The organizer of a neighborhood safety program already active in other parts of D.C said last week that she wants to reinvigorate the program in Foggy Bottom with the help of GW students and staffers.
Samantha Nolan, chair of the 2nd District Citizens Advisory Council, has worked with the Metropolitan Police Department to create the Neighborhood Watch Program in the 1st, 2nd and 5th police districts in D.C. Nolan now plans to expand the program to Police Service Area 207, where the University is located.
The program consists of a director in each PSA who keeps in contact with police and other citizens, known as “block captains.”
Each block captain then e-mails, calls or sends hard-copy messages to the residents of their block or apartment building about crime updates and prevention. Residents can also alert their block captains if they have tips for police.
Nolan said she learned from police reports that during the 2008 spring break, many GW residence hall rooms were broken into. She said she would like to see block captains in every residence hall to remind students to keep their valuables safe and keep them updated on crime in the city.
Nolan is currently looking for a permanent resident to be PSA 207’s program director.
Though Nolan said she had not spoken with the University Police Department specifically about implementing the program at GW, she said a UPD officer or even a commissioner from an Advisory Neighborhood Commission could fill the director position. UPD Chief Dolores Stafford could not be reached for comment.
“The goal is to have one block captain on every block,” Nolan said.
Nolan performs the block captain training and has trained all the captains in the 2nd District, where she has lived for 27 years. On April 21, she received the 2009 Mayor’s Lifetime Community Service Award for her numerous hours of service with various organizations in the district.
Currently there are 240 block captains in PSA 201 alone, 50 in both PSA 204 and 208, and the program exists in PSAs 202 and 203 as well.
The program is completely voluntary, but Nolan said those who do not want to be part of it are usually the ones who get hit by crime.
“Those who participate in the program are very willing to take steps needed to drive away crime,” Nolan said.
