Harvard University is conducting a review of its campus police (HUPD) after officers showed up at a demonstration in central Boston, joining forces with the local police department to oversee the protest.
“Boston and Cambridge police routinely render assistance to us when we have large events on our campus, including concerts, major athletic contests, and Commencement, as well as protests that attract large crowds that often include non-Harvard affiliates,” Bacow explained. “Similarly, we render assistance when needed.”
The officers’ presence, however, “has raised legitimate questions” about whether the role the HUPD plays is consistent with the university’s values, according to Bacow. He wrote that Harvard will start a new review of the department to examine its relationship with local law enforcement agencies and make sure that mutual aid agreements are “aligned with community policing values.”
Bacow faced criticism last week after students found his initial response to George Floyd’s death to be underwhelming. In his latest statement, however, Bacow endorsed the Black Lives Matter movement and the protests that were triggered by Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody last month.
“Black lives matter, and we must use this moment to confront and remedy racial injustice,” he wrote. “Peaceful protests and raised voices in Cambridge and Boston, across the country, and around the world rightly demand real and meaningful change, change that will truly ensure equal justice for all.”