In student neighborhoods where laziness means safety is often ignored, many student tenants re-evaluated home security after UW-Madison Junior Brittany Zimmermann's April 2 murder. But as the incident fades from recent memory, those heightened concerns are receding.
[Safety] is not something you think about until someone gets murdered four houses down,"" UW-Madison Junior Joel Ondercin said, who lives on the same block as Zimmermann.
In the unsolved investigation of 21-year-old Zimmermann's death, police say there were signs of forced entry at her apartment. As a result, Ondercin said he became concerned about his basement-level bedroom window, which doesn't lock.
""Anyone could walk onto our porch and get into my room. I've even crawled through my own window.""
One Madison landlord said tenants were concerned about home security the week of the murder. ""We did see a surge of calls immediately after the murder from tenants,"" Michael Greiber, corporate counsel for Madison Property Management said. The calls were to fix existing locks, doors and exterior light bulbs.
However, those extra calls have plummeted since. Except one lock request unrelated to safety, City of Madison Housing Inspection Supervisor Tom Adamowicz did not recall any security or lock-related requests in the student neighborhood recently.
Some students say after a quick reflex reaction and conversation about safety, they are back to feeling safe.
""I was really nervous at first, for about a week or so,"" said Jenny Rado, a UW-Madison junior who lives near Main and Bedford Streets.
Rado said after Zimmermann's murder she realized a ground-floor window was a safety risk. ""If someone decides they want to break into my window they could,"" she said. Still, a month later, Rado said she doesn't ""feel that worried about it anymore.""
Greiber said the recent murder was a rare instance for many calls. ""Tenants prior to the murder hadn't thought of it,"" he said of safety-related repairs.
Brenda Konkel, executive director of the Tenant Resource Center, said it's not atypical for high-profile crime incidents to make students re-examine safety. ""There's almost always a rash of break-ins or a rash of sexual assaults that happens late in the summer or early in the first semester that heightens the awareness so students think about these types of [safety] issues.""
According to Greiber, landlords often rely on students to tell them what needs to be fixed when they move in, but Konkel said tenants can be proactive by checking if there are safety features in place when they move in.
""Absolutely I would contact my landlord,"" Ondercin said. Although he has yet to contact his landlord about the window nine months into his lease, Ondercin said he plans to in the future.
