Officials announced Wednesday that they are increasing security measures in the University’s public parking garages beginning in mid-July.

The garages will now only be accessible by GWorld card or a barcode or access code from garage tickets community members obtain upon first entrance due to a new scanner system, according to a University release. The release states that the garage upgrades will also include high-speed doors, light detection and ranging cameras that will only trigger the doors to open if a vehicle approaches.

“The big key here was preventing anybody who is not affiliated at all from being able to have such easy access to our garages,” GW Police Department Chief James Tate said in the release. “What the university is trying to do here is to mitigate the risk to our community by more effectively controlling the access to these garages.”

The changes come after an assault of a GW staff member in the G Street Garage in October 2021. The Metropolitan Police Department stated the suspect in the case committed the assault with intent to “commit first-degree sexual abuse,” sparking safety concerns among GW community members.

The release states that the other changes include former pedestrian entrances into the garages becoming exit-only via their doors and that officials made similar updates to the Elliott School of International Affairs building’s garage last August.

“We want to try to be good neighbors, and we don’t want to shut our doors completely,” General Manager of Parking Services Ben Cave said. “We’re creating additional barriers for safety reasons, but we’re not limiting anyone who would normally have access.”