Dear UWM Students, Faculty and Staff,

There have understandably been concerns about recent incidents that have occurred near campus. The Milwaukee campus and surrounding neighborhood is quite safe but, unfortunately, sometimes unwelcome incidents occur. We understand how crime can impact feelings of personal safety and overall well-being. Please know that the safety and security of our students, faculty, staff and visitors is of the utmost importance to me and the entire campus leadership team.

Our top priority is to provide a secure campus community for all. UW-Milwaukee has many safety services and resources in place and is investigating additional offerings.

All students, faculty and staff may request a SAFEWALK by calling the non-emergency line at 414-229-4627. SAFE walkers are trained by the UWM Police Department and provide walking escorts throughout the main campus area. They provide a visible supportive presence and keep an eye out for suspicious activity.

We highly encourage you to sign up for RAVE Guardian app which includes a number of features in addition to providing safety alerts. One is a timer, which allows an app user who is traveling alone to connect with friends or relatives to let them know when the user is leaving, the planned destination and expected arrival time. If the timer isn’t turned off at the planned arrival time, the friend can contact the user or police. The app also allows users to interact with the UWM Police Department through texting, confidential tips, location sharing and choosing “guardian” to virtually walk them home.

The UWM Police Department continues to offer safety trainings and personal safety tips.

In addition, to help deter unwelcome actions, UWM continues the process of adding more video surveillance cameras to the almost 500 currently used on our campus and the surrounding perimeter.

You are encouraged to contact the UWM Police Department and the Milwaukee Police Department if you see any suspicious activities.

We have increased security efforts, including an immediate increase in the number of UWM Police Department patrols in the surrounding neighborhoods at key times during the afternoon and evening hours. Two additional officers will be in campus-area neighborhoods from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. every day.

We are also working with our Student Association to investigate expanding our Be On The Safe Side (BOSS) van service.

Please be assured that our campus and surrounding neighborhoods remain among the safest in Milwaukee. While crime can happen in cycles or spurts, the long-term annual trends do not show an increase in crime near UWM. Yet, even one new incident is too many which is why we will continue to monitor and review our safety practices to ensure we are taking every possible action and precaution.

Best regards,