A Better East Texas: Harvard police substation closed

EAST TEXAS (KLTV/KTRE) - It seems that the topic of police reform has faded from the headlines considering the prominence taken up by COVID-19 and now the war in Ukraine. But there are still some that are beating the drum for police reform.

And, we’ve said it before, there may need to be plans in some specific communities for reformation and retraining. But there must be a response plan or lawlessness ensues. We’ve seen it.

Now we have now an Ivy League University, Harvard specifically, that is jumping back into an extreme measure without a real sense of planning for needs in the future.

Harvard has four police substations on campus located in various student housing complexes. Obviously, a police presence is there to deter situations as well as have the ability to respond if needed. But at Harvard, several students and faculty complained about one of the substations and the university is closing it.

Students stated that the substation and subsequent police presence was an intimidation factor and implied they were being watched and policed which elicited fear, their words.

I can’t understand the rationale where a few students’ complaints lead to a university walking away from responsible campus safety. The students complained also about police eating in the cafeteria at the same time as students.

So, Harvard has failed here. They have failed the families of those students, failed the students themselves and failed the police. Colleges and universities are under attack from so many fronts it is repulsive to hear what Harvard has done. Hopefully, this will never be a question on campuses in Texas.

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