An increase in crime in downtown Madison may lead to a higher concentration of police and different policing tactics.
According to Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, crime increased significantly on the 600 block of University Avenue and various areas of State Street. He said this activity has mostly been from gang-related violence.
Resnick added much of the crime is not new to Madison, but has been displaced.
“This has been a general trend for the last two to three years, but we’re seeing the epicenter of the violence this summer,” Resnick said. “We’ve seen violence on the north side of the city and on the outskirts, [and] much of that is now coming downtown.”
According to Resnick, Madison’s City Council voted to add $50,000 for police overtime funds. He said the police have implemented different policing strategies in the downtown area, including utilizing gang officers who can help students become more aware of who is downtown and how to be safe.
He added more Madison Police Department officers have been patrolling the downtown area Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain said the city is also looking into increasing the number of surveillance cameras in the downtown area.
Mayor Paul Soglin expressed his support of the additional surveillance cameras downtown. It was initially his idea to add cameras on the 600 block of University Avenue. He added specific cameras proved to be very valuable in solving a shooting that took place in front of Johnny O’s bar in May.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said more streetlamps have also been installed on North Frances Street and Hawthorne Court.
According to UW Police Department Sgt. Aaron Chapin, UWPD has worked closely with MPD in areas frequented by students.
“We’ve been working with our other campus partners such as the UW communications center to put out information through the media and other avenues to try to get word out that there are things going on, and we rely on our community to assist us,” Chapin said. “We’ve tried to have a stronger presence in the area.”
He added UWPD will continue to educate students and parents about personal safety but is not able to increase their staff downtown. He said their staffing is set, but officers look for crime trends in a specific area and spend more time in the areas with a higher risk of crime.
UWPD holds annual training for officers in active shooter response should it happen on campus, Chapin said. He added officers look at different shootings that occur around the U.S. to keep the training updated so that they can keep anyone at risk as safe as possible.
According to Resnick, the city is also taking an innovative approach to deal with crime by having neighborhood leaders from violent areas reach out to troubled youth in order to get to the root of the violence. He added this approach costs the city $35,000.
DeSpain urged students to know their surroundings when going out and to leave home with a plan for the evening.
“We have to work together with the students to make sure everybody stays as safe as possible,” DeSpain said.
