“*Overall, we feel that the campus community is a very safe place. That’s not to say we are satisfied with the status quo. We’re not. Our goal is to make sure that we someday eliminate crime.*"
- Tom Luljak, UWM Vice Chancellor

A collaborative UWM Post and Frontpage Milwaukee investigation found that more than 75 percent of 2007 aggravated assaults occurring in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus area do not have a likely nexus to the UWM campus or its students, even though recent media attention has focused on assault increases.

Furthermore, as of November, aggravated assault was the only type of violent crime to increase in 2007 around campus, according to statistics from the UWM, Milwaukee and Shorewood police departments. In the area between North and Hampton Avenues and the Milwaukee River and Lake Michigan, census tract data has shown that the average numbers of monthly robberies and burglaries for 2007 have dropped from the same time-frame of 2006. Homicides remained at zero and sexual assaults also remained very low.

District 5 Police Chief Anthony Smith said area crime has fluctuations, but they are typically small.

“Do crimes occur on the East Side? Yes,” Smith said. “Do we have massive crime waves? No.” In response to rising concerns about crime following a shooting near campus, UWM administrators announced a $500,000 safety initiative on Nov. 20, 2007. The plan will add five additional UWM Police Department officers, two police cruisers, an increase in Be On the Safe Side (BOSS) escort hours and the institution of on-campus foot patrols.

The UWMPD patrols the university grounds and the surrounding neighborhoods, but only responds to calls on campus and the roads immediately adjacent, according to UWMPD Sgt. Arthur Koch.

After investigating crime in the campus area, the Post and Frontpage Milwaukee found:

•Officers from all three police departments and the campus area alderman said they agreed with investigative findings; that most crime is down except for a small rise in aggravated assaults. They said they believe the campus area is a safe part of Milwaukee.

•Even though safety initiative spending focuses primarily on the actual university campus, many students reported already feeling safe at UWM.

•UWM’s $500,000 in proposed safety spending, in reaction to recent media attention about assaults near campus, amounts to roughly $9,600 being spent on each of the 65 assaults occurring prior to announcement of the initiative.

In spite of the recently announced safety initiative, 12 of 12 UWM students participating in a focus group said they already feel safe on and around campus in general, and on campus at night. However, this number dropped to seven when students were asked about nighttime safety in the area around campus. Two additional focus group participants did not respond to these questions.

After hearing actual crime data, every student in the focus group reported feeling at least somewhat safer. Even so, one participant said she knew two community college students who had cancelled plans to transfer to UWM after reading recent reports about crime near campus. Jason Corning, a participant in the focus group, said he thinks some crime around campus is to be expected.

“Campus is as safe as it can possibly be, being in the kind of city that [Milwaukee] is,” said Corning, age 20.

Sean Slattery, another focus group member, said has felt unsafe around campus this year.

“I don’t walk to a party alone anymore,” said Slattery, 20.

“I just don’t want to be out alone.” UWM Vice Chancellor Tom Luljak said he agreed that the campus area is generally safe.

However, Luljak said university spending is justified because being safe isn’t good enough.

“Overall, we feel that the campus community is a very safe place,” Luljak said. “That’s not to say we are satisfied with the status quo. We’re not. Our goal is to make sure that we someday eliminate crime. Our obligation is to do everything we possibly can to create a safe and secure environment for both students and faculty and staff.”

Aggravated assault category convoluted

Since aggravated assault is the only increased category of campus-area violent crime, and the safety initiative spending is based on this year’s crime increase, the UWM Post and Frontpage Milwaukee team of student investigators studied the category in great detail.

The spending is arguably based on the 65 aggravated assaults. When the $500,000 to be spent is broken down that way, roughly $9,600 is being spent on each assault.

Amy Chadek, a UWM campus ambassador – a student who gives tours to prospective students and assists new freshman – said she thinks the spending is justified.

“The university is a business and when you’re dealing with prospective students and parents who are concerned about this, you have to show you are doing something,” said Chadek, 19. “Otherwise you’re basically losing your customers.”

According to the MPD, of 65 assaults reported from Jan. 1, 2007 to Nov. 8, 2007:

•21 were either instances of domestic violence or involved people who knew one another

•Four reported assaults were either misreported or reported in the wrong district

•One was a bus scuffle.

•One report was for resisting arrest.

•One report was for a bomb scare.

•In addition, there were 11 instances of battery, 10 of which were cleared by arrest.

Remaining are 26 assaults involving unknown actors or suspects, 12 of which occurred after midnight – not when students are walking between home and class. This leaves, at most, 14 incidents occurring before midnight and involving people who did not know one another, or 21.5 percent of the reported assaults. As such, more than 75 percent of assaults occurred without a likely nexus to UWM.

The Post and Frontpage Milwaukee requested the incident reports for 34 of the 65 assaults occurring closest to campus between Jan. 1, 2007 and Nov. 9, 2007. Of these 34, 29 involved people of traditional student age (18-27 years old). Of these 29 incidents, nine were either cases of domestic violence or involved people that knew each other before the altercation. Another of these was a case of resisting arrest and one involved a bus scuffle.

Removing these reports brings the total to18. Of these 18, 12 occurred between midnight and 5 a.m. While it is true they occurred near campus and could have involved students, they definitely did not involve people walking between their homes and classes.

Smith said late hours can bring crime that is worsened by substance abuse.

“A lot of the stuff does happen at night,” Smith said. “Much of it is fueled by alcohol and/or drugs.”

Upon examining the remaining six reports, the details of two of them do not mesh with student fears of getting mugged on the street. One involved an argument that ended in someone being punched in the face, and the other involved a victim that was injured by the glass of a window broken by the suspect.

The four reports left are the kinds of crime focus group participants reported being frightened about: Unknown actors approaching a victim, sometimes from behind, and striking them with their fists or a blunt object. Usually victims were struck in the head or face.

Smith, police captain of District 5, said these numbers are not only accurate, but they indicate just how safe the East Side is in comparison to other areas of the city.

“There are crimes that happen on the East Side, don’t get me wrong,” Smith said, “but when I look at other parts of the city – even within my own district – the occurrence of violent crime on the East Side pales in comparison.”

Nevertheless, four members of the focus group said they had a friend who had been victimized near campus.

Crime mostly down

Police, university and city officials all agreed that East Side and campus-area crime is down, with the exception of an “up-tick” in violent crimes. This up-tick, data has shown, is specifically concentrated in the aggravated assault category, which has risen by roughly one incident per month.

For Shorewood, the UWM campus and the area of Milwaukee between North and Hartford Avenues and between the Milwaukee River and Lake Michigan (census tracts 7300 – 7800), robberies are down 1.3 incidents per month, from 9.6 robberies per month in 2006 to 8.3 in 2007. Burglaries dropped 4.8 per month from 21.8 to 17. Aggravated assaults rose from 7.7 in 2006 to 8.8 in 2007. Data from 2006 is taken from the year’s monthly average, while data from 2007 is taken from the monthly average from Jan. 1 to Sept. 29.

Ald. Michael D’Amato recognized the increase in aggravated assault, but said he believes it has been adequately addressed.

“It’s an increase that’s been accompanied by an increase in patrolling and arrests,” D’Amato said.

D’Amato said his teenage son walks home from Riverside High School on Locust Street each day after school. The alderman said he has no worries about his son traveling on foot to their East Side home.

“I don’t know that I can give you more of a vote of confidence,” D’Amato said about his son walking home.

Crime specifics show general decrease for ’06 – ’07

Specific crime data for each municipality shows that most crimes are down from 2006, closer to the numbers from 2005. Furthermore, data shows that there has been a citywide increase in assaults while robberies have decreased, as they have on the East Side. Citywide burglaries and homicides remain roughly the same as last year.

In the table below, the “per 1,000 residents” categories of the campus area are much lower than those for the city in general, and the monthly averages for 2007 give a reasonable comparison between past years.

Next week:

•Campus e-mail alerts intended to increase safety make some students feel less safe.

•Captain Smith said he thinks media coverage of East Side crime is inaccurate. Smith said some officers believe this to be subconsciously motivated by race.

> Comments