Crime levels over the past three years have remained steady in Madison's central district, but recent violent crime, such as sexual assaults and robberies, has prompted both students and city officials to identify safety as a key issue.
Statistics compiled by the Madison Police Department show that the city has experienced an increase in sexual assaults and robberies over the last three years, despite an overall decrease in total crimes during the same period.
The statistics show that in January 2007 alone, eight sexual assaults occurred in Madison. Sexual assaults hit a five-year high, 64, in 2004, dropped to 44 in 2005 and climbed to 57 last year. Included in those 57 are three highly publicized assaults that took place on or near the UW-Madison campus last semester.
The first sexual assault occurred in an alley on the 500 block of University Avenue on Sept. 4, 2006. In that case, police reported that multiple male suspects sexually assaulted a 23-year-old woman.
The other two assaults, which police linked to the same man, happened in a span of two weeks. The first occurred on Nov. 29, 2006, when a UW-Madison student was abducted on Observatory Drive, driven off campus, sexually assaulted and returned to campus. The second, nearly identical assault took place on Dec. 9, 2006 when a UW student was abducted on Carroll Street.
The two incidents frightened Madison students and residents for weeks while police searched for the attacker. Antonio Pope was arrested for the crimes Dec. 15. The concern caused by the sexual assaults led police, officials and students to meet repeatedly to discuss what actions needed to be taken.
One of those actions—Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's $100,000 Downtown Safety Initiative—had already been put in place. The initiative is meant to target downtown crime, specifically in the area surrounding State and Langdon Streets.
The initiative is intended to target all crimes, but the police hope the extra officers will help control the increase in robberies downtown Madison has seen. In 2004, 73 people were robbed in the central district, 79 were robbed in 2005 and in 2006, the number of robberies rose dramatically, up to 112, according to police statistics.
Madison Police Central District Commander Mary Schauf has led the efforts behind the mayor's plan and helped compile downtown crime statistics. The statistics her staff put together showed that the bulk of the crime takes place in a centralized area.
""The problem areas lie between Langdon and University and Lake and Wisconsin,"" Schauf said.
Ald. Austin King, District 8, said the city has always been concerned with community safety, but this marks the first time money was set aside in a special fund for issues specific to the downtown area.
""Because of the press coverage of the more sensational crimes that had happened downtown, really everyone across the city thought it was reasonable to set aside a specific fund just for downtown safety, and I'm glad that it happened,"" King said.
