“And when we ask them why, they say because you are an easy target,” said District 5 Community Liaison Officer Ray Robakowski about crime on the East Side.

With classes back in full session and students swarming the East Side, residents are again concerned about the safety of their neighborhoods.

The university has extra police patrols and university relations members circling the neighborhood on the weekends, but, despite extra efforts, residents are still having problems.

The Cambridge Woods Neighborhood Association met Sept.18 with neighborhood officials to better understand what is being done in their area and what they can do to help.

According to police reports from MyCommunityNOW.com, out of six illegal entries into a vehicle in Shorewood from Sept.13-15, only one of the cars was a break-in. The other cars were left unlocked.

Considering similar statistics for other area crimes, University Police Detective Art Kosh said the best thing residents can do is lock their doors.

District 5 Community Liaison Officer Ray Robakowski said a lot of the criminals are coming from the northwest side of town.

“And when we ask them why, they say because you are an easy target,” Robakowski said.

While a lot of the criminals are not from the area, students can often get rowdy at night and be nuisances to neighbors.

When panelists at the meeting were asked to classify suspects, District 3 County Supervisor Gerry Broderick said, “Try bar close.”

Oscar Perez from University Relations, is working with three interns this semester to spread the word about neighborhood safety.

One of the ways they are working to inform students is through campus-wide emails; however, non-student residents are concerned that they are not getting the emails.

Instead they either find out about the crimes from students or go directly to the university police website.

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