UW-Whitewater’s campus police department has published the most recent safety and security data in the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report (ASFR).
Viewable online, the document contains statistical information about criminal offenses from both the Whitewater and Rock County campuses.
The crime statistics show the number of reported offenses that occurred in 2023, with the previous two years’ data appearing for comparison purposes.
Various offenses are reported in the data, ranging from violent and sexual to simply possessing weapons, drugs and alcohol. Other offenses, such as hate crimes and those against women, are also listed.
UWWPD Chief of Police Matt Kiederlen reported that there are two ways of looking at on-campus crime. The raw numbers paint one picture, while the perception of campus safety paints another.
Kiederlen mentioned that the community’s perception of the campus’s safety has remained the same, while the numbers themselves have remained within statistical averages.
Kiederlen believes that UW-Whitewater is a safe campus and that the chances of something bad happening to someone are low.
“When you compare us to campuses of like size and all that, we are at or below what you see nationally,” Kiederlen said. “The way I put it to parents, I’d have no issue with my daughter walking around campus in the middle of the night.”
According to the data, there was a significant decrease in alcohol and drug referrals from previous years. Residence hall alcohol referrals went down from 314 to 245, while drug referrals dropped from 12 to two.
Kiederlen stated that from a generational standpoint, documented alcohol consumption has decreased.
“Either we have fewer students engaging in the behavior, or they’re engaging in the behavior in a more appropriate manner,” Kiederlen said. “It’s impossible to know 100% which way, but those are our theories.”
Kiederlen explained that the ASFR originated from a federal law called the Jeanne Clery Act. The law, enforced by the Department of Education, requires colleges and universities to report on certain offenses.
“The intent of the report is to ensure that anyone that would be coming to our campus would be able to get a clear picture of what’s happening,” Kiederlen said.
Rape was also reported to have decreased, with 20 instances reported in 2022 and 17 reported in 2023. Notably, dating violence and stalking have both noticed slight increases from one to five documented instances.
UW-Whitewater’s Rock County campus has consistently had very few offenses to report in the ASFR. Kiederlen cited the campus’s different operating hours as potential reasons for this.
Regarding fire safety, Kiederlen mentioned that there have been no instances of reportable fires for the last several years. Reportable fires are defined as an open flame.
“If we were reporting every time somebody burns popcorn in a microwave and set off the alarm, there’d be a lot of numbers on there,” Kiederlen said.
Individuals who read the ASFR may notice that there are a lot of pages in the document. Alongside crime data, there are resources, definitions of offenses, and statutes present.
Kiederlen emphasized that the definitions listed may differ among entities, such as the National Incident-Based Report System and the Uniform Crime Reports. As such, numbers may appear different.
For example, UW-Whitewater is required to compile reports to the Wisconsin State Legislature and must conform to their definitions of certain offenses.
“You can end up looking at three different crime statistics, and they’re all different,” Kiederlen said. “It’s not misreporting. It’s not underreporting. It’s just that definitions differ.”
Kiederlen also noted that many individuals do not explore most of the information in the document, but rather read the statistics about crime.
The UW-Whitewater campus police department is mandated by law to send the updated report to all students and faculty by Oct. 1 every year. It is also available to the public and can be located on its website as a PDF.Charts for Annual Report
