A public forum held by several city officials Wednesday evening shed light on the rash of crimes in recent months near University of Wisconsin residential areas that have sparked concerns over campus safety.
Noting there has been a 50 percent increase in burglaries and muggings from January to March, members of the Madison Police Department urged a crowd of students at the forum to be more conscious of their safety with their environment and property.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said many burglaries happen when students are away from their homes.
“Mainly when burglars believe students won’t be home like during the day, spring break or winter break, there has been a rash of burglaries mostly targeting electronics,” Verveer said. “Many of the burglaries are through unlocked doors and windows.”
According to Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, there are several noticeable trends associated with the increased crime, including this spring’s unseasonably warm weather.
Resnick said conversations with students to disseminate safety information and precautions about crime can be the best preventative measure.
“It’s very easy to say lock your doors, it’s very easy to say make sure your blinds are closed, and that’s the line that very often gets told to students,” Resnick said. “It takes more than just students locking their doors to create a safe community, and that’s what we’re striving toward.”
MPD Capt. Carl Gloede said the downtown area is made up of a very dense population that is very technologically connected, making students easy targets for criminals.
Gloede added MPD has had some success in targeting predators using new technology, including the ability to track cell phones from their internal GPS systems.
MPD Sgt. Shawn Engel also said it is important for students to put expensive items out of sight in their apartments because thieves have cut screens on windows in order to steal items that are visible in past incidents.
The police place responsibility on students, UW staff and the community to be more mindful of their property while taking these precautions, MPD Capt. Johnnie Diamante added.
“A lot of these property crimes are extremely preventable in the context of a lot of these items are left in plain view, left outside, and are easy pickings for the small groups of predators,” Gloede said. “As soon as they see something, they grab it and go.”
The highest incidences of theft crimes typically take place between 11:30 p.m. and 4:30 a.m., when victims tend to have diminished awareness from drinking, according to Gloede. He added this allows the predator to know someone is vulnerable and an “easy target.”
Engel emphasized it is necessary for students to call the police if they have any suspicion that something is out of place, no matter how seemingly insignificant the suspicion may feel.
“Too often the human instinct is to minimize … I don’t want to make alarmists out of everyone, but you have to have awareness, and we would rather be called and find everything okay than not be called and find something extremely bad happened,” Engel said.
Gloede said the best preventative measure for students is to walk in a group as close to well-lit areas as possible.
He added that sending text messages while walking can diminish people’s engagement in their environment and can increase their vulnerability to predators.
