Crime & Safety

Want to Reduce Crime? Pay for It

Private financing for reimbursable detail officers nets results.

When they had concerns about potential increases in crime because of the flagging economy, Georgetown organizations and businesses took action into their own hands. Georgetown's Business Improvement District (BID) and Citizens Association (CAG), along with Georgetown University pay for a detail of officers, both Metropolitan Police Department and private, to patrol areas with known crime concentrations. Lt. John Hedgecock, responsible for PSA 206, which covers Georgetown, recently reported a 6 percent decline in crime for the year and credited the reimbursable details for the decrease.

The extra officers have "had a huge effect on crime and disorder problems," Hedgecock asserted. Though the lieutenant admitted that the criminals have not disappeared, but rather have likely been "displaced" to neighboring areas. 

The Georgetown BID pays its reimbursable detail, professional Metropolitan Police Department officers, to patrol high traffic areas on Fridays and Saturdays. The BID started its program last fiscal year, with $100,000 in funding to cover a reimbursable detail during the summer months.  The Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) provides a matching grant. 

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"The economic climate in 2009 was pretty rough, not that it's great now, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. It wasn't in response to criminal activity, we just wanted shoppers and people coming to gtown to feel a little safer," said Jim Braco, executive director of the BID.

This fiscal year the BID raised the budget to about $150,000 to pay for officers during the summer and as needed for events or around the Christmas holidays. Braco said for the fiscal year beginning in October, the board raised the funding to $200,000.

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He hopes to receive full matching funding from ABRA, but there is a fixed pool and "a lot of people put in for those funds, which are distributed on a first-come first-serve basis. It just depends on how many other organizations apply," Braco said.

CAG pays for two private security officers to patrol the neighborhoods; the officers split their duties between east and west sides of Wisconsin Avenue looking for suspicious activity. The officers do not have law enforcement authority, but will identify suspicious or criminal activity and notify police. CAG President Jennifer Altemus said it was "unfortunate" that the extra enforcement was necessary, since neighbors "pay so much in taxes already," but she said the details make people feel more secure. The CAG officers will walk residents into their homes and do a quick walk-around of the yards, an extra step to ensure the security and peace of mind of neighbors.

CAG used to have a joint team with the university, but now GU has its own team of three working the area nearest the campus on Fridays and Saturdays. Altemus said the University wanted to focus more on unruly parties, so the two decided to have their own details, rather than share a larger force. CAG still pays for its force through the university, though, to share the benefit of a liquor license and with accompanying ABRA grants.

Ed Solomon, public safety chair for both the Advisory Neighborhood Commission and the Georgetown BID, said the higher visibility of law enforcement acts as a deterrent in itself.


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