Two weeks ago, a GW student who lives in the Columbia Plaza apartment complex returned to her apartment in the afternoon to find her room had been burglarized. The building has surveillance cameras and guards at the entrances, but someone managed to get into the building, into her apartment and escape unseen with $2,500 worth of valuables.

The student left the apartment for a few hours without deadbolting the door because she figured she would only be gone for a short time. She learned a costly lesson.

Because the crime occurred off campus, the University Police Department has no jurisdiction over the investigation of the crime. UPD also is not required to put up posters in the Columbia Plaza area and on campus to alert residents about the crime, which is the responsibility of the apartment complex’s management. However, as a service to the building’s student residents and other Foggy Bottom residents, UPD should make people aware that a crime occurred a block away from campus.

We may forget we live in a major metropolitan area with all its problems, but a single crime that is well-publicized can bring us back to reality.

Each student is responsible for his or her personal safety. Students must get into the habit of not letting people into their buildings on the assumption that they live in the building. Likewise, deadbolting doors, making sure all windows are locked and keeping valuables in a secure place may seem like a sign of paranoia, but it is better to err on the side of caution than to take people’s answers at face value.

Students who live off campus should demand that their building’s managers put up notices when crimes occur in or around the building. The building’s owners and managers may not like to inform residents of bad news, but it is their responsibility to let their residents know of potential dangers in the area.

In the past, the management of Columbia Plaza slipped notices under residents’ doors to notify them that laundry rooms would be closed for a few days while the tile was repaired. If building managers make an effort to tell residents about laundry room repairs, they should make the same effort to protect their residents’ safety.