Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

DPS Organizes Safety Summit

Participants at Crime Prevention Summits on Tuesday and Wednesday got tips on keeping their property safe and some started taking action by registering their bikes and laptops.

The Southwest Quad Community Council worked with the Department of Public Safety to host the events, which took place in the lobbies of Reynolds Hall and McCarthy Hall. Student presenters as well as newly appointed DPS Crime Prevention Coordinator Talib Abdur-Rahim informed students of recent laptop thefts and provided tips on ways to keep safe on campus.

Students also had the chance to register their bikes and laptops with a national registry, StopTheft, which matches recovered items with owners who register their belongings through the service.

Lili Bayer (SFS ’13) said that recent events on campus encouraged her to register her laptop.

“My roommate convinced me to do it, because, obviously, we’ve heard about a lot of crime on campus,” Bayer, said. “One of our good friends had her laptop stolen recently in [Lauinger Library]. Obviously, that really affected her. So we wanted to take good care of our computers and prevent something like that from happening.”

The summits come during a year marked by a series of burglaries and thefts on campus and in the surrounding area.

According to DPS crime logs, 54 thefts and two burglaries have taken place so far in 2011 — nine of which involved unsecured laptops.

Heather Nelson (NHS ’13), who helped organize the event, explained that as the year comes to a close, students should be more vigilant than usual.

“During move-out, people often leave their doors open,” she said, “and it’s important for people to know that you should lock your doors if you want to protect your belongings.”

The summit’s organizers also handed out information on ways to address other safety issues, such as securing windows and travelling in groups at night to avoid the risk of a mugging or sexual assault.

As a sweet perk for students who attended the summit, members of the council gave out free cupcakes.

Dalvin Butler (COL ’13), a member of the Southwest Quad Community Council and another of the summit’s organizers, said that ultimately, students themselves could do the most to ensure their security.

“We hope that residence halls will be safe,” he said, “and we hope that we can provide the right information for students to keep them safe.”

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