Join UWO in welcoming students back to campus during Red Zone! Events are planned for each week to raise awareness and support student wellbeing. Whether you are looking to connect with others, taking a break, or want to safe practices and where to go for support, all are welcome to help make campus a safer place! https://www.uwosh.edu/wellness/red-zone/
The “red zone” is shorthand for the time at the beginning of the school year when a disproportionate number of campus sexual assaults take place. During this time, the majority of assaults occur between midnight and 6am, on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
UWOPD pulled statistics that supports this idea and developed a deployment strategy to proactively put our personnel in the right areas at the right times. The strategy includes the following deployment information:
- Increased presence in known areas of vulnerability on and near campus
- Strict enforcement for any alcohol violations
- Requirement for officers to do next day follow-up with anyone who had an alcohol incapacitation. The follow-up provided education to the community member, the citation (if one was going to be issued) and an initiative card (shown below)
- Encouraged next day follow-up for any students who received Underage Drinking citations – next day follow up gives the community member an opportunity to better understand the consequences of their actions versus discussing these things when they’re still impaired
- Mandatory social contacts with community members who appear to engaged in unwanted or illegal behaviors
- Increased attendance at Coffee With a Cop and the Oshkosh Police Department shift briefings to increase collaboration and area awareness
We believe that this initiative is successful because we increase our presence, we interact more with our community members, we build stronger relationships with other campus departments who have similar programming.