Lock it or lose it.
Madison police are sending this blunt message to residents and students in response to a growing rate of residential robberies downtown. What police identify as one of the biggest problems plaguing the city is directly affecting student livelihood and safety.
According to a police report, trends in strong arm, firearm and knife robberies have nearly doubled from the period of January to June in 2005 through the same time frame in 2006. The most alarming rise in crime occurred in strong arm robberies, which rose from 59 during the first half of 2005 to 102 during the first six months of 2006.
However, Madison residents and UW-Madison students have not responded the way police would prefer. The mindset ""it won't happen to me"" is far too prevalent, police said. With that thinking in mind, police said most of the problems from residential burglary stem from people having a lax mindset and failing to lock doors and windows.
""We're doing a push to try to get people to lock their doors because the root of the problem is that they're not locking their doors,"" said MPD crime analyst Nicole DeMotto.
Lt. Ken Kerl of the UW-Madison Police Department said he thinks the reason people are not locking up is because they feel safe. However, he said Madison is a community that is continually growing in size and with that comes crime.
""Still, overall I think people feel safe in Madison,"" Kerl said.
According to DeMotto, the largest number of residential burglaries occur in the campus area, especially around Mifflin, Gorham and Langdon streets—areas deemed student housing. She said despite knowing where the largest concentration of robberies occur, police have arrested very few burglars because the crimes are hard to trace.
UW-Madison junior Meaghan Cayemberg lives on Mifflin Street and was robbed twice within a week last semester. She said the burglars stole some money the first time, and the second time they took her digital camera along with more money. Caymeberg said the police were notified after the robberies but have not caught anyone yet.
""I really don't think [police] are doing their jobs,"" Cayemberg said.
Locking doors remains the easiest way to avoid losing valuables, but MPD Public Information Officer Mike Hanson said most residents are not making strong enough efforts to ensure their own safety. He also noted would-be victims of crime do not really understand the importance of calling in suspicious activity.
""Phone calls are really circumstantial,"" Hanson said, ""but in general, there are a significant number of people that either don't want to get involved or don't want to bother us.""
Cayemberg disagreed and said she called police, but they failed to get involved. She said two houses, both only doors down from hers, were also robbed of money.
""It's just getting ridiculous,"" she said.
