UW-Milwaukee police have stepped up off-campus patrolling in a response to a recent string of nearby robberies and assaults. The partnership between the city’s police force and campus police has been augmented with UWM squad cars seen alongside MPD vehicles in surrounding neighborhoods.
UWM spokesman Tom Luljak says the area where the campus exists, Milwaukee’s east side, is very safe. Additionally the overall level of crime was down from last year except for the last three weeks, with several incidents occurring Tuesday. In one case, four robbers held a gun to a man who was walking home from work and let him go unharmed once they saw he was enlisted in the Army. Police say no one has been arrested for the crimes. The soldier lost only his keys.
Luljak believes efforts to deter crime are working; since stepping up patrols several days ago there have been no incidents in residential areas. “The bad guys simply are not welcome in this neighborhood,” he says.
Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn and university chancellor Carlos Santiago are planning to meet after Santiago returns to the US. He will be in Israel this week for a trade mission with Governor Jim Doyle.