View Campus Crime Watch: October 27 – November 1 in a larger map

With the latest attempted Village A burglary in mind, Vox wants to remind everybody to lock their doors. Also, two incidences of fraud also occurred this week; if you become a victim of fraud or theft, don’t forget to deactivate your GOCard, which can be done through the GOCard website.

To report an emergency, call the Georgetown Department of Public Safety at (202) 687-4343 or the DC Metropolitan Police Department at 911. To report other suspicious behavior, call the DPS tip-line at (202) 687-2320.

Wednesday, October 27

1:00 PM – THEFT (Hariri). A wallet containing two credit cards, insurance card, and cell phone were stolen from an unsecured area. No suspects or witnesses have been identified.

2:15 PM – THEFT (Hariri). A wallet containing a credit card, driver’s license, and social security card was stolen. No suspects or witnesses have been identified.

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View Campus Crime Watch: October 19-26 in a larger map

Drug violations—and the ensuing arrests—took a prominent position in this week’s news coverage. However, theft remains the most prevalent type of crime on campus. Six reported incidents of laptop thefts occurred on campus in the past week, two of which occurred within minutes of one another on Sunday in Lauinger Library. (In total, four laptops were stolen on Sunday.)

While investigating a laptop theft in Village A on Tuesday night, Metropolitan Police Department Sergeant Nick Cook offered students some tongue-in-cheek advice.

“Look out for the guy running around with 17 Macbooks,” he said.

To report an emergency, call the Georgetown Department of Public Safety at (202) 687-4343 or the DC Metropolitan Police Department at 911. To report other suspicious behavior, call the DPS tip-line at (202) 687-2320.

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View Campus Crime Watch: October 12-18 in a larger map

Earlier this week, the Hoya reported a rise in bicycle thefts at Georgetown. Vox recommends that students register their bikes with the National Bike Registry. (Bicycle registration, which was required in D.C. until 2008, is potentially the only way to recover a stolen bicycle.) When locking up those bikes, remember: U-locks with steel cuffs are the best, and always lock the front wheel.

In other news, Fall is well underway on the Hilltop, which means one thing—gourd-like squash are being displayed on porches. Sadly, there’s no pumpkin registry in D.C., so be vigilant against this seasonal blight of pumpkin larceny.

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[Editor's Note: We're changing up our crime coverage a bit. Now, we're posting weekly crime reports, rather than monthly.]

View Campus Crime Watch: October 1-11 in a larger map

This past week-and-a-half saw the three on-campus assaults, two of which DPS characterized as “domestic violence assaults.”

According to Rachel Pugh, associate director of University communications, criminal behavior can fall under the purview of both Student Conduct and D.C. law. Physical assault, depending on the severity of the injury, is classified as either a Class B or C violation, which general carry minimum punishments ranging from “housing probation or housing suspension to disciplinary probation or disciplinary suspension” and “disciplinary suspension or … dismiss[al] from the University.” D.C. law punishes “simple” (i.e. misdemeanor) assault with a fine of “$1000 and/or imprisonment of up to 180 days, or both” (DC Code 22-404).

To report an emergency, call the Georgetown Department of Public Safety at (202) 687-4343 or the DC Metropolitan Police Department at 911.  To report other suspicious behavior, call the DPS tip-line at (202) 687-2320.

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As expected, the first full month of the academic year saw an uptick in crime from the summer lull, bringing the total number of crimes reported to the Department of Public Safety up to 43 for the month. A number of off-campus crimes occurred in September as well, including a burglary, a number of iPhone robberies, and a robbery of an armored car.

Here’s a rundown of some of the crimes that were reported to DPS:

• A suspect was found to be in possession of a dangerous weapon when it was determined that he had three machetes. (Sounds like he came prepared for any potential burglaries on campus.)
• Two assaults on a police officer occurred in September, one of which happened during the protest of Álvaro Uribe’s guest lecture.
• Nine drug violations were discovered by DPS, of which nearly half took place over the second weekend of September.
• A total of 13 thefts were reported to DPS, including a bike stolen from inside the Mortara Center, as well as an unattended computer and wallet  taken in Lauinger Library.
• Two lewd incidents were reported, including one about a male fondling himself in front of a student.

[Editor's Note: Due to technical problems, we couldn't compile September's crimes onto a map this morning. Once we work out the kinks, we promise to add it to the post.]

View Campus Crime Map: June 2010 in a larger map

Continued a trend of low crime rates during the summer, Georgetown saw minimal criminal activity in the month of June. Although June’s Daily Crime Log listed an increase number of crimes compared to May, the 22 reported crimes is still the second-lowest rate of 2010. June saw two violent crimes—an assault against a DPS officer in pursuit of a suspect, and a simple assault in Village C West—in addition to a slew of thefts, burglaries, and one good-old-fashioned drug violation.

• Twelve thefts occurred in or around campus. In all cases except for one (in which the suspect was trying to steal bicycle parts in Red Square), no witnesses observed the crimes and no suspects have been identified. The most noteworthy theft? A suspect stole a plasma television from the Medical School.
• A suspect, who was later arrested, assaulted a DPS officer after fleeing the scene of a theft. (Likely involving the aforementioned bicycle parts in Red Square).
• Four burglaries happened last month, including the one on 36th Street that led to a Public Safety Alert. According to the Log, another burglary occurred the same day on the same block, yet DPS did not issue a PSA. In another incident, a suspect broke a window in the IDEAA office, only to leave without stealing anything.
• A drug violation went down in a University townhouse, where apparently students used “an illegal substance.” We’re shocked!
• An identified suspect “drove through an armored gate” in the Leavey Center parking lot, while someone else threw a brick through a car window in the McDonough lot. Destruction of property and parking lots—a match made in heaven.

View Campus Crime Map: May 2010 in a larger map

The Department of Public Safety’s Daily Crime Log only listed fifteen crimes for the month of May—a low for 2010. But, May saw one serious crime—an unknown suspect assaulted two DPS officers during the Reggae Tent party held in McDonough Gymnasium during Senior Week. Otherwise, a flurry of thefts and burglaries occurred across campus, with fraud, unlawful entry, and public indecency thrown in for good measure. Here’s the breakdown of last month’s crimes:

• According to the DPS Crime Log, the suspect who assaulted the two DPS officers was identified and charged with assault. When reached for comment, Public Safety Associate Director Joseph Smith wrote, “It would be inappropriate for me to comment at this time.” DPS and MPD are currently investigating the case, but we promise to publish details about the assaults as they emerge.
• Seven thefts occurred on and around campus in May. In all cases, no witnesses observed the crimes and no suspects have been identified. Oddly enough, the report includes a case of stolen “cooking utensils.” Must be some expensive utensils.
• Two burglaries occurred, one of which Vox reported late last week. In the other case, a laptop was stolen from an unsecured room in Village C West.
• DPS caught two people publicly urinating last month in Village A, and then outside of McDonough Gymnasium a few days later during the aforementioned Reggae Tent party.
• An unknown suspect(s) fraudulently used a credit card at Epicurean.
• Someone decided to take a unlawful stroll through the Gervase Building around 4 a.m. on the 16th, only to be identified by DPS after exiting.

View Campus Crime Watch: March 2010 in a larger map

With 34 total crimes listed in the Department of Public Safety Daily Crime Log for the month, March saw a high number of burglaries, at least three violent crimes, and a number of thefts. Here’s how crimes listed in the log broke down:

• This month, we reported six burglaries on and near the Georgetown campus, including one reported by MPD but not DPS. The DPS log records nine burglaries. PSAs were sent out for five of them, but three incidents in which suspects may have entered with the intention of theft were not publicized by DPS.

  On March 15, the same day DPS reported two burglaries on 37th Street, a suspect stole a Playstation 3 from a residence on the 3600 block of Prospect Street at 4:41 p.m. Food items were also reported stolen from a residence on that block at 9 p.m. on the same day. On March 16, computers and a gaming system were reported stolen from a Village A apartment.

  These cases may bring the total number of March break-ins in Georgetown to a whopping nine. It is not clear whether residences were locked or unlocked in these situations. In each case, the suspect remains at large.

  Thefts from a locker room in McDonough Gymnasium on March 18 were recorded as a burglary. On March 31, a student in Village C East found a man “wandering around in her bathroom,” who fled the scene before DPS arrived.

• There was one reported case of sexual assault this month, on the 1400 block of 36th Street on March 19. A female student alleged that a male she knows sexually assaulted her. The case is being handled by the Metropolitan Police Department.

  This is one of the few, if not the only case of alleged sexual assault by an acquaintance that has been reported in a DPS log going back over a year.

• DPS listed five drug violations, which is still high for Georgetown if we’re using the last twelve months as precedent. But it’s come down off its high of 12 drug violations in February.

  Assistant Director of the Public Safety Department Andrew Powell confirmed that a March 19 drug violation was the incident in which a student claimed to have witnessed questionable DPS officer behavior.

  Powell said he could not confirm whether or not the student had filed a complaint about the officers, whom she claims swore at and threatened a student they had arrested. If a complaint was filed, he wrote in an e-mail, DPS’s internal investigatory unit would determine whether the officers’ conduct warranted disciplinary action.

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View February 2010 Crime Map in a larger map

February wasn’t a very criminal month at Georgetown. There were 25 crimes recorded in the Department of Public Safety Daily Crime Log, but nearly half of those were drug violations. There were two very violent crimes, however, one simple assault, and one sexual assault. Here’s the breakdown:

• There weren’t as many thefts in February as Georgetown usually sees recorded in a month. Only five thefts took place. A bicycle tire, a coat containing a scarf, an iPod, and cash, a wallet, the contents of a backpack, including a laptop, and a cellphone SIM card were the items stolen.

• Unusually, there were quite a number of drug violations at Georgetown last month. A grand total of 12 drug violations were recorded in February, far and away the most of any month in the DPS logs online. Earlier this month, readers pointed out to us that the spike coincided with the Voice cover story about Georgetown’s relatively lenient punishments for drug use.

• A sexual assault occurred this month at the Georgetown University Hospital in which an assailant touched a victim inappropriately and was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department. MPD has not responded to several requests for more details about the assault, and DPS has referred Vox to the Hospital’s security.

• There was one simple assault at Georgetown at 36th and N Streets, in which two male students sent another student to the emergency room. The suspected assailants were identified and the case has been turned over to MPD.

• Two incidents of harassment occurred in which a complainant received threatening notes in Copley Hall and another received threatening notes in Darnall Hall.

• There was one case of unlawful entry recorded this month, in which an individual who had been barred from campus before was found in McCarthy Hall and was arrested and charged with unlawful entry.

• There was one case of public indecency, in which an individual was caught publicly urinating.

View January 2010 Crime Map in a larger map

January was a particularly violent month at Georgetown. Not because the number of crime incidents surged—there were 29 crimes reported for January in the Department of Public Safety’s Daily Crime log, which is about even with September and November, and nowhere near October, when 52 crimes were reported—but because the number of more serious incidents increased from months where there were a comparable number of crimes.

• Two assaults occurred on campus this month. The first was the incident Vox reported on in which a female student assaulted another with her keys after he broke up with her. The second occurred in Reynolds on a Thursday night, and ended with the complainant being treated in the emergency room for head injuries.

• A hit-and-run occurred at the Prospect Street gate which did not end in a trip to the emergency room.

• One robbery occurred in which the complainant was pushed into a wall and cash was stolen from her.

• Three cases of harassment were reported this month. In one, a student in Copley Hall received notes with offensive language; in another, someone received profane and harassing text messages; in the third case, someone in the New South Facilities building received annoying radio transmissions. All three cases are under investigation.

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