But that doesn't prevent Riley from seeking tomake the campus safer, he says.

HUPD is located within the "tub" of theUniversity's Office of the General Counsel, whichaccording to Riley functions in the same way a"city solicitor's" office would in relation to amunicipal police department.

Riley stresses that the University itself haslittle say in deciding whether crimes ought to beprosecuted.

Just like the Cambridge police Department,Riley said the HUPD acts through the MiddlesexCounty District Attorney's office when they feelthey have enough evidence to warrant an arrest.

Crimson Tide

Although not by choice, Harvard played anintegral role in passing Massachusetts' strictcrime reporting laws.

Noticing that HUPD crime logs were frequentlyincomplete, then-Crimson editor Joshua A. Gerstein'91 wrote legislation which forced HUPD to reportcrimes in the same timely manner that municipalpolice agencies are required to.

The Massachusetts State legislatureoverwhelmingly passed Gerstein's law.

Now an ABC News producer, Gerstein said thatalthough Harvard was receptive to the new law in1991, the University might fight tooth-and-nailagainst further reforms.

"I think when you're dealing with seriousallegations like this, the track record show it'smuch more often the case that the secrecy is usedto conceal an improper situation," Gerstein said."The knee-jerk reaction is always to handle thisprivately."

As the DOE has tightened its enforcement ofcampus crime laws, institutions are facing renewedpressure to open their police departments tofurther scrutiny.

At least seven major colleges and universitieshave been cited for crime reporting violation thisyear, DOE documents show.

They range from deficiencies in Morehead StateUniversity's annual security reports to theUniversity of Pennsylvania's outright failure toreport certain crimes, including a rape.

Enforcers Who Don't

As the current federal laws are structured,schools are required to send complete crimestatistics as well as information on securityresources to their admitted students.