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

String of Village A Burglaries Continues

A Village A apartment was burglarized on Tuesday evening, less than a week after the Department of Public Safety implemented new security measures following a string of similar burglaries.

On Tuesday, a student reported that upon returning to his apartment at 9 p.m. he found that his apartment had been burglarized and his laptop stolen, according to a Public Safety Alert sent to the campus community Wednesday afternoon.

Between Oct. 16 and Oct. 31, four burglaries and an attempted burglary occurred in Village A. Following the incidents, DPS increased night patrols and monitoring of overnight vehicular access to campus. DPS has also promised to provide personal safety consultations for Village A residents and set up brighter lighting features.

According to DPS Associate Director Joseph Smith, the latest burglarty is not indicative of a deficiency in the new measures.

“Any countermeasures against burglary, it’s not an absolute panacea for the problem. It doesn’t mean that we can [prevent] every single incident,” Smith said. “By increasing patrols and increasing the lighting, we’re reducing the risk factor, but there’s always a risk unless we put a DPS officer inside every single apartment.”

According to university spokeswoman Julie Bataille, DPS is not ruling out implementing further measures, but Smith said that he believes the current measures will largely be effective despite the most recent crime.

“We examine the available data and we ask ourselves: Do we need to modify our tactical plan? Do we keep it as is?” Smith said. “[The security measures are] not something that will have an immediate effect, but I believe that over time, we will see a dramatic difference in the amount of incidents in Village A.”

The measures were implemented after burglaries occurred in Village A on Oct. 16, Oct. 21 and Oct. 26. In each instance, a laptop was stolen from the targeted apartment. In an attempted burglary on Oct. 30, a student walking back to her Village A apartment was followed by an unknown suspect who attempted to force his way into the apartment but was stopped by another student and fled. On Oct. 31, a student returned to her Village A apartment to find a burglar in the apartment; the burglar fled without removing anything.

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