In 1987, the department was slapped with a $2,000,000 civil rights suit filed by two black Cantabrigians who claimed HUPD had discriminated against them.

In 1992, student Inati Ntshanga '96 filed suit against the University, claiming that HUPD officers falsely arrested him. The campus community saw the incident as an example of HUPD's overaggressiveness toward members of minority groups.

Several lawsuits later, after interminable departmental headaches, and a personal illness, Johnson retired.

The crime wave of the late '70s and early '80s had subsided. Traditional police work--collaring the bad guys--was no longer a daily fact of life for HUPD cops

Cops began to complain that they were bored on the beat, reduced to taking daily joy rides on the few campus-area roads they were allowed to patrol. Officers started responding without sanction to calls in nearby areas of Cambridge, raising the ire of city officials.

The time had come for a new chief--and a new style of policing that made more sense for Harvard's quiet campus.

New Chief, New Philosophy

University officials chose community policing--a philosophy of law enforcement propounded by criminologists in the late '70s and early '80s and catechized in 1982 into a pragmatic philosophy by James Q. Wilson, then a professor of government at Harvard, and George Kelling, now a professor at Rutgers University.

This philosophy makes crime prevention--and, more specifically, preventing an environment which fosters crime--the major focus of a police force.

Community police try to get to know those in their community, making sure windows get fixed and lawns are kept up. Petty crimes like shoplifting and vandalism are scrutinized as signs of a larger problem.

Harvard administrators chose this as the new mission of the once hard-bitten HUPD.

With this mission in mind, in February 1995 the University began to search for a new police chief. Job postings were sent out nationwide, bringing in applicants ranging from military sergeants to top crime administrators.

One resume stood out.

A certain lieutenant colonel in the Massachusetts state police had made a name for himself by diversifying his force.

Francis Riley was seen as "progressive," a can-do manager eager to try new ideas and work with people. Better still, Riley was familiar with Harvard. He had completed a masters degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government in 1990.