At a Memorial Union town hall meeting Sunday evening, Dean of Students Lori Berquam shared something a criminal suspect once told her.
“‘College students are usually drunk and they won’t remember what happens to them anyway,’” Berquam quoted the suspect as saying.
Berquam communicated this at a University of Wisconsin-Madison forum to warn students about their susceptibility to crime. The town hall-style meeting was held to answer students’ questions and gather input on improving campus safety.
Other officials participating in the forum included UW-Madison Police Chief Susan Riseling, Madison Police Department Captain Carl Gloede and student government representatives David Gardner and Carissa Szlosek.
Gloede spoke to attendees about the recent surge in strong-armed robberies, which do not involve weapon use. According to his figures, this type of crime increased 30 percent from 2011-’13. He attributed the uptick partially to “apple picking” by criminals who swipe the iPhones of walkers too engrossed in their cell phones to notice their surroundings.
SAFEwalk coordinator Kate Moran said this rise is one reason the walking escort program has experienced increased use this year. Moran also attributes the rise to legally mandated crime bulletins that police now email to the campus.
In August, there was a 98 percent increase in SAFEwalk calls from last year, Moran said. So far in September there has been a 75 percent increase in use, with 348 calls to date compared to 198 total in September 2012. The program has taken measures such as upping the number of SAFEwalker shifts to keep up with demand.
“We’re working harder than ever,” Moran said.
After presentations by officials, Gardner and Szlosek led “think tank” groups for students to brainstorm ideas about improving safety.
A much-discussed idea was finding an alternative to the SAFEcab service that was discontinued two years ago. SAFEcab offered students a limited number of free taxi rides each semester and was run by UW-Madison Transportation Services, which decided not to continue for a variety of reasons, according to Transportation Services Assistant Director Gordon Graham. One of these was the cost: Graham told a breakout group the services ran “in the neighborhood of a couple hundred dollars a year” and served only a few thousand students.
Student Government Chair David Gardner said campus bodies must work together to find a more viable solution to improve student safety.
“The SAFEcab program was not successful,” Gardner said. “It was not sustainable. It’s not something that we can see on our campus again.”
The breakout groups discussed alternatives, including expanded bus service and adding more SAFEwalk teams. One group explored the idea of a shuttle service that would drive students home from the library late at night.
After a debriefing session at the end of the evening, Berquam spoke directly to students.
“I’ll be working with [student government], the police departments and UW transportation all in positive partnership, but I think another important partner is actually you,” Berquam said. “Your role in this is absolutely critical … in taking care of each other here and around our campus.”
