The discouraging findings came from UW-Madison’s first survey of students on campus climate, the results of which were released Nov. 16.
The results “further illuminate the trust challenges facing not only our department but the department across the street and those across the nation,” Roman wrote in a blog posted Nov. 20.
Roman asserted her department’s commitment to serving all members of the campus community.
“I am deeply concerned about any reported community reluctance to reach out to police for assistance. I understand that there are many social and political obstacles in place that inhibit/prevent certain individuals or groups from officially reporting problems to police and that many of these are beyond the ability of the police alone to eliminate,” she said. Roman pledged to work to identify and eliminate barriers between police and the community to the extent possible.