After mayor Dave Cieslewicz released his $100,000 Downtown Safety Initiative Tuesday, student organizations and city officials broke down the proposal Wednesday night to strengthen city-campus efforts to fight downtown crime.
The meeting was led off with a word from the mayor, who told the small gathering he hopes the initiative will provide a building block for years to come. He also said student representatives might feel the need to ""tweak things,"" but added the plan cannot succeed without full cooperation from everyone.
""We all have some responsibility in keeping downtown safe,"" Cieslewicz said.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the proposal must pass at the City Council meeting before the money can be allotted. He also acknowledged that the proposal has many good qualities, but said he feels there is room for improvement.
""Certainly, the plan can be edited,"" Verveer said.
Madison police Capt. Mary Schauf is one of the leaders of the proposal and said incorporating Wi-Fi cameras downtown, boosting neighborhood watch programs and strengthening police and bar owner relations are the three keys to achieving the goal of a safe downtown.
Currently, the police have two cameras, but they do not allow officers the ability to move around to different problem locations and still monitor activity picked up by cameras in other areas. The proposal calls for two Wi-Fi cameras to be bought by the Madison police department. Each camera would cost about $8-9,000 and allow the police to control crime with more flexibility, according to Schauf.
""The flexibility you get with these cameras is that we can put it where we will get the most bang for our buck,"" Schauf said.
Neighborhood safety programs are also looking to cash in on the proposal. UW-Madison sophomore Eli Judge represented the College Democrats and said campus safety is a must for the university.
He said the proposal is good because more police visibility means there is a better chance of less crime.
Schauf said building a student-resident relationship is necessary to increase safety. The money the neighborhood watch programs would receive will most likely be spent on pamphlets.
There was also lighthearted talk of creating a police Facebook profile at the meeting. But ""no one would want to sign up to the police Facebook,"" she said with a laugh.
Jokes aside, Judge said one concern of his is that police might lose focus of their goals and become complacent with cracking down on other things beside street violence.
""I fear they might start raiding bars and not worry so much about the street,"" Judge said.
