In February of 1911, after a break in and assault at the Kappa Kappa Gamma house in Madison. The University, citing the lack of a capable police force in the city, contracted the Pinkerton's National Detective Agency to investigate the crime. Some prominent businessmen wrote the governor insisting that state resources be used to better secure residences on campus, in particular those for women.
The Pinkerton men arrived on February 11th and began investigating suspects provided to them by university administrators and patrolling the neighborhood where the break in had occurred. The detectives tailed a few Madison residents and attempted a few interviews. Their suggestion that they perform some sort of sting operation in order to arrest one of their suspects was not acted upon and the university eventually, at the recommendation of the detective agency, ceased paying to retain the Pinkerton men.
