For DPS, fighting crime doesn’t pay

Patrolling a campus in one of America’s most violent cities, Department of Public Safety officers put a lot on the line to protect Georgetown students. Only a few years ago, two officers were seriously injured breaking up a fight outside of Reiss. Given the dangers that DPS officers face, students should support the officers’ union in its negotiations with the University for increased wages.

Allied International, the DPS’s union, is asking the University to increase officers’ starting pay by $4 over the next three years—a necessary increase made more urgent considering that the last increase, by $2.50, came two and a half years ago, bringing officers’ starting hourly pay to $15.60. Officer pay at Georgetown lags behind security officer pay at other area universities, according to an e-mail from union officials.

While a raise for DPS officers increases campus safety by attracting more qualified applicants, using the recent hate crimes to pressure the University on wages is irational and inappropriate. This tactic was recently used by a combative Georgetown Solidarity Committee member at last Thursday’s safety forum.

Blaming the hate crimes and the “Cuddler” sexual assaults on the University’s lack of safety personnel shifts responsibility away from the cause of the problem—the culprits. Throwing money at campus safety will not solve our crime problems, and DPS’s advocates should stop pretending that it will. Instead, DPS officers should be given a wage increase because they deserve one.

Vice President for University Safety Rocco DelMonaco has said the University will not comment on potential wage increases while negotiating with Allied International. That’s no reason, however, for students to remain silent on this issue. By demanding higher wages for DPS, students can both increase campus safety and give DPS officers’ what they have earned with their sacrifices.