As crime in the downtown Madison area and on UW-Madison's campus rises, falls and stabilizes over the years, administrators and students have implemented many programs to counteract assaults and attacks and increase campus safety.
""Safety on this campus has taken an alarming turn,"" Dean of Students Lori Berquam said regarding the two abductions and sexual assaults in late November and early December 2006. ""We at the Office of the Dean of Students and other UW-Madison administrators are firmly devoted to improving students' security.""
As student victims increasingly report muggings and sexual assaults to Madison and UW police, the university has strengthened efforts to increase student security on highly traversed areas of campus and Madison, such as Langdon Street.
After several muggings on Langdon Street last semester and over the summer, and an attack on a UW-Madison student as she attempted to enter her apartment in August 2006, UW-Madison's Greek system paired with the Madison Police Department in November 2006 to create the Langdon Night Watch Program.
According to UW-Madison junior and Langdon Night Watch Student Coordinator Alex Sheridan, the program has student volunteers slated to patrol the area every Friday and Saturday night until school ends.
Aiming to increase security, Sheridan said the program has been successful, even if the patrolling is uneventful—the program has not stumbled across any crimes yet.
""If we catch someone in the act, then so be it, but we're not an organization that goes out sniffing for perpetrators,"" Sheridan said. ""We're there to prevent them from even coming in the first place.""
Sheridan said attackers are probably avoiding Langdon Street now due to the program and students' heightened awareness of safety.
MPD Langdon Night Watch Program Director Tony Fiore could not be reached for comment, but said in a late October 2006 release that the program was designed to focus on strength in numbers and that he was ""very excited"" for its implementation.
And, after alleged lack of cooperation from UW-Madison administrators, UW-Madison's student government is in the process of forming a neighborhood watch program, according to representatives at its Spring 2007 kick-off meeting. The Campus Safety Committee maintains its commitment to student security, and representatives said the watch program should help strengthen campus-area safety after it is established later this spring.
ASM Campus Safety Intern Kelly Arendt said for the last month of the spring 2007 semester the watch program will work on patrolling areas like Park and Regent Streets, and the College Court/Spring Street areas of downtown Madison, where many students live. Police reported that a UW-Madison student was sexually assaulted on Spring Street early Saturday morning.
The watch program will have six teams for fall 2007, according to Arendt—two team to patrol areas south of Regent Street, like Mound and Chandler Streets, one team for the Spring Street/College Court area, one team for the Camp Randall area and two teams to patrol south of State Street, near Mifflin Street and West Washington Avenue.
""It's an initiative we're really excited about finally getting off the ground,"" ASM Campus Relations Chair Christie Penn said at the committee's spring 2007 kick-off meeting. ""Hopefully, it will curb some of the really violent crimes that have been occurring with startling frequency lately.""
Most recently, UW-Madison administrators, including the Chancellor's and Dean of Student's offices, University Housing, UW and Madison Police Departments and ASM representatives met to discuss forming a comprehensive campus Safety Task Force and the potential establishment of a centralized ""campus safety office.""
Berquam said Tuesday that Chancellor John Wiley will be issuing commands probably within the next week to recommended parties on the task force committee—students and staffers from the Office of the Dean of Students and UW-Madison Transportation Services—to provide parameters and instructions for the task force to move forward
The office, as Safe Arrival For Everyone Services Coordinator Jacob Hahn and ASM Chair Dylan Rath said after the Feb. 26 campus safety summit, would be a place where students can go for resources on how to protect themselves.
