Urgent: 617-495-1212 (Longwood 617-432-1212)  |  Business: 617-495-1215

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Operational Philosophy

The mission of the Harvard University Police Department is to maintain a safe and secure campus by providing quality policing in partnership with the community. Together, the Department and the community can maintain a safe and secure environment, that leaves its members free to pursue the education and scholarship that brings people to Harvard University. To fulfill its mission, the Department has adopted a community-oriented problem-solving (COPS) philosophy. The core components of the philosophy are prevention, partnerships, and problem solving. Officers are committed to preventing crime and disorder and focus their efforts on eliminating the underlying causes of those problems. To do this officers actively engage in partnerships with the community to address and solve problems. Partnerships are the foundation of effective problem solving and crime prevention. Through these partnerships and collaborative problem solving, officers deal with problems, prevent crime, and help maintain a community free of disorder.

To help build, maintain, and strengthen these partnerships within the University community, officers patrol in six sectors: Yard, North Yard, Radcliffe, Allston, River, and Longwood. Consistent with its COPS philosophy - to be accessible to the community - efforts are made to have police officers remain in their areas as much as possible. Because they have small geographic areas of responsibility, officers have the ability to build relationships with the community and become familiar with problems specific to their area through increased communication and interactions.

The HUPD operates substations where community members can register their laptops or bicycles, file a police report, or talk to an officer about any safety issues that they have. Each substation posts its own hours of operation. Each substation posts its own hours of operation.

• 114 Western Avenue
• 180 Longwood Avenue
• 29 Garden Street, ground floor
• Littaeur Building (Harvard Kennedy School), ground floor
• Mather House, first floor
• Science Center first floor

Our commitment to quality policing is demonstrated by adhering to the following principles:

• The HUPD seeks the consent and partnership of the people and community it serves. The Department’s value and identity are established one citizen contact at a time. Students, faculty, and staff deserve a sense of justice and fairness when dealing with the HUPD. “Police at all times should maintain a relationship that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being the only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.” (Sir Robert Peel, 1829)
• The HUPD determines policing priorities in partnership with the community. Because safety and security is a shared responsibility, the HUPD encourages students, faculty, and staff to take an active role in maintaining their own safety and the security of others.
• Community outreach is an integral component and guiding principle of the Department’s commitment to community-oriented problem solving by providing students, faculty, and staff direction and steps they can take to maintain their own safety and the security of others.
• The HUPD seeks to prevent crime rather than merely responding to it after it occurs. As Sir Robert Peel stated, the basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder. He also observed that the test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it.

Research has shown that when officers exit their vehicles and patrol on foot or engage in informal conversations with the community, community members feel safer and satisfaction with the police increases. In addition, community members are far more likely to share information on criminal activity or other problems with a familiar figure than with a stranger. Therefore, officers are encouraged to form relationships with the community above and beyond answering calls for service. These conversations present an opportunity for officers to solicit information about ongoing problems and concerns, thereby facilitating officers’ problem-solving efforts.