After an increase in Foggy Bottom robberies over the last two months, three additional Metropolitan Police Department officers will patrol Pennsylvania Avenue between 23rd and 26th streets, an MPD official said at Wednesday’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2A meeting.

Police Lt. Alesia Wheeler-Moore, who is the head officer for police service area 207 that encompasses GW’s campus and most of Foggy Bottom, said she instructed the officers to stop suspicious-looking people on the street late at night. The officers will also patrol parts of New Hampshire Avenue, she said.

“We’re only stopping suspicious persons doing suspicious activity,” Wheeler-Moore said. “That means people looking into cars, walking back and forth and that sort of thing.”

Three more officers will be responsible for manning the area, including an officer in a patrol car, an officer on a Segway and an officer walking the street. Wheeler-Moore said there is also an officer permanently assigned to the area.

Most crime rates have declined in the area, except for robberies and theft from automobiles, she said.

According to data from the MPD crime map Web site, there have been eight robberies without guns in the last 60 days, and 15 thefts from automobiles in PSA 207. In the same 60 days of last year, there were three robberies without guns and 17 thefts from automobiles.

Wheeler-Moore gave residents advice on staying safe, telling female residents to protect their purse while walking and to hang up the phone.

“Don’t walk down the street talking on a cell phone. You’re calling out victim,” she said.