A new honor for Badger Watch

The Wisconsin Crime Prevention Practitioners Association (WCPPA) has selected the UW Police Department’s Badger Watch program as the Crime Prevention Program of the Year in the category of law enforcement agencies with more than 50 sworn officers. The awards are given out in four categories.

Badger Watch coordinators Heidi Laundrie, Kristin Radtke and Erik Pearce were named in the award for their contributions to the university’s successful crime prevention/outreach program. Laundrie accepted the award at the WCPPA’s annual symposium, which was held in Onalaska last month.

This was the second award for Badger Watch this year. In June, the program was honored as the nation’s 2010 Neighborhood Watch Program by the National Sheriffs’ Association. Officers Laundrie, Radtke and Pearce accepted that award at that organization’s annual conference in Anaheim, Calif.

Badger Watch has scheduled its annual campus safety conference for Thursday, Jan. 6, at the Memorial Union. It is free and open to all members of the campus community.

Badger Watch has more than 1,500 civilian volunteers throughout the campus. Becoming a Badger Watch volunteer is easy. The only requirement is to attend the initial training.

More information on the conference will be available at a later date.