A wave of on-campus thefts that began last semester has slowed, thanks in part to the Department of Public Safety’s multi-faceted crime-prevention response. Thirty thefts have been reported this semester, compared to 64 between October and November.
“In general, you’re going to find that there are peaks and valleys to crimes on campus,” DPS Director Joseph Smith said. “We’ve done a number of things to combat theft in past months.”
Laptop thefts in Village A residences and Lauinger Library especially prompted DPS to act. According to Smith, a plan that involved increased lighting in Village A, a public effort to secure doors and windows, and increased guard duties are responsible for the decreased number of thefts.
DPS has also deployed plainclothes officers around campus to expand the department’s investigative capacity.
“We’ve had zero burglaries since we’ve enacted these measures,” Smith said.
Another component of the anti-crime measures includes screening cars that enter campus through the North Road and Prospect entrances, a tactic that has already led DPS to apprehend a drug dealer and a carjacker. Smith said that screening is not meant to block people from campus; rather, it serves to ensure visitors have a “legitimate purpose” to enter.
“It’s about keeping the bad guys off campus,” said Smith.
To enact these measures, DPS officers now work more overtime hours and are supplemented by Allied-Barton security guards on certain patrols. DPS, which is close to being fully staffed, will retain the measures as long as they work.
“These changes are fairly permanent,” Smith said. “We’ll try to maintain staffing levels.”
Smith added that working with the Metropolitan Police Department and George Washington University police has also been effective. Last semester, DPS and GWU officers worked together to apprehend a thief who was suspected of stealing laptops in Lauinger Library and on GWU’s campus.
“You have criminals that are specialists in that they’ll prey upon universities,” Smith said.
An important part of the strategy, Smith explained, was a crime-prevention policy borne “outside the traditional law enforcement box.”
“If there is crime on campus, it’s not just about catching the criminal, but thinking about why the crime was committed and trying to solve that problem,” Smith said.
Smith acknowledged that the effort to combat theft on the south side of campus was collaborative, specifically mentioning the Offices of Resident Life and Student Housing, as well as students in targeted residences.
“That’s the power of community policing,” Smith said. “You really see the dramatic drop in crime.”
