According to Madison police, the attempted armed robbery with shots fired on Langdon Street Sept. 18 was another incident of drug-related violence, not a result of a falsely perceived rise in crime in the campus area.
Langdon Neighborhood Officer Grant Humerickhouse; Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8; and UW students reviewed the recent string of crimes in the area during an informational walk down Langdon Street Friday, where students could express concerns about campus safety while learning about police presence in the neighborhood.
During the walk, Humerickhouse said the statistics in Madison do not support any drastic changes in crime rates. Humerickhouse said the problem is that two major things are happening at the same time that make the crime appear to be increasing.
The first major thing is that the weapons offenses are believed to be targeted, non-random drug related occurrences, Humerickhouse said. The second problem is random assaults are occurring at the same time, he said.
Resnick said some crime patterns are changing in Madison, particularly with an increase in armed robberies. Some of the gun violence is known to be connected to drug deals, in particular the gun shooting that happened on Langdon, Resnick said.
Humerickhouse said the majority of drug-related violence that occurs in Madison is due to marijuana dealing, but other substances are present on campus as well. He said many college students are exposed to a variety of drugs, such as heroin, ecstasy and cocaine. He said he deals mainly with drug issues that are a danger to the public’s safety.
“If a student is using cocaine at a party, I’ll probably never find out about it,” Humerickhouse said.”If a student is walking and getting hit by a car because of drug use, I’ll know about it.”
Humerickhouse said he wants to emphasize the issue of misinformation is causing the perception of increased violence among the student body.
The UW has also sent its students timely warning messages over email in response to several campus area crimes, as required by the Clery Act. Humerickhouse said this might also be a factor in panic among students.
“With the way that students are interconnected, one thing could happen on the 600 block of Langdon, and by the time it gets to the 100 block on Twitter and Facebook, it’s this crazy, far from factual monster,” Humerickhouse said.
Humerickhouse said the Madison Police Department has several policing strategies to ensure safety in the downtown area in response to recent violence.
Every day officers will walk down the street in plain clothes to scope out what is happening in the neighborhood, Humerickhouse said. Recently, two new surveillance cameras have been put on the intersections of Lake State and Frances Street. He said he suspects within the next few years all the big intersections on Langdon Street will have cameras.
Resnick added city council is providing funds to MPD to help increase security in the campus area. He said $50,000 has been added to the budget to fund surveillance cameras and increased police force in Madison.
“Because of these resources, an officer on the south side on overtime was able to capture one of the alleged suspects for the robberies,” Resnick said.
