Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to understand how campus police, including UWPD, became intertwined with city and county policing.
Students will be able to understand the jurisdiction, power, and scope of how UWPD operates on and off campus.
Students will explore alternatives to campus policing and how to make campus safe.
Podcast Questions:
Why do you think UWPD helped subdue the protests in 2020? Do you notice any tensions or problems with the “mutual aid capacity” between the Dane County Sheriff’s, Madison Police, and UW Police?
Why would campus police, particularly UW police officers, cite and arrest more non-UW-affiliated people than UW-affiliated people?
How does Baldwin argue that campus police tactics change when they police on and off campus? How does that lead to different disciplinary outcomes for students versus non-students?
What do the statistics about UWPD’s disproportionate arrest rates for people of color reveal about campus police tactics?
Baldwin mentions that “policing does not prevent crimes. It reacts to crimes. It names crimes.” What are the implications of this quote in making sure that campus is safe and for why crime occurs?
Do we need police on campus and do police make you feel safer on campus? Why or why not? What could reenvisioning public and campus safety at UW look like?
Primary Sources:
Isthmus Article “Peaceful protest, then pepper spray:” Read Article Here
WORT Article “In 2020, MPD deployed chemical weapons in record amounts:” Read Article Here
University of Wisconsin – Madison Police Crime Data: View Data Here
Campus law enforcement statistics (2021-22): Read Report Here
Recommended Readings:
Baldwin, Davarian L. “When universities swallow cities.” The Chronicle of Higher Education 30 (2017). Read Article Here
Davarian L. Baldwin “”Just Protecting the University Property” / Campus Policing as Extraterritorial Expansion,” in Cops on Campus: Rethinking Safety and Confronting Police Violence, ed. Yalile Suriel, Grace Watkins, Jude Paul Matias Dizon, John J Sloan III (Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 2024), 33–40. Read Book Here
Baldwin, Davarian L. “The” 800-Pound Gargoyle”: The Long History of Higher Education and Urban Development on Chicago’s South Side.” American Quarterly 67, no. 1 (2015): 81-103. Read Article Here
Other Resources:
Police and Policing at UW–Madison Teaching Guide: View Teaching Guide Here
Public History Project Blog “The Hammersley Method: The History of Mistrust between the UW–Madison Community and the UW–Madison Police Department.” Read Blog Post Here
Primary Source Citations:
University of Wisconsin – Madison Police Department Equity Dashboard. https://uwpd.wisc.edu/equity-dashboard/#overview
Brogan, Dylan. “Peaceful protest, then pepper spray.” Isthmus, May 30, 2020. https://isthmus.com/news/news/peaceful-protest-then-pepper-spray/
Chester, Jonah. & Pittman, Chali. “In 2020, MPD deployed chemical weapons in record amounts.” WORT Community Radio, January 14, 2021. https://www.wortfm.org/in-2020-mpd-deployed-chemical-weapons-in-record-amounts/
Davis, Elizabeth. Campus Law Enforcement Agencies Serving 4-year Institutions, 2021-2022. US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2024. https://bjs.ojp.gov/document/cleas4i2122st.pdf