Administrators stressed student responsibility for safety while students questioned the effectiveness of university security at a town hall meeting Tuesday night.
Sparked by the sexual assault that occurred at an off-campus house last Saturday, University officials convened the meeting to make students aware of recent assaults and to get students’ input on safety issues.
Georgetown personnel were joined by Metropolitan Police Department Lieutenant Felicia Lucas for Tuesday’s hour-long panel discussion in Sellinger Lounge.
Though the meeting was announced publicly via e-mail, attendance began at only eight students. By the end of the information session given by the panelists, over twenty had gathered.
Lucas started the meeting by emphasizing the lack of responsibility shown by the Georgetown student body. “Many of the victims have been seriously inebriated,” she said. While under the influence, she said, students are not valid witnesses, and this has hindered MPD’s ability to track down assailants.
Lucas said police spend weekends “babysitting” Georgetown students who allow strangers into their houses during parties. “Why would you associate yourself with people you really don’t know?” she said.
Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Jeanne Lord expanded on Lucas’s insights into the party scene at Georgetown, noting that security is especially important in situations where many people are entering and exiting residences. “A very simple request is that all students lock their doors,” she said.
Public Safety Director Darryl Harrison agreed that locking doors and windows greatly decreases students’ vulnerability. Each and every case of assault this semester has occurred by an unforced entry.
But students were quick to point out that the fault is not theirs alone. Areas away from the campus center, such as Burleith and Reservoir Road, are not adequately patrolled, they said.
One student described feeling uncomfortable walking from the front gates to his Prospect St. house at night because the DPS officers he saw were posted only as far away from campus as the Tombs on 36th St.
Acording to Lord, most of the immediate Georgetown neighborhood is under the jurisdiction of the MPD, not University safety. “Legally DPS is not supposed to be patrolling out there,” Lord said.
Nevertheless, Harrison said DPS patrols will be crossing statutory boundaries in the near future to increase security in East Campus and off-campus areas. “We want to make sure that we’re ahead of the curve,” he said.
Other students complained that Saferides, the University’s escort service, is not reliable. “I know I’ve waited outside at not-so-okay corners,” Kendra Jackson (SFS ‘06) said. “You never know if the ride is going to come within five minutes or within a half hour.”
Another student said Saferides hours are insufficient.
Student Safety Advisory Board member Shannon Mullen (CAS ‘08), however, asserted that students do have safety tools on campus. “The resources are out there and more are available,” she said.
Though the number of assaults on Georgetown students is no higher than it was last year at this time, Harrison said, the incidents have increased in severity. “The last three or four have involved weapons,” he said.
The recent crimes correlate with an increased crime rate throughout the entire D.C. area.
