HUPD Empowered by Statutes

Your facts are wrong. HUPD as special state police officers, have jursidiction only on Harvard property. They promote the nonsense that HUPD has exclusive jurisdiction on Harvard property. HUPD is negligently trained and is not accountable to any civilian authority. Spineless Harvard administrators are unable and unwilling to stop HUPD abuses of their power. They appear more like thugs with guns than police officers protecting the community. HUPD will always harass or arrest any critic of a professor who asks as a favor. Off campus is outside of HUPD jurisdiction. HUPD cannot enforce city ordinances. They are empowered (under state statute) as Deputies Sheriff of Suffolk and Middlesex to make traffic stops as they travel between Boston and Cambridge campuses. Informal agreements (which real Cambridge officers deny) with Cambridge police allows HUPD to make arrests near the campus, contrary to state law. It makes Cambridge officers' job easier and so it goes. Cambridge City Manager allows relaxed relationships. He always defers to Harvard contrary to state laws. One serious abuse (also with approval of the City Manager) is with the City Police dispatchers (non police officers and untrained in constitutional law) who divert calls to HUPD even though they do not have jurisdiction. It allows Harvard to ignore city ordinances. These policies make laws optional for Harvard affiliates, as we saw with the arrest of multi millionaire tenured Harvard professor Gates. His charge was dismissed before arraignment by a private attorney and the City Solicitor neither of whom had jurisdiction to do so. There are many uninformed and misinformed Harvard students, faculty and administrators regarding the role of HUPD. High intelligence, lots of information does not guarantee any common sense. PhDs. may think they are the smartest man in the room but they are often misinformed.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/11/23/police-victim-harvard-suspect/

Harvard Student Robbed Near Quad
By Kelsey C. Nowell, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Harvard Crimson
Published: Tuesday, November 23, 2010