MADISON, Wis. -- With the start of the school year rapidly approaching, University of Wisconsin and Madison police are finalizing plans to protect students from the recent surge in downtown violence.

Authorities from both groups met on Monday afternoon to discuss strategies to inform incoming students about the rash in muggings around downtown. Police said that the muggings have specifically targeted young men walking alone at bar-closing time, WISC-TV reported.

Madison police Capt. Mary Schauf of the city's Central District said that the two departments have agreed to assign one officer from each organizaiton to do outreach with returning students.

UW police Capt. Dale Burke said that his department will finalize its plans during a meeting on Thursday afternoon.

"We want to be able to reach out to those students as soon as possible and educate them about what the risks might be this fall," Burke said.

Students moving in this week are upper classmen and transfer students, but UW officials said that nearly 6,000 students will move into the university dorms at the end of the month. A spokesman from the UW Dean of Students Office said that a public information campaign about student safety and the muggings will be rolled out at that time, WISC-TV reported.

Burke said that the informational effort will hopefully serve as a wake-up call to students.

"Students coming here have this feeling of invincability," Burke said. "It's not that they're not aware of things. It's just that they don't feel it can happen to me."

The Dean of Students Office has issued an advisory for distribution to students moving in. The advisory, which has tips for downtown safety, has been sent to landlords and others who have contact with students.

Some students who were moving their furniture on Monday said that they are unaware of violence that has spiked over the past several months. Some said that they took a break from Madison this summer and missed news about the rash of bar-time muggings, WISC-TV reported.

"I personally haven't seen it happen or anything directly affecting me. I haven't even heard about it," said Matt Spangler, a UW student and Boulder, Colo., native.

Burke said that it will take a whole community to get students to hear the message that being drunk and alone at bar-closing time is dangerous.

"You can go a long time and do those kinds of things and not be a victim," Burke said. "But, it only takes one time to be a victim."

Stay tuned to WISC-TV and Channel 3000 for continuing coverage.