The Harvard University Police Department (HUPD), a private police agency affiliated with Harvard University, a private Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is a full-service police department responsible for the safety and security of Harvard students, faculty, staff, and visitors at the university’s Cambridge and Boston campuses.
Since April 2021, Victor Clay is HUPD’s chief of police,[2] who succeeded long-time chief Francis D. “Bud” Riley.[3] The chief performs his duties under the direction of the university’s general counsel,[4] Diane Lopez.[5]
All sworn members of the Harvard University Police Department are sworn as special state police officers under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 22C Section 63.[8] This gives them full powers of arrest in and upon all property owned or controlled by Harvard University.[9] Additionally, all officers hold commissions as deputy sheriffs for Middlesex County and Suffolk County, which gives them powers of arrest throughout Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston, where Harvard has facilities.[8]
Police logs controversy
HUPD has been the target of requests for greater transparency in the records it keeps or publishes about its officers’ actions.[10][11]