Crime Report: September 2024 – The Daily Utah Chronicle

by Junna Base November 12, 2024

The University of Utah Department of Public Safety maintains a current crime and police response report on and around campus for public access. The report lists the offense, date and time of incident, campus zone, full address, and case status.

For the month of September 2024, this report identifies approximately 345 cases, 11 of which resulted in arrests. Most of the crimes occurred around the Health Sciences Campus, which includes the University of Utah Hospital, and the Housing and Residential Education area, which includes Kahlert Village and Lassonde Studios.

The report covers non-criminal incidents, with “citizen assistance” referring to non-emergency services provided to a citizen. In addition to this category, which included 20 cases, the most common offenses were suspicious circumstances, traffic accidents, assault and theft.

Define terms

Some of the terms used in the report to describe crimes, such as “stalking,” are clear, while other terms may not be so clear.

Disorderly conduct is an umbrella term for any activity that a police officer might consider dangerous or threatening. This term may include making inappropriate noises in public, refusing to obey a police officer, or obstructing traffic. This broad term is often used by police to mitigate situations where no clear crime has been committed.

Criminal mischief can include any attempt to damage or deface property, disrupt “critical infrastructure,” or tamper with another person’s property. The most common example of this in Utah is vandalism, or small-scale graffiti.

A circumstance, vehicle or person may be considered suspicious if there is reason to believe that a crime has occurred, is occurring or will occur. This could include people walking around buildings seemingly aimlessly and requesting sensitive information.

This term often includes signs of a break-in or property damage, such as: B. broken doors or windows. Classification of circumstances as “suspicious” may depend on a witness or police interpretation.

Threats are considered specific and credible with the intent to cause physical harm to another person. The threats can be expressed or implied.

Simple assault occurs when someone uses unlawful force to inflict physical harm on another person, resulting in moderate or minor injuries. Serious bodily harm includes attacks that result in more serious injuries or the use of a weapon. Simple assault is classified as a misdemeanor, while aggravated assault is a felony.

Sexual assault is a term used to describe a wide range of non-consensual sexual contacts. Sexual violence refers to unwanted sexual contact, especially in the victim’s intimate area, through the threat of violence or the use of violence.

Content of the report

The most common crimes in September were suspicious circumstances, traffic accidents, attacks on health workers and theft. With 40 active cases, the vast majority of cases are closed.

There were approximately 50 traffic-related incidents, including 30 resulting in property damage and 16 hit-and-runs. These incidents were not heavily concentrated in one area but occurred in different parts of campus.

The Health Sciences Campus was the area of campus with the highest crime rate, accounting for 130 cases, or 38% of all incidents. Most crimes on the health campus were attacks on health workers. There were 19 simple attacks on health workers and two serious attacks on health workers. Five cases are still pending and two people have been arrested.

There were 28 incidents of suspicious circumstances that occurred in various parts of the campus. There were 18 incidents of drug possession, all of which occurred on the Health Sciences campus.

There were eight alcohol-related crimes, five of which occurred in residential and educational settings, including Sage Point, Kahlert Village and Peterson Heritage Center.

Three out of four stalking cases from September are active. Two of these cases were reported off campus and one was reported in Kahlert Village.

A stalking case resulted in students, faculty and staff receiving two security alerts regarding a stalking suspect and his arrest on Friday, September 20th. Oluwatobi Oludaisi Shokunbi, also known as “King Rocky,” was charged with stalking, indecency and two counts of criminal trespass.

Compare trends

The US annual crime report for 2023 showed an increase in sexual violence. The September report identified at least three cases of sextortion, two cases of domestic violence and two cases of sexual assault.

Crimes of sexual violence are often under-reported. According to a 2023 report from the U.S. Department of Justice, two-thirds of rapes and sexual assaults are not reported to law enforcement.

Based on The Chronicle’s reporting on campus theft, 215 cases related to theft were opened between August 1, 2023 and August 1, 2024. These included general theft, bicycle theft and motor vehicle theft.

Thefts continued to occur frequently in September 2024. A total of around 32 thefts were reported, including 12 bicycles. These took place in various parts of the campus, including housing and residential education.