Vigilance is Critical to Holiday Safety

-The recent crime wave in the Georgetown neighborhood, coupled with a handful of rather bizarre local drug busts, has been a source of unease within the community at large. For the past few months, petty burglaries and assaults have been on the rise, with increasing numbers of incidences occurring among our numbered and lettered streets, frequently just off our main intersections and cross streets (M and Wisconsin). In a few cases, houses have been broken into. But let’s not forget the BB&T Bank heist, which was something right out of Bonnie & Clyde.

Approaching the holiday season, shopping and consuming come to a rolling boil, and no one jumps more immediately into the thick of retail frivolity (all in the name of giving, of course) than Georgetown. This means that there is a lot of shopping, which in turn means that there are a lot of folks out there walking around with bags of expensive, nice things. Criminals are aware of this. This is why crime always spikes around the holiday season, like a squirrel fattening up for the winter.

Thankfully, Georgetown has a caring community. The local ANC meetings have been regularly inviting the police chief to speak to the community, and the local crime watch is effective and efficient in releasing statements of burglaries in or around the area. Recently, the Georgetown BID donated two Segways to the police force to be used exclusively to patrol the streets of Georgetown. We just wanted to say thanks.

Please be safe this holiday season, especially around the neighborhood. It is important to be mindful of your surroundings; don’t go walking around the streets with your head buried in your brand new iPhone from the new Mac store. Be mindful of your surroundings. If you’re going on a shopping binge, you might want to rethink parking too far off the main roads. While it may seem irritating to spend $15 to park in a garage, it isn’t much when compared to the amount you would lose if your holiday gifts were stolen.