Despite a violent knifing near the White House, a normally very secure area of Washington, D.C., AU students still feel relatively safe on campus.
A homeless man was arrested Tuesday and charged with attempting to kill four tourists with a knife in Lafayette Park. The incident raised concern because the park is in such close proximity to the White House. The man was described as "mentally unstable" and the location of the crime was purely coincidental, according to The Washington Times.
The incident comes after several other crimes have been reported on or near AU's campus. According to a Public Safety report, two adjunct AU faculty members were robbed near campus on Aug. 30 of this year. In early October, AU students were involved in a shooting at the Avalon Foxhall apartments at 4100 Massachusetts Avenue.
U.S. Park Police Sgt. Scott Fear, who is investigating the Lafayette Park incident, said it was an unusual and random circumstance.
"I can count the number of incidents in this area on one hand," he said.
Fear said he did not think there was an increased rate of crime in historically safer areas of D.C.
"There hasn't been an increase in violent crimes in these parts," Fear said. "This was a random incident, and nothing needs to be done."
AU students have not expressed an increased concern about the violent crime on or near campus.
"I feel totally safe on campus. It's probably as safe as it can be," said Ashley Evans, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Evans is enrolled in the Rape Aggression Defense course as a precaution, however. The free physical defense course is offered by Public Safety.
"I wanted to learn how to protect myself, should someone try to attack me," Evans said. "I wanted to give myself more confidence."
Upperclassmen have not noticed an increase in the crime rate this year at AU.
"As far as campus, I have not noticed any more crime, other than when people don't lock their doors in the dorms or leave their laptops unattended in the lounges," said Blair Mersinger, a senior in the School of International Service.
Mersinger said she could not remember any other situations similar to the August robberies of the faculty members.
"Though I can hardly say that one anecdotal incident can lead me to believe that crime has increased," she said.
Mike Dickel, a senior in CAS, agreed that it was common for news to be sensationalized beyond its reality. Dickel, too, did not see any cause for alarm with these events.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department's monthly crime statistics for the second district where AU is located, crime has been decreasing. From September through November, total reported crime has fallen by as much as 15 percent, according to preliminary estimates.
