Capitol Neighborhood Inc. intended to hold a discussion about downtown safety with students Thursday night — but no students showed up.

The discussion held in Memorial Union went on without student input, revolving primarily around student safety issues.

“I came tonight kind of prepared to talk specifically to students,” Capt. Mary Schauf of the Central Police District said. “I see a lot of the neighbors.”

CNI members discussed techniques to engage student neighbors with their communities so they can look out for each other by watching for suspicious activity taking place around neighborhoods.

Patsy Baynard, program coordinator for CNI, said they announced the discussion in the Isthmus and had it listed with other Memorial Union events.

“It’s up to all of us to keep our neighborhood safe, and that’s really what I was hoping to say to students tonight,” Schauf said.

Schauf was joined by University of Wisconsin Police Chief Susan Riseling to talk with CNI members about common concerns, such as burglaries, alcohol related crime and neighborhood safety programs.

Riseling said several police and UW officials walked around student neighborhoods on Aug.15 to talk to students and their parents about safety. She recommended people go back to the “good neighbor policy” and introduce themselves on move-in day and exchange numbers with their student neighbors to get to know them.

Downtown neighborhoods are different from outer neighborhoods, Schauf said, because people are less connected and therefore do not watch out for suspicious activity in the same manner they would if they knew their neighbors.

Police and UW officials have been stressing 24-hour safety rather than their traditional message of nighttime safety, Riseling said.

Most of the crimes occurring downtown have been “crimes of opportunities” where people fail to lock doors and windows, making it easy for criminals to steal belongings such as iPods and laptops.

“The frustrating thing for me is that we still have such a high percentage where it’s the easy burglary,” Schauf said, adding people should watch out for listings on sites like Craigslist which appear to be “just too good of a deal.”

Riseling said UWPD and the Office of the Dean of Students are looking into going into dorms and talking to students who are going to be moving off campus about safety and what it means to be part of a neighborhood community.

Even with all the student safety initiatives, Riseling said these issues are not easily solved because it’s not easy reaching every student on campus.

“We’re kind of like the adults in Charlie Brown,” Riseling said jokingly, adding they do a lot of web-based alerts and outreach.

Rosemary Lee, local resident, stood up for students, saying police, residents and UW officials should focus less on being adults telling students what to do. She said students are very intelligent and will rise to community expectations if they are treated with respect.