Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students:



As previously reported, Johns Hopkins has been working closely with Baltimore police and government leaders on proactive measures to address a spike in street crime affecting neighborhoods near our campuses.



Many of these crimes involve groups of juveniles accosting pedestrians or drivers. In addition, in the past week, juveniles have stopped, assaulted, and robbed several Johns Hopkins-affiliated bicyclists.



Three serious bicycle assaults have occurred in the corridor between the East Baltimore campus and the Mount Vernon neighborhood. In each case, the bicyclists were traveling alone, outside our campus patrol areas, and were attacked at an intersection where they had to slow down or stop.



Johns Hopkins response

Baltimore police, at our request, will increase patrols in the area, particularly along Monument and Madison streets west of the East Baltimore campus.



Johns Hopkins is also moving rapidly to install external bicycle carriers on the Homewood-Peabody-JHMI shuttle buses and on certain East Baltimore shuttles (the Route 7 and on-call shuttles). This will allow bicyclists who find themselves staying on campus later than expected to take a shuttle without losing access to their bikes for the next day’s commute.



We expect to install bicycle carriers by Dec. 18 on the Homewood-Peabody-JHMI shuttles and by mid-January, at the latest, on the affected East Baltimore shuttles.



Until these bicycle carriers are installed, we strongly urge any bicyclist on campus late to leave your bike on campus. Take a shuttle or other Johns Hopkins transportation home and back to campus again the next day.



When you do ride your bicycle between the East Baltimore campus and the Mount Vernon or Greater Homewood areas, we urge you to use Monument Street eastbound and Madison Street westbound. There is relatively good lighting and visibility on those streets, and Baltimore police are focusing their added patrols there.



Other advice for bicycle commuters

We strongly suggest that bicycle commuters also: Travel with other bicyclists.

Choose well-traveled and well-lit routes.

Do not wear headphones or ear buds when bicycling on city streets.

Register your bike with Johns Hopkins Security. In the event it is stolen and recovered, the bike can be identified more easily.

If you become a crime victim, remain calm, quickly surrender any property demanded, take note of the suspect’s description, and notify security or the police as soon as possible. Provide the serial number if your bicycle was taken. Resources for our students, faculty, and staff

We also want to remind everyone in the Johns Hopkins community that there are resources available to help those who have been crime victims. Among those resources are the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program for employees; the Johns Hopkins Student Assistance Program for East Baltimore students and students of Carey Business School, the School of Education, SAIS, and Education for Professionals; and the Counseling Center for full-time students at Homewood and Peabody.



Johns Hopkins is treating these crimes against bicycle commuters, and all street crime involving university and health system affiliates, very seriously. We will continue to update you as developments warrant. As a reminder, we are including below the emergency contact information for the security departments at East Baltimore, Peabody, and Homewood.



Sincerely,



Keith Hill

Vice President, Corporate Security

Johns Hopkins Medicine and Johns Hopkins University



George Economas

Senior Director, Security, Parking and Transportation

Johns Hopkins East Baltimore Campus



Christina Presberry

Executive Director, Campus Safety and Security

Johns Hopkins University





All faculty, staff and students should alert Campus Safety and Security immediately of any suspicious people or activity at:



410-955‑5585 for the East Baltimore campus

667-208-6608 for the Peabody Institute

410-516-7777 for the Homewood campus.