Students returning from spring break can sleep easier knowing there has been a dramatic decrease in Madison residential and commercial burglaries.

A recent news release indicated two commercial burglaries and 55 residential burglaries have occurred so far this year.

In the first two months of 2006 there were 199 residential burglaries. Additionally, there were 38 commercial burglaries in 2008, which is significantly less than the 170 that occurred in 2006.

Mario Mendoza, spokesperson for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, said the reduction in burglaries cannot be pinpointed to a single effort, but the recent formation of Blue Net Burglary Task Force has contributed to more arrests.

All of Dane County law enforcement is partnered with Blue Net Burglary Task Force, which has been working hard to monitor criminal activity and increase communication between police departments across city boundaries.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said there is a direct correlation between nearby cooperating law enforcement agencies making arrests and the decrease in burglaries. He added his compliments to the police department, calling the reduction in arrests “an attribute to good police work.”

“We have a very impressive police department and a lot of credit for that (should be given to) the Dane County Sheriff and neighboring police departments,” Cieslewicz said. “What we find with burglaries is multiple burglaries are committed by a relatively small handful of people.”

Joel DeSpain, spokesperson for the Madison Police Department, said the burglary decrease is good news for his office and city residents.

“Even if you’re not physically harmed, it’s still a real feeling of being violated when people come into your residence,” DeSpain said.

Mendoza said changes in criminal activity are typical during times of economic distress, and reports from the Burglary Task Force show January and February are two of the lower months for commercial burglaries being committed.

A news release from Lt. Mark Brown of the MPD explained that Blue Net uses tactics such as tracking and analyzing criminal trends and sharing detailed information among members.

“The ones I hear about downtown still frequently deal with people who have left a door unlocked,” DeSpain said. He added many students leave their doors unlocked at night for their roommates or friends.

DeSpain suggests students put their laptop in a safe place when it is not in use, along with other small electronic items or jewelry.

Although there was no available campus-specific data on burglaries, Mendoza said there were 390 burglaries in 2007 and 377 in 2008 in the Central Police District. This comes out to a 3 percent reduction in burglaries in the general campus vicinity.

“Last week on the west side, somebody had a window open, a burglar cut the screen and took out a laptop,” DeSpain said. “They didn’t even go into the residence.” He added many residences that are broken into often have their doors kicked in.

To combat criminal activity on campus, DeSpain said landlords have been taking active roles such as putting up signs to remind their tenants to lock their doors at night or when leaving, even for a short time.

— Heather Burian contributed to this report.