Amid a recent string of off-campus assaults and robberies, Georgetown is planning to ask officials at the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission to install four new lampposts to deter crime in unsafe areas.
Liz McCurtain (COL ’06), a member of the Student Safety Advisory Board which drew up the proposal, said that the board’s recommendation comes after a survey conducted in April showed that many students feel unsafe in areas immediately off campus.
The board’s proposal calls for the installation of lamp posts at the intersection of Bank Street and Prospect Street, the intersection of 37th Street and Prospect Street, 1409 35th Street and 3417 Volta Place.
“I think it’s a great idea considering the problems we’ve been having,” said Craig Wallace (MSB ’06), a resident of Bank Street. “Bank Street is not well lit – the only reason there’s any light at all is that two of the houses have exterior lights. If they’re not on, there’s nothing.”
David Morrell, vice president of university safety and advisor to the board, also said that the additional lamp posts are necessary.
“We want to mitigate the area that has the potential to provide cover for the people who have been assaulting and robbing students,” Morrell said. “We need to take away their ability to hide.”
Brett Clements (COL ’07), the sole student commissioner on the local ANC, said that the proposal was initially supposed to be introduced at the commission’s Nov. 1 meeting. He said, however, that the SSAB was not able to complete the requirement to inform all neighbors who live near the sites of the proposed lights by the date of the meeting.
“At the request of the applicants, the proposal was delayed until the next meeting,” he said.
McCurtain said she believes it is important to inform the neighbors that will be affected by the proposal before bringing it to the ANC.
“We’re still going through process of notifying residents so they can voice concerns and ask questions,” she said. “We have to make sure that it gets done before we go before the ANC so that we can prevent any issues that may come up.”
Clements said that a similar proposal was approved by the ANC last October and forwarded to the District of Columbia’s Board of Transportation, resulting in the installation of lampposts at 3609 O Street, 3409 O Street, 3608 N Street and 3515 N Street.
Morrell said that the SSAB is also working to improve the safety of the area on Prospect Street behind Village A from 37th Street toward Leo J. O’Donovan, S.J., Dining Hall. He said they are focusing both on getting additional lighting and on cutting back the trees and undergrowth.
In the survey, “students felt that the area behind Prospect was one of the most dangerous,” Morrell said.
Pat Gushue (SFS ’06), a resident of Village A, was one of those students.
“I think it’s pretty badly lit. I wouldn’t walk there at night by myself,” he said.
Morrell said that the D.C. Park Services has trimmed the overgrowth of trees along that stretch and is coming back to trim more. Georgetown is also responsible for part of the area along Prospect.
“This weekend Georgetown’s contractor is going to cut down trees from the start of Village A to Leo’s,” orrell said.
“I think it’s a great idea. It would definitely cut down the possibility of people lurking there,” Gushue said.
