“My goal is to build positive relationships and increase communication between students in off-campus housing and permanent residents.” Neighborhood Relations Liaison Oscar Perez

Possible tension between loud, and often drunk, students and permanent residents of the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee community is slowly being alleviated, thanks to a retired law enforcement veteran who just wants to talk.

Oscar Perez, UWM’s Neighborhood Relations Liaison, spends his Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights patrolling the area surrounding campus looking for disruptive and sometimes disrespectful groups of students. But he isn’t there to write them a ticket. Rather, Perez talks to young people about how they can still have a good time while practicing good neighbor skills.

“Basically, my goal is to build positive relationships and increase communication between students in off-campus housing and permanent residents,” said Perez, 48. “I try to educate students before they become the target and focus of police.”

A member of the UWM Student Association voiced the organization’s support of a neighborhood relations liaison, highlighting Perez’s hard work and late hours.

“We deal with neighbors a lot,” said Tyler Kristopeit, SA’s director of legislative affairs. “Oscar does an incredible job keeping the communication between students and neighbors. Relations have definitely improved.”

Kristopeit believes students aren’t necessarily doing anything illegal. Instead, he emphasized the importance of common courtesy to those who might be trying to get some sleep.

“I don’t think they need to be heavily monitored,” said Kristopeit. “But when noise ordinances are violated, they need to be called out on it.”

Perez, a former deputy inspector, likes to approach students in a low-profile, non-confrontational fashion. He has no police power, nor does he want any. Perez only intends to engage students in discussion about being respectful and seeing things through the eyes of permanent residents.

While college students can sometimes be loud and obnoxious, a smaller percentage of them feel that they have been treated unfairly by permanent residents. Wyatt Thompson, a 19-year-old UWM student, described multiple incidents where a neighbor complained to police about his house being loud, resulting in citations.

“We weren’t being loud at all, there were no more than four people in the house each time,” said Thompson, a sophomore who has lived off-campus since his freshmen year. “I haven’t had a noise violation since I moved a few houses away on the same block.”

Despite feeling that he was treated unfairly by his neighbors, Thompson believes that he always acted respectfully towards them.

“When I moved in, I introduced myself and gave them my cell phone number,” he said. “I told them to call me if it ever got too loud and we’d quiet down.”

Clearly, there is a push for a healthy relationship on the side of students living off-campus. Besides students like Thompson who want to cooperate and communicate with permanent residents, Perez explains how many students are willing to talk about the issue on his nights out.

“A very large percentage of them stop and listen to what I have to say,” he said. “Many students have been very responsive and have actually thanked me.”

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