As required by law, UW-Madison police maintain and allow the public to view a crime log of documented incidents on campus. But other Big Ten universities offer faster access to the public by posting detailed logs online, while UWPD's log is only available by an in-person request.
The University of Michigan police department provides an online incident log, complete with the date, time, location, category and updated details of each incident. Any website visitor can select any day in the past seven years and view all documented incidents. Reports range from sexual assault to small thefts in campus buildings.
Every month University of Minnesota police release the month's crime counts for different categories. Each month's statistics are set up next to the cumulative count for that year, including percentages that indicate whether crime in each category is up or down.
Purdue University also gives a monthly report, but in addition attaches estimated damage loss for each incident and a combined total of losses.
On its website, the UWPD only provides its most recent yearly report—2005.
UWPD Lt. Eric Holen said he was not aware of any ideas to make the daily crime log available online, but said it could possibly be something to discuss in the future.
The daily log can be viewed at the UWPD's headquarters, 1429 Monroe St., Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Request for reports of past incidents are available by request. Only limited details may be shown in ongoing criminal investigations to protect the rights of the victim.
