Inside of many overflowing undergraduate doorboxes lies a double-sided flyer claiming that Harvard is not safe.

Its creator—the Student-Alumni Committee on Institutional Security Policy (StalCommPol), which is unaffiliated with the University—has served as a controversial watchdog group of the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) since its founding in October 2001.

The group, headed by former extension school student and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) alum James “Jake” Herms, has made headlines in college newspapers and is drawing the criticism of HUPD and others familiar with its activities.

In February, StalCommPol—a non-profit campus security consulting firm—released a study that said a Harvard student is at a significantly greater risk to become a victim of violent crime than students at seven other comparable institutions.

But critics say the study may not be accurate because of misleading methods of data analysis.

The study compared violent crime at Harvard to violent crime at University of Chicago, Columbia, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Penn and Yale.

Herms, who currently has a trespass warning that prohibits him from stepping foot on campus, says he has hired 11 Harvard undergraduates, two Harvard graduate students and four MIT students to work for the group, Herms, who says he holds five patents including four for Sensodyne toothpaste, says StalCommPol operates for the public good using funds from anonymous donors to sponsor research projects by students.

But Herms says that HUPD Chief Francis D. “Bud” Riley would prefer to ignore the StalCommPol calculation of Harvard’s high violent crime rate.

“They don’t want to acknowledge when crime happens on campus,” Herms says.

Riley denies the claim.

“I will not respond to this outrageous allegation other than to say I have always met, and will continue to meet, discuss, work with, and problem-solve security and safety issues with any responsible and credible member of the community or extended community,” Riley says. “This fact is also true for the entire membership of the HUPD.”

HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano says that while HUPD officials have been in contact with StalCommPol members, they are not working with Herms.

“The chief and all members of the HUPD have, are presently, and will continue to work with any responsible and credible member of the Harvard University community,” Catalano says. “We are at this time working with students from Mr. Herms’ group, but not with Mr. Herms directly.”

STAT 101

According to the StalCommPol website, a Harvard student’s risk of becoming a victim of a violent crime is more than three times that of a Columbia or Johns Hopkins University student.