H -°, L 7° | Tomorrow: 
H 17°, L 4°To borrow the shocked protest of N.E.R.D, “what the fuck just happened?”
Over the weekend, the State Street area was hit with a string of brutal assaults. Groups of some 15 people robbed and beat folks out for a late-night stroll in the downtown, student-populated area. And all the police can say is, “it’s a shame those people were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
I’m sorry, that’s your response?
During the summer months, the downtown area was hit with a string of sexual assaults. As an Isthmus summer intern in charge of writing the week in review pieces, I had the pleasant task of sorting through what sexual assaults to report on for the week. After a brief break, the academic year began and so did the assaults, again. Could have predicted that one.
We have a problem here. When did Madison become the south side of Chicago? With the exception of a few occasions, I have always felt safe on campus, especially when walking in groups. I’ve felt safe in my apartments, also with one exception. I suppose a man walking into my house in the middle of the night and into my bedroom is a worthy exception. Once again, the police did nothing but say, “yeah, this guy has been making the rounds.”
What is going on? What are the police doing? I know they exist in Madison for they are always two steps away when it’s time to bust a house party or hand out an underage drinking ticket. Here’s a thought: why don’t the police patrol the streets after bar time? You know, make sure beatings aren’t happening! Our resources are being poorly utilized and I am appalled.
While perusing State Street on an ordinary Friday or Saturday night, it’s common to see a squad car or two parked on the curb, typically outside The Pub. And yet when an incident occurs, police are nowhere! Nowhere! They are nowhere, with no leads and no clues. They have some random-ass sketch that looks exactly like the four others they’ve released in the past few months.
Their first solution step is far from enough. Fines were recently raised for liquor offenses in an attempt to make Halloween festivities safer. Perhaps this is a step in the right direction, but when are people going to realize that fines rarely stop anyone. It will keep me from throwing a party but will it prevent everyone? No. When some intoxicated 20-year-old guy is walking up and down State Street on Halloween and he stops to urinate, I’m pretty sure he won’t say, “Wait, they raised the fine some 20 bucks … I better zip back up.”
As a University of Wisconsin student, I am nervous. I live in the heart of downtown Madison. I live in the heart of recent attacks. And I work in the heart of downtown. When I leave work in the wee hours of the morning, I want to know I’ll be able to walk the block and a half to my apartment safely. Hell, when I walk around in the middle of the day, I want to know I’m safe. Is anyone going to ensure this? Is there anyone on this campus working to protect students? Someone needs to do something. UW, UWPD and MPD, I’m looking at all of you.
And look beyond those of us who are already here. What else are we going to do to turn away potential students? We have obscenely high tuition, costly housing, fiscal difficulties, course cutbacks and assaults left and right. So, ready to enroll?
Cristina Daglas ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in journalism.
IP hash: 21826332
What do you think is happening? Take a look at which racial group is committing all the assaults. Now think about why the cops are just sitting around with their thumbs up their asses. They’re hoping people will take matters into their own hands because the cops just end up taking a lot of shit(racial profiling) for doing anything about it. The cops are just waiting for it all to hit the fan.
Add it all up and there is your answer.
IP hash: 863a14b3
To bad Governor Doyle thought he knew what was best by vetoeing the Personal Protection Act. How are people supposed to defend themselves against 8 attackers? Perhaps if the criminals knew that there was a chance someone was carrying a concealed weapon (like in the other 46 states of the US which respect a person’s right to self defense), they wouldn’t be so brazen.
And if a victim was carrying a weapon, at least they would have had a chance to scare off the attackers, or in the very last resort, use it to defend their life.
The next person who is attacked might not be so lucky to escape with his or her life.
IP hash: 30a3bb2b
Right on. You Rock.
IP hash: f32315e6
In response to the second Anonymous comment — what if the ATTACKERS had the ability to carry a concealed weapon? They would more likely wield one than an unsuspecting victim — who would more likely carry a weapon, someone expecting to attack or to be attacked? Allowing people to carry a concealed weapon would run a much higher risk of fatal violence, and the next person attacked surely wouldn’t be so lucky to escape with his or her life.
IP hash: f32315e6
In response to the second Anonymous comment — what if the ATTACKERS had the ability to carry a concealed weapon? Who would more likely to carry a weapon, someone expecting to attack or to be attacked? It opens a whole new can of worms. Allowing people to carry a concealed weapon would run a much higher risk of fatal violence, and the next person attacked surely wouldn’t be so lucky to escape with his or her life.
IP hash: a2caadcf
I think that Madison Cops are “Freeking Awesome”…and by “freeking awesome,” i mean, really inept unless there is an underage drinker nearby, or a big enough stash of drugs they can heist and still have enough left over to bust the student! no really though, these people give their lives to the cause of “public service.” and when i say, “public service,” i mean making up for the days back in elementary school when they let the cool kids go to class late without giving them a late card, and having a raging ego and a license to wield a stick and a gun!
IP hash: 8c85dfd7
In addition to looking towards the police to protect us we need to help protect each other. Thank you to the women on Bassett street who had the courage to intervene in a dangerous situation. Let’s hope we’ll do the same if we’re ever faced with something like that.
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In defense of anon No. 2: Anon No. 4, you seem to be misinformed. While common sense may dictate that concealed weapon bans affect everyone’s ability to carry handguns - the laws just don’t work. We’ve seen time and time again … the metro environments with the most restrictive laws continue to rise above national averages in violent crime with a fire arm.
-pmk
IP hash: 6c3d7aa9
yeah….the combination of hordes of late night drunks on state st and legalized concealed carry would be sure to reduce violence there.
are you people aware of the fact that madison has an obscenely low rate of violent crime?
IP hash: 96b1298f
The thought on concealed weapons is this: Those already breaking the law (the assaulters) are just as prone to carry a gun with or without the concealed carry law in effect…those who abide by the law (presumably the assaultee) will only carry a weapon if it is legal for them to do so.
So - bad people carry guns regardless. Good people only carry guns if they’re allowed to. Why not level the playing field?