UW-Milwaukee Area Crime Stats Show Overall Drop Since 2007

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee gave campus-area crime statistics to Rep. Jesse Kremer this week after he and state Sen. Devin LeMahieu proposed a campus concealed carry law in part because of crime on and around the campus. The results from the statistical report released by the Milwaukee Police Department to UWM show that overall crime is actually down in the neighborhoods around the campus since 2007.

From 2007 through present, for the time frame of Jan. 1 through Oct. 15, the overall number of crimes dropped from 599 to 307 in the Edgewood to Lake Drive area, and from 387 to 182 in the Edgewood to Hackett area. The most common crime in both areas historically and this year was theft. There were no homicides in the past 8 years in those neighborhoods.

Kremer told Media Milwaukee after the meeting that it didn’t change his mind at all, asserting that the new bill has nothing to do with the “quantity of crime” and was rather designed to give students rights to protect themselves that others have. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel previously wrote that he had  “been working on it (the bill) for months in response to rising violence near the UW-Milwaukee campus,” although the passage was paraphrased.

The campus area from Edgewood to Locust and Cambridge to Lake Drive has seen crime go down by 49 percent since 2007, the records show. From Edgewood to Locust and Oakland to Hackett, crime was down by 53 percent.

When looking at 2015 to date compared to last year, though, overall crime has risen 14 percent in the Edgewood to Lake Drive area. That was driven mostly by increases in property crime like burglary and auto theft. Since last year, decreases were seen in rapes, robberies, theft, and damage to property. There were no homicides either year. Increases were also seen in simple assault (from 6 to 18). Aggravated assault was the same as last year with 12.

Studying the annual increase for the Edgewood to Hackett area, overall crime was down by 1 percent. There were no homicides.  The following categories saw decreases compared to last year: Rape, robbery, aggravated assault, theft, and damage to property. The following areas saw increases: burglary, auto theft, simple assault (from 3 to 12) and weapons violations (from 1 to 4).

The report contained 8 “part 1 crimes” (homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, auto theft, theft, and arson) and three other crimes (simple assault, weapons violations, and damage to property).

Some interesting findings from the report, which looked at historical crime data from Jan. 1 through Oct. 15 from 2007 to present:

• There were 33 weapons violations in the past 8 years for both areas combined.
• There is relatively little crime to the east of campus, when compared to the south and west.
• The only category of crime with more than 39 offenses in 2014 was auto theft, with 106, and burglary with 39 offenses, both in the Edgewood to Lake Drive area.
• The police consider violent crime to be homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Of those categories, only rape increased since 2007 (going from 0 that year to 8 in the Edgewood to Lake Drive area and from 0 to 1 in the Edgewood to Hackett area). Crime in every one of those categories decreased this year so far compared to 2014 except for aggravated assaults, which are level.

The number of crimes reported on the actual campus area are even lower. The UWM annual safety report provided those figures for 2014 in September. The only categories of crime with more than 10 offenses in 2014 were drug offenses (alcohol had the largest number of disciplinary referrals).

The chancellor, Mark Mone, said in an earlier message to the campus community that he opposes the measure to allow people to carry concealed weapons in campus buildings. After reviewing these crime statistics with the UWM Vice Chancellor, the student government president, and the UWM chief of police, Rep. Kremer was asked if he had changed his mind on the proposed legislation due to these recent stats.

“No, not at all,” Kremer said. “This has nothing to do with the quantity of crime; this has to do with not treating our college students as lesser citizens and not giving them the ability to have personal protection.” He added that he feels this is a preventative measure as well  because the “criminals and thugs around campus will not know which students are armed or disarmed anymore.”

However, when random students were asked around campus how they felt about the possibility of conceal and carry within campus buildings, the large majority said it would make them feel decidedly less safe. Many of them said they didn’t trust fellow students with the responsibility to carry guns, citing mental illness, stress, and impulsivity (Read a full story with more student reactions here.)

“I think it’s an awful idea,” freshman Cassie Fissel said. “School puts people under a lot of stress. Stress and guns don’t mix.”

Freshman Emily Murphy feels the same way, saying, “I don’t think guns should be allowed on campus in any way, shape, or form because it’s dangerous to students and faculty,” said Murphy. “I feel safe knowing guns aren’t allowed on campus, and that we have good security in all campus buildings and how they are very active on campus.”

One 28- year-old student, who would only identify himself as “Rob M.” because he was worried his safety might be violated by pro-gun people if his name was printed, said, “I’m okay with conceal and carry, not in a school, especially not when there is a children’s school, a grade school, steps away from here. Are you (expletive) high?” Rob M. is referring to Hartford University School that operates in the middle of campus.

Some professors and teachers also feel more guns is not the answer to guns. When Professor Jeffery A. Smith was asked if he felt safe on campu,s he replied, “I think campus is quite safe. I think we live in a gun-crazy society. People think that guns are going to solve their problems.”

He added that the fear that stems from national incidents, such as the recent shooting at the community college in Oregon, should not fog our view when it comes to gun control. “I’m not looking to legislature to help us out. I don’t think that more guns are the answer; I think more guns would be more of a problem.”

-The JAMS Living Learning Community class contributed to this report.