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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Staff Editorial: Addressing communication issues

There has been a distinct change in the way students talk about campus security this semester. Whether due to the frequency or content of Crime Alerts, students have taken more notice of the e-mails. This is developing into somewhat of a problem for the University Police Department, an organization currently in transition with the departure of Dolores Stafford and the announcement of Executive Assistant Chief of Police James Isom as interim chief of police. We see students beginning to lose confidence in UPD’s ability to keep the campus safe. This is something the department must address.

Students, however, should know that the recent spate of Crime Alerts does not necessarily mean an increase in crime on campus. In fact, there has been no increase in campus crime, Isom said Wednesday. This effectively means that students, who have taken to social media in particular to voice their safety concerns, are responding to the Crime Alerts in a way that doesn’t represent the realities of safety on campus. UPD has a duty to ensure that the information it releases does not have the effect of misleading students and instilling fear in the student body.

We suggest that UPD examine its Crime Alert policies to give students a better context for the crimes about which it decides to alert campus. All Crime Alerts should include brief statistics about trends in similar crimes. For example, a Crime Alert telling students of an assault should include information about the number of prior assaults that have been committed in perhaps the last month or semester, and how those compare to recent years. This would give students perspective on whether there has been a significant change regarding safety on campus, and would dispel the misconceptions and negative attitudes that result from a lack of information.

UPD should also be cognizant of the racial implications of the content of the Crime Alerts. This issue was clearly demonstrated in the alert concerning the reported stabbing on 21st Street last Sunday. The e-mail read, “The suspects were described by witnesses as black males.” In the context of increasing safety, this information is blatantly useless. Rather, these vague descriptions are inflammatory and often perpetuate negative racial sentiments. The Clery Act, which requires university police forces to report incidents in a timely manner, gives discretion to these forces as to what information should be included in the reports. UPD should practice this discretion more often, and not simply include exceedingly vague descriptions of suspects.

The department should also consider more creative ways of increasing campus safety. This could include outreach by officers to student groups and residence halls, simultaneously educating students on safety and creating a closer relationship with students. Grounding the police more strongly in the GW community will be an effective way to minimize misperceptions while keeping students informed and feeling safe.

It’s important to remember that students are not afraid of an actual increase in crime. Rather, students are becoming more afraid to walk the streets at night because communication between UPD and the student body could improve. Putting these alerts in context without unproductive information is the simplest means of resolving this problem.

Readers can visit the Forum to comment on this editorial.

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