The Voice posed the question recently of whether or not the Department of Public Safety has in mind the best interests of Georgetown students. The answer is an indisputable yes. The whole purpose of the department is to serve the needs of the entire campus community: students, faculty and staff.
As a Georgetown student, I expect DPS to protect me and my property during my time on campus. I expect to be able to park my car in the lot, come back, and find it there. I expect to be able to cross campus and remain safe. I expect to walk through the surrounding community safely. For the overwhelming majority of students, this is the case.
As a member of the Department of Public Safety, I also realize the magnitude of our responsibilities. The DPS communications section is the sole facility on campus staffed 24 hours a day that receives service requests. These duties include all non-duty hours facilities requests, all medical requests, all building access requests, dispensing directions to and from the campus and responses to general public safety issues.
There were 923 documented public safety responses in the week of Oct. 21 through Oct. 28, 2001. The bulk of these responses were for the SafeRides service. Each SafeRides run entails a call to DPS requesting the escort and at least one call back to let the person know when the van has arrived. Frequently, there are two or three calls per run during times of heavy use. The sheer number of telephone calls for SafeRides alone is overwhelming, and this number will rise over the coming months as the weather turns colder.
Comparatively, the University of Georgia, with five times Georgetown’s enrollment, fields only 625 calls per week. The city of Belmont, Mass., with more than 25,000 citizens, fields 713 calls per week among 15 dispatchers. The University of Northern Iowa, with 15,000 students, takes 213 calls each week. The city of Dent, Texas, with almost 80,000 people, fields 1,800 calls per week between 40 dispatchers.
The Department of Public Safety has seven communications officers, and only two work on the communications desk at any one given time. This is why you are getting busy signals when you call.
The Student Guard van drivers, who do the hard work of transporting SafeRides passengers, give up long hours to the program for little pay. The average number of weeknight escorts ranges from 40 to 60 pick-ups and drop-offs, with an average of two passengers. On the weekend, the average number of runs spans from 60 through 90, with an average of four passengers on each run. Frequently, groups of as many as 10 students use the service as transport to bars, filling the van and taking it out of service until they all are dropped off.
This is why you are waiting 20 to 30 minutes for your SafeRides.
As for DPS officers patrolling the Burlieth area, we do not have arrest authority outside of the campus property. It is against the law for DPS officers to exercise police powers off Georgetown property. Unless the University and the district sign an agreement allowing concurrent jurisdiction, DPS officers cannot perform any law enforcement function off-campus.
Also, if such jurisdiction were granted to DPS officers, keep in mind that your DPS officers do not carry weapons. They do not have pepper spray, nightsticks or firearms; the only protective equipment the University issues is a radio. Performing police functions without protection is just asking for an officer to be seriously injured or killed.
Finally, there is an officer stationed on the north end of campus 24 hours a day and though the lighting situation near Saint Mary’s is out of the purview of DPS, we repeatedly have urged the University to resolve the situation.
DPS wants to be there for the community. Every officer is trained and willing to be the kind of police department Georgetown University requires and deserves, and they generally succeed. The system sometimes falters due to the volume of work placed upon it.
The Department of Public Safety is committed to protecting and serving the community of Georgetown University. It is just matter of trying to do one’s job and five other people’s jobs at the same time.
Dave Bledsoe (SSCE ‘02)
DPS Communications Officer
