been known to play pickup football games with students on the Quad.

Emidio A. Checcone '92, a resident tutor at Quincy House, says he appreciates HUPD's efforts.

"I haven't noticed any effect like a decrease in crime, but I think it's a good idea," he says. "Seeing them in the dining halls helps develop a relationship between students and the police department."

Bryant says the COPS program has drawn him closer to his work. "Two or three weeks ago I had to arrest this outside guy sitting in Harvard Yard, drinking and yelling obscenities at women, and took it more personally because this is my sector and these are my students," he says.

Bryant says it also makes those rare incidents when he has to discipline students much easier. "We get a lot of party calls, and now the students know who we are so it's like, 'Sorry Kev, we'll try to keep it down.'"

Robert B. Wolinsky '98, co-chair of the Cabot House Committee, says that in one instance, Cambridge neighbors were complaining about the noise from an outdoor movie that the committee was sponsoring. McCarthy took care of it without hard feelings "because we already knew each other," Wolinsky says.

"Jim [Pinone] and Jim [McCarthy] are extremely friendly and outgoing and have gone out of their way to make students feel comfortable," he says.

Branching Out

McCarthy says students who wouldn't think of talking to police now approach him about small problems such as burned-out lights, small thefts, and suspicious characters. "It's starting now. It's getting to a point where we know that they care about us, they know we care about them--it just makes for a safer environment."

Besides the nine volunteers who took all 42 hours of training, all officers and security guards took a condensed eight-hour version that touched on important aspects of community policing.

"Everybody got a taste of it," McCarthy says. "That's the direction HUPD is heading.

"Each area has it's own unique concerns: the Yard has the freshmen, the Quad has the problem of the walk up and down Garden Street, the River has the problem of teenagers or homeless people roaming into the Houses," McCarthy says. "So that's why they're split up like that."

"The Medical School and Business School have their own problems so we're going to expand, so that the whole department will become community-policing oriented," he adds.