This week, students, faculty and staff received an email from Georgetown University Police Department Chief of Police Jay Gruber warning the community of a recent increase in crime as noted by the Metropolitan Police Department.

GUPD and MPD are currently working to proactively monitor and control this regrettable trend, but students should take note that preventing crime is not the burden of solely police officers, but that it is also our responsibility to be vigilant regarding crime prevention measures.

Although emails from the Public Safety Alert Listserv seem to be piling up, now is the time more than ever to stop ignoring those emails. It’s easy to assume that a walk from Prospect Street to campus will be brisk and safe, but at night, students should take care to travel in groups, remain on well-lit paths and keep phones and watches in their pockets — just as GUPD has already reminded us.

GUPD, too, can work with MPD to commit more resources to areas where students are being targeted. Although the weekend’s crowded Village A rooftops pose their own concerns to GUPD, sacrificing some officers on party patrol to maintain police presence along Prospect Street and other late-night thoroughfares where students might be targeted would be a good investment of GUPD’s manpower, at least for the time being.

While there is little chance for the Georgetown community to stamp out this increase of crime in our neighborhood overnight, there are certainly steps we can take to prevent it and ensure that students receive the proper resources and protection. Increased student awareness and attention to safety measures, along with support from GUPD, will go a long way toward making Georgetown less of a target for these robberies and burglaries.