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

Big Brother Is Welcome

The Department of Public Safety’s decision to install security cameras around campus is a classic case of “better late than never.”

Calls for increased security abounded last year after several alarming incidents of sexual assaults occurred on and around campus. In the wake of this year’s string of laptop thefts, it seems that DPS has finally gotten the message.

Wednesday’s announcement that security cameras will be installed at the exits and entrances of all on-campus residences came less than two weeks after DPS apprehended three members of an alleged laptop ring. Perhaps it was these arrests that lit a fire under the university in a way that events last year did not.

The less sensational reason for the timing comes from Director of Media Relations Rachel Pugh, who said that the opportunity to cut costs by coordinating security camera and wireless Internet installation was one at which the university was happy to jump.

Whatever the case, Georgetown is finally taking an important, constructive step toward significantly bolstering student safety. The university has chosen, rightly, not to disclose the locations of the cameras.

One can only hope that DPS and the university have factored not just the recent laptop thefts, but also last year’s incidents, into its calculations. Cameras should be placed in areas that are vulnerable both to property thefts and to direct physical assaults.

As long as the university considers more than just some specific locations of recent crime, the installation of security cameras will be an invaluable step toward increasing campus safety.

To send a letter to the editor on a recent campus issue or Hoya story or a viewpoint on any topic, contact [email protected]. Letters should not exceed 300 words, and viewpoints should be between 600 to 800 words.

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