Faculty, staff urged to talk to students about safety

UW–Madison is engaging in an effort to raise student awareness around safety issues in response to a series of a violent late-night attacks and robberies.

The Offices of the Dean of Students (ODOS) and the UW Police Department (UWPD) request that faculty and staff take a few moments during any early semester gatherings, academic convocations or classes to reinforce the following messages to students:

• Don’t walk alone at night.
• Secure your environment: Lock your doors and windows. Don’t prop doors open or let strangers in.
• Intoxication will increase your risk of being a victim.
• Don’t assume it can’t happen to you. Men and women are equally at risk.
• Make use of campus resources such as SAFEwalk, SAFEride, free campus bus routes and Chimera courses.

Approximately six to 10 downtown assaults or robberies have been recorded by Madison police and UWPD since the end of the spring semester. In several, but not all, of the incidents, intoxicated young men walking late at night were targeted.

In several of the earlier cases, victims were asked a question by an assailant and then attacked when they stopped to answer. Only after the attack was the victim robbed, showing that violence, not theft, was the primary purpose. It is unclear if one or more groups are responsible for the crimes, and most remain unsolved.

Both Madison and UW police are stepping up patrols of the downtown area and asking all students, regardless of where they live, to take extra precautions.

For a full set of information and safety tips, visit http://www.news.wisc.edu/releases/12812.html.