Bioengineering professor Kevin K. âKitâ Parker wrote in a statement to The Crimson Thursday that he plans to teach a course on data analysis and policing strategy in fall 2021, despite cancelling the course this semester after student backlash.
In the statement, Parker â a professor at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences â said he is continuing the research that he planned to conduct in the class on the Springfield, Mass. police department, and criticized Harvard students who pushed for the courseâs cancellation in late January.
Parkerâs course Engineering Sciences 298R: âData Fusion in Complex Systems: A Case Studyâ would have enabled SEAS graduate students to use data analytics to study how the Springfield Police Department deploys Counter-Criminal Continuum policing, or C3 â a law enforcement strategy â in the cityâs North End neighborhood. C3 was developed by a friend of Parkerâs and is based on United States Army Special Forces counterinsurgency tactics.