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City updates safety plan

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Also by Cassie Kornblau:

Legislator looks out for taxpayers (December 11, 2007)
Added cost of studying abroad (December 10, 2007)
Representative brings 'traditionalist' view to college (December 7, 2007)
When hate disrupts the classroom (December 6, 2007)

by Cassie Kornblau

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Local business owners, community members and city officials presented an update Thursday on the status of the downtown safety initiative aimed at improving security on the University of Wisconsin campus.

Madison Police Department Central District Captain Mary Schauf said the proposal for the downtown safety initiative includes three main objectives. The initiative aims to reduce violent street-level crime from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m., enhance district-wide community policing efforts and improve voluntary compliance with alcohol-related ordinances in licensed and unlicensed establishments.

To implement these plans within the $100,000 budget constraint Mayor Dave Cieslewicz allotted, Schauf said the city "want[s] to put money where we get the biggest impact within our budget."

Cieslewicz said the downtown area is a vibrant place and the overall direction is up, making it important to get ahead of the some these problems with this plan.

"The plan is comprehensive in nature because it is not just adding more police overtime," Cieslewicz said. "The plan is building network of safety for the future."

The most economical way, according to Schauf's proposal, is to increase directed patrols of officers on bicycle, motorcycle and mounted patrol for street-level enforcement, particularly during peak activity time Fridays and Saturdays.

Schauf said the money would also be budgeted for cameras on streets such as Henry, Gilman and Langdon where crimes have been more frequent. This allows for police officers to connect through their squad-car laptops to the cameras to better target crime, she added.

"Pictures are much more compelling," Schauf said. "Our society is much more in tune to identify images that help in decision making situations."

Other strategies to promote safety include the expansion of the neighborhood watch programs similar to the Langdon Street watch program by providing staff support and training to residents in the area.

Kelly Arendt, campus safety coordinator for the Associated Students of Madison, said she likes the plan's neighborhood watch program, and added she would like to see it expand all around campus and outside of the downtown region.

Other initiatives, including compliance checks at licensed establishments, will be conducted in greater frequency using both uniform and non-uniformed personnel.

UW sophomore Eli Judge, who is running for alderman in District 8, said he likes the proposed initiatives. But Judge also said he is worried police will be more concerned with conducting bar raids than stopping the violence on the street.

Despite the proposal's objectives, the budget constraint prohibited an increase in pedestrian-scale lighting, as well as emergency call boxes — not only because of the expense, but because of the lack of use by the police department.

"Great strides have been made downtown over the last several years to increase pedestrian-scale lighting and that will continue this spring in West Mifflin Street and South Bedford Street and West Main Street by a separate budget," said Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4.

However, Verveer said he proposes that the university help fund these programs as well.

Schauf said a proposed meeting for students, police officers, businesses and community members will be held on campus in the coming weeks. These meetings will allow for updates on the progress of safety in the downtown area and feedback on the initiative.

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Anonymous (January 25, 2007 @ 2:17pm):

Not a bad idea by Judge

Anonymous (January 25, 2007 @ 4:54pm):

Not a bad idea by Judge? There is absolutely no idea in here by Judge! (Except, maybe, that he opposes the MPD using random checks to crack down on bars that aren't complient with the safety plan.)

Anonymous (January 25, 2007 @ 5:37pm):

Are you serious? 10 cops raiding Bullfeathers on a Friday night could be used to patrol Langdon. That is a solid concept and Judge supports it.

Anonymous (January 25, 2007 @ 5:49pm):

Next thing you know, we're going to be told that Judge invented the internets, with all those tubes...

Anonymous (January 25, 2007 @ 7:23pm):

And if Bullfeathers were compliant, there wouldn't be hundreds of underaged, immature drunk kids with fake IDs and inflated egos running around Langdon and State and Gilman beating each other up.

Anonymous (January 25, 2007 @ 11:31pm):

The hacks from the Judge camp have been polluting and trolling the herald's website for almost a week now, and it's getting really old.

Anonymous (January 27, 2007 @ 12:17pm):

this is the start of a police state and deprivation of our rights. its not about muggings.

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