Alcohol related violations increased drastically and reported sexual assaults rose moderately at the University of Wisconsin between the 2008 and 2009 academic years, according to data released in the annual Campus Safety Report.
Eight cases of sexual offenses were reported to the Student Assistance and Judicial Affairs and Offices of the Dean of Students in 2008, in contrast to 11 in 2009. The number of arrests for drug violations with university disciplinary referrals also increased to 202 in 2009 from 61 the year before.
“I am proud to say that the numbers of very huge crimes, for the most part, are still a rare occurrence on campus,” said Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8.
However, the report still showed various trouble spots, such as underage drinking. In 2009, arrests for liquor law violations leading to university discipline referrals rose to 2,738 from 898 in 2008.
“When we have a number of underage folks on campus, we’re going to see a high number of violations [for underage drinking] with a source like that,” Resnick said.
The numbers also laid bare a problem to the yearly reports, he said.
“These reports are helpful to know the profile of the campus, but really for resolving the problems, we cannot wait a year to decide what those problems are,” he said. “However, at the very least, something we should take away is that we are still a relatively safe community.”
Resnick said the city has been proactive in stamping down on crime in the area.
He cited that the city teamed up with the UW Police Department to install GPS trackers in city bicycles to cut down on thefts.
“We can’t be reactionary,” he said. “The city will come up with different strategies where we can come up with different improvements.”
Allie Gardner, chair of the Associated Students of Madison, said the report could foster relationships between students and understanding how the campus works.
She cited sexual assault as an area making students feel particularly unsafe, adding that this fear could lessen if the university worked with more organizations with tight bonds to students.
“When it comes to campus safety about crimes or sexual assaults, I think that we could be working with organizations that have strong connections with students,” she said. “We need to try and gather some sense of collective understanding of where and why students feel unsafe.”
Sgt. Aaron Chapin of the UW Police Department said the report was a collaborative effort.
“We work together,” Chapin said. “The report was a collaboration between us, the Dean of Students Office and University Health Services.”
The figures for the statistics were drawn from the police department’s records, compiled over the course of a year.
The Campus Safety Report also highlighted ways for students to stay safe on campus, including ways to report a crime, access to nighttime escorts and how to report a missing student. The full report can be accessed online by visiting: http://students.wisc.edu.
