Category: Crime and safety

The national conversation on how to reduce gun violence has continued after more than 300 mass shootings in 2015, according to the Mass Shooting Tracker. In Madison, the debate has resulted in proposed legislation that would allow concealed weapons in university buildings.

More and more colleges across the country are saying no to hoverboards.

But UW Madison spokesman Marc Lovicott says the university is hovering over what to do.

“You’re allowed to possess them for now but you can’t use them here.”

The two campuses are among at least 20 other colleges and universities across the country where administrators have banned or restricted the self-balancing scooters, citing the risk of falls and warnings from consumer groups that the batteries that power hoverboards could catch fire.

A federal complaint against the University of Wisconsin-Madison about its handling of a sexual assault report — one of three such complaints filed against UW-Madison in 2015 — alleges the victim was subjected to a sexually hostile environment because the university failed to respond promptly and equitably.

Federal authorities have launched another investigation into UW-Madison’s handling of a sexual violence allegation, bringing to three the number of cases on the campus now under review by the U.S. Department of Education.

A Netflix documentary focusing on a Wisconsin criminal case is lighting up the internet this Christmas season. The documentary called “Making a Murderer” is centered on the case of Steven Avery.

In 2003, The Wisconsin Innocence Project helped prove Steven Avery was not guilty of sexual assault, which came after Avery already spent 18 years behind bars for the crime he didn’t commit.

A number of sexual assault survivors from four University of Wisconsin campuses and their lawyer are asking UW System officials for an opportunity to share their concerns about how they were treated and to provide ideas on how future cases should be handled. So far, their request has been denied.

Senator Tammy Baldwin spent an hour with the University of Wisconsin System Sexual Assault and Violence Task Force on the campus of the UW-Madison Friday.

The group discussed ongoing efforts both the university and Congress are making to combat sexual assault on college campuses.

The University of Wisconsin System Sexual Assault and Violence Task Force met with Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D- Wisconsin) Friday afternoon.

The conversation focused on how congress can help universities deal with on campus sex assaults. A recent survey of women at UW-Madison found one in four reported experiencing a sexual assault. Friday’s meeting centered around ways to tackle the problem.

(Video) Students across the country are upset with a bill that would change the way sexual assaults are reported on campus. Velena Jones reports.

The defacing of a publicity poster for a theater production at UW-Madison prompts a letter from school officials, urging students to watch for, and confront racial insensitivity.

The poster depicted Japanese women and others in connection with the staging of the production “Tea,” with the vandalism involving the obscuring of the women’s faces in yellow. The play is about Japanese women marrying U.S. servicemen and returning with them to live in the United States.

“Here we are doing this Asian American play and someone sees fit to do something like this,” “Tea” director and UW School of Education professor David Furumoto says.

University faculty are calling on students to report more instances of racial-motivated issues in an effort educate the campus community after cases of vandalism occurred recently.

Vandalism of a production poster in Van Hise fueled the conversation about racial identities and bias on campus in a department-wide email sent out Monday.

Students taking classes housed in Vilas Hall, including those in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, received an email Monday alerting them of “an incident of bias and racism” that occurred a few weeks ago in Vilas Hall.

The attached letter from Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Officer Patrick Sims detailed the vandalism of a poster for the Department of Theater and Drama’s production of “TEA.”

If you’ve ever driven through UW-Madison campus between classes, you know first hand how dangerous it can.

Whether it’s the pedestrians darting out into traffic, the bikers blowing through stop signs or the motorists not stopping at crosswalks, police say it’s no secret there’s a pedestrian safety issue on campus.

UW Madison Police need your help finding three men in the picture above.

Police say the man dressed as a ninja turtle was seen pushing over and damaging mopeds outside Camp Randall on Friday.