As colder weather forces people to stay at home more often, police and city officials are asking students to be aware of personal security after a peeping tom incident in the south campus area.

According to a Madison Police report, MPD received a call from a 23-year-old Madison resident about a college-aged white male looking in through the window of her Gerry Court home last Monday night, the victim’s roommate told police.

The woman said she had seen a man crouching outside her neighbor’s home the week before, but dismissed it as a joke or a friend of her neighbor, according to the report.

However when her roommate informed her of the man looking in their window, the woman alerted MPD. The report added she thinks there may now be a peeping tom active in the area.

MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain said there was not much information on this specific incident. He added it is unclear whether or not the same suspect was involved in both cases, since there are two different witnesses.

By the woman’s roommate’s description, the suspect was young, approximately 18 to 22 years old.

“It’s not some old guy, not that it makes a difference,” DeSpain said. “We don’t know if this is a genuine peeping tom or something else.”

DeSpain said there have been occasional off-campus incidents of peeping toms, but no real trend.

A few issues were reported from the Langdon Street area, DeSpain added, but most of the problems have come up sporadically.

“[The problem] is not rampant, but we have occasional complaints from down in the campus area,” DeSpain said.

While most reports come from young females in first floor apartments, both males and females should take precautions, DeSpain added.

He said whether male or female, people should close curtains if possible, especially at night in order to prevent access to a full view of the house.

He also recommended tenants speak to their landlords about improving lighting and maintaining bushes near windows so peeping toms cannot hide in order to make things safer.

DeSpain said while this is not a very clear case, it is important that the information is made known so people can be aware.