The University of Wisconsin raised threat levels on campus Feb. 2 when it issued a statement with a police sketch of a suspect sought in a December assault on North Carroll Street.
The university statement urged students to “consider their own personal safety” when they walk at night. Some of the “general personal safety tips” included walking with someone at night, carrying a cell phone, using your “instincts,” drinking in moderation and calling SAFEwalk and SAFEride.
The statement was issued to no doubt prevent crime and try to help students stay safe. The tips are good practices, but the advice and resources to stay safe don’t go far enough. There are parts of the release that are very credible, but I have an issue with the scope of this advice. At least they didn’t call it the “general personal safety tips for ladies.”
One message is always conspicuously absent in literature about crime prevention and safety: Don’t attack people. Intimidation won’t be tolerated. Threatening to attack someone or starting a fight will not stand. On the prevention side, if someone knows someone who is struggling with aggression and homicidal thoughts, they should seek help. Where is that in the literature?
In a recent interview with The Badger Herald Editorial Board, Mayor Paul Soglin said a new initiative to crack down on crime would be to encourage people to turn in criminals whom they may know personally. While there is information for a tip line at the bottom of the release, there’s no reason this type of direct message can’t be present in crime-prevention tactics.
Na?ve? Maybe. But if students need to take extra precautions when out at night, then there is a demonstrated need for law enforcement to take extra measures to detain criminals who pose a threat to campus.
Even so, the tips UW mentions, while important and unfortunately necessary, are fairly passive actions. During the assault in December, the victim screamed, distracted the suspect as another car approached and then she got away, according to the statement.
Why isn’t “screaming like hell if you’re getting attacked” on the list of safety tips? Why aren’t links to self-defense classes in the Madison area provided at the bottom of the page? What about mace? What about holding keys between your fingers like claws when you are walking home late? (If you’re curious as to where you can take a self-defense course, here is a link to one offered in Dane County [http://www.danecountyrcc.org/chimera/].)
The original advice UW offered for student safety is sound. The next time you’re out on a weekend or even heading back from College Library, it isn’t a bad idea to let your roommate know when you’re coming home. Maybe call SAFEride. Those are good recommendations. But the bigger picture of campus and city safety has more actors and doesn’t come in a neat little package that the original safety recommendations imply.
Based on personal experience, following all these “personal safety tips” in no way guarantees a harassment-free walk home. That does not mean UW students should not follow the advice the university has provided, but alone they paint an incomplete picture of a safe campus and city area.
Adelaide Blanchard ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in journalism.
