The recent, unsettling string of Village A apartment burglaries has prompted a speedy and multi-pronged response from the Department of Public Safety. Unfortunately, DPS’ enthusiasm has been somewhat misguided.

In a memo sent to Village A residents last week, the Office of Residence Life and DPS outlined three steps that are being taken to combat the slew of break-ins. First, DPS has upped the number of officers on night patrol around Village A. Second, additional lighting has been installed in the parking lot behind Lauinger Library and Village A. Finally, vehicles coming into campus via the Canal Road and Prospect Street entrances between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. are being more closely monitored.

While these three measures are appropriate, they are not sufficient. Moreover, DPS seems to be supplementing them with some overzealous and less germane strategies. For example, some students have reported DPS officers randomly checking the GOCards of people walking past the Village A complex. Given that many suspect the recent laptop thieves to be students, it makes little sense to use aggressive GOCard scans to hone in on a suspect. Plus, card checks are unnecessarily intimidating for passersby. This is Georgetown, not Arizona.

A more beneficial response would be to conduct a thorough survey of the locks on Village A apartments. The university’s knee-jerk reaction to any break-in is to remind students to lock their doors. While that is good advice, it is less helpful for victims whose doors were locked before a burglary. At least one student has confirmed that her apartment was broken into despite her locked door. This fact suggests that it may be time to put in stronger locks, or at least reinforce those that are not working properly.

In the end, the swiftness of DPS’ reply to the break-ins is reassuring, but its methods leave something to be desired. It ought to redirect its energy from inefficient scare tactics to practical responses.