During his first semester as chief, administrators gushed about Riley's performance and praised his genuine love of the Harvard community.

In the spring of 1996, then-General Counsel Margaret H. Marshall, who led the search team, said Riley had met every expectation the University had.

"The attributes we were looking for were first, professional excellence and quality credentials; second, somebody who could lead the department into the next century; and third, and somebody who had superior judgment," she said. "On all three levels, Chief Riley has done extraordinarily well."

In the fall of 1996 Riley faced what he describes as his toughest challenge in all of his tenure at Harvard--an officer was accused of racism in an encounter with a student.

Though Riley had set up a training program to deal with racial and ethnic sensitivity issues, the vestiges of past problems were still there. And though Riley was able to successfully negotiate the incident, it was one he will not soon forget.

"A better relationship has developed now between the students, faculty and police officers," Riley says of his progress. "There is a difference of night and day--a mutual respect has developed between students and officers."

After Riley had settled into his new position, he decided to focus his energies on an internal restructuring of HUPD, and as a first step fired the department's seven highest-ranking lieutenants.

The restructuring came in the wake of a report by KSG research fellow George L. Kelling that accused Riley of being out of touch with his fellow officers and the department of being in a state of confusion.