News

Campus sees crime increase

The number of University of Wisconsin campus-area burglaries has increased more than sevenfold in the past year, according to a safety report released by the university Monday.

In 2006 alone, according to the report, 157 burglaries were reported on the UW campus — 19 of which took place in university-owned residence halls and the remainder in buildings off-campus.

UW Police Department Sgt. Kari Sasso said an incident is considered a burglary when an individual enters a nonpublic area and takes something of value without consent and with the intention to keep it.

In case of the incident happening in a public place, Sasso said, it would be recorded as a theft.

The report, which does not have a thefts category, indicates motor vehicle thefts have decrease in the past three years, from 53 in 2004, to 30 in 2005, and 15 in 2006.

The number of drug law violations resulting in arrests decreased from 98 in 2005 to 70 in 2006.

The report also shows the number of liquor law violations ending in university discipline referrals increased — but overall, the number of liquor law violation arrests has decreased.

UW spokesperson John Lucas said reports like this are important to raise campus awareness and can be used as a starting point for a safer campus.

"It's [e]specially important that people go and click on the link and read about not only the statistics, but also what campus is doing to respond some of the safety issues outlined there," Lucas said.

According to Lucas, the Offices of the Dean of Students and UW police need community cooperation because this is an issue that concerns the entire campus community.

Lucas encouraged students to participate in programs aimed to increase campus safety and said that is a way to guarantee a safer campus.

"People can take a measure of responsibility and maybe participate on those programs," he said.

For the first time in three years, the campus safety guide also reported four hate crimes, a noticeable increase from previous years' results, which did not report any similar incidents in the past two years.