Safety on the University of Wisconsin campus has seen major improvements over the past two years with total crime at an all-time low, according to the annual University Campus Safety Guide for 2009 released Thursday.

According to the report, robberies on campus in 2008 fell 80 percent from the previous year, from five to one reported case; burglaries fell 66 percent, from 167 to 56; assaults fell 56 percent, from nine to four; and total reported sex offenses fell 19 percent, from 16 to 13 incidents.

Kari Sasso, a lieutenant with the UW Police Department, said 2008 rep-resented an “all-time low” for crime on campus.

“I’d really like to give the credit back to the community,” Sasso said, attributing the drop in crime rates on campus to safety precautions and crime prevention measures students have taken. “Safety is really a ‘choose your own’ adventure. People need to be responsible for their own well-being, look out for themselves and each other.”

The most notable safety concerns on campus were alcohol-related, with a nearly 8 percent climb in the number of alcohol-related arrests between 2007 and 2008, and a 50 percent climb in the number of alcohol-related university disciplinary referrals, according to the report.

Sasso said there is no direct explanation for the rise in alcohol-related problems on campus, adding that UWPD does not go out looking for liquor violations but instead relies primarily on phone calls of complaints from community members.

Alcohol-related crime is an issue the Madison Police Department is continually working on, according to MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain. The MPD has a group of community officers assigned to address problems specific to each district of Madison, and bar-time violence is one such problem the central district focuses on.

“There is definitely a relationship between high levels of intoxication and some violence downtown, like fights,” DeSpain said.

Reducing crime asso-ciated with bar-time antics has been paramount for the MPD in attempting to reduce alcohol-related crimes, DeSpain added.

DeSpain said UW ex-periences a spike in crime each fall related to the influx of students in Madison. The recent string of robberies that have been reported on campus reflects this typical ebb-and-flow sequence of crime on campus.

For the current academic year, DeSpain said patterns of student-targeted crimes on campus have been nonexistent.

Despite improvements in campus safety, DeSpain and Sasso still advise students to follow basic safety precautions like walking in well-lit areas with friends, carrying cell phones and remaining aware of their surroundings.

Sasso offered a simple piece of advice to students: “Listen to your own intuition. If something doesn’t feel right, listen to that.”