On-campus incidents have UW SAFEwalk calls skyrocketing

Walking companion service sees calls nearly triple

Leah Linscheid by Leah Linscheid

Escort safety services at the University of Wisconsin are seeing big increases in use after recent scares on campus.

Earlier in October, police reported an attempted abduction outside College Library, where the suspect allegedly duct-taped a student’s hands and mouth before trying to stuff her into his trunk. Just this week, police sent out an alert of an armed robbery near Union South.

In the midst of those incidents, SAFEwalk, UW’s free walking companion service, has seen its calls for service nearly triple since the start of the semester, according to spokesperson Carolyn Wolff.

Wolff said in an email to News 3 requests peaked following incidents like the attempted abduction on campus. Since the start of October, the program has added two additional teams and upped its number of shifts.

SAFEwalk teams are available from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. from Oct. 1- March 31 and 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. from April 1 – Sept. 30. SAFEwalk operates year-round with the exception of holidays.

Learn more about the program here .

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