MILWAUKEE — After a student was seriously injured in a random attack on the UW-Madison campus over the weekend, many students in the Milwaukee area say they’re concerned about their own safety.
“It sounds really scary and it's kind of sad that that's just the world we live in,” said Alyssa Guerrero.
Guerrero is a sophomore at Alverno College.
While it is much smaller than UW-Madison, Guerrero says she's always aware of the dangers of being on her own.
She grew up in the city and carries pepper spray and pays extra attention to her surroundings.
“Even at a young age, I was followed or called at and it's really unfortunate, even heading into higher education, you’re still being called at, you’re still being followed,” said Guerrero.
Alverno College Police Chief Jason Pilarski says that fear is top of mind while leading his team at the all-woman's college.
“It's one of the things that anybody in my position is always concerned about is the safety of our students whether they're on our campus or off our campus,” said Chief Pilarski.
At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Police Chief David Salazar says his office partners with the Milwaukee and Shorewood police departments to make sure students feel safe anywhere they go.
“What happens in the neighborhoods that surround the campus also impacts the campus and us knowing what's going on and vice versa, explaining our challenges to our partners allows us to be a lot more effective,” said Chief Salazar.
To get around at night on campus, UWM offers free rides for students between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m.
Along with the shuttle service, a key tool both Alverno and UWM use is Rave Guardian.
The app offers students a direct connection to each school's police department and can send their exact location to officers if they need help.
“Obviously, the situational awareness is a huge piece but your number one defense is yourself,” said Chief Salazar.
They say that while the goal is to empower students on campus, they definitely understand that it’s a team effort.
“It takes a community to keep everybody in a community safe so just use the buddy systems, keep an eye out for each other and that’s the best thing you can do to keep safe,” said Chief Pilarski.
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