7:04 p.m.--Officer Bates finishes processing the Roderick arrest and heads home, three hours after her shift ended. The extra time was worth it, she says--two laptops, a wallet and other computer equipment will be returned to their rightful owners.
8:56 p.m.--Officer Louis Favreau roams campus on foot, watching carefully. To all but the most intense scrutiny, he appears to be a college student, wearing a sweatshirt and jeans. On nights like tonight, when he's working undercover and everything is okay, he can pass an entire shift without being noticed. But last week, a drug dealer learned the hard way not to sell drugs under the nose of HUPD's plainclothes unit.
Favreau and Officer Brian Spellman were standing outside Store 24 in the Square when they witnessed a marijuana sale within arms' reach. The drug dealer and buyer looked shocked when they ended up in handcuffs, Favreau remembers.
While he does witness things no uniformed officer would see, foot patrol does have its drawbacks: no car.
"There's no rapid response for me," he laughs.
11:24 p.m.--Favreau heads into the Law School tunnels, checking to see whether the vending machine thief has struck again. Everything appears to be order, and Favreau buys a soda himself. They won't catch him tonight, but with one suspect locked up in the Cambridge jail, HUPD is still happy with the day's work.
11:43 p.m.--The shift supervisor radios that all units can return to the station. The third watch is over.
And so begins another day at Harvard. Now, it's Officer Gilbert's turn again. Within minutes, he'll be back out on the street, searching, his eyes sweeping side to side. Tomorrow's midnight shift has begun.