With the academic year in full swing, incidents across the campus are becoming more frequent.
“September and October are the busiest months for Campus Safety, averaging over 100 incidents per month,” said Sergeant James Johnston, the Community and Partnerships and Training Coordinator for the Department of Campus Safety. “This September, liquor law violations were frequent. [There were] 24 incidents between Sept. 1 and Sept. 30 from the 10-year average of 18 violations.”
The most frequent incidents throughout September included liquor law violations and medical emergencies.
“Normally during September we would see around 13 medical assists,” said Johnston. “However, this September we had 23.”
He went on to explain an incident that took place on the Peter Barton Lacrosse stadium. “After a male party was stung by a bee, he became unconscious and needed assistance breathing. Sports Medicine Staff began providing care to the individual and Campus Safety officers soon arrived to provide more support,” said Johnston. “The individual was soon transported to a hospital for additional treatment. The actions of Sports Medicine Staff and Campus Safety have been attributed to saving the individual’s life.”
Bicycle thefts were a big problem on campus last fall. According to Sergeant Johnston, a new patrol strategy has been implemented, new cameras and lighting have been installed and education around the issue has been increased.
This year, bicycle thefts have declined. This year, only three bike thefts took place in September compared to the 17 last year.
Johnston did discuss one incident that took place this year. “A few weeks ago we released a Campus Safety Alert for bicycle thefts after we had a number of them occur in just a week. A few days after that, though, one of our dispatchers was monitoring the cameras at the Towers bike racks and spotted three suspicious individuals around 3 a.m.,” said Johnston. “One of the three parties were seen cutting a lock off a bike. Campus Safety was immediately dispatched to the location. Upon arrival, two of the three individuals fled the area. One of the officers detained the third suspect who was later transported to Denver County Jail by the Denver Police Department.” Warrants for this incident were issued and the bike was recovered.
To prevent more bicycle thefts taking place across campus, Campus Safety wants to remind everyone to utilize a U-lock on the frame of your bicycle. Any suspicious activity should immediately be reported to Campus Safety at 303-871-3000.
Campus Safety would also like to remind students to keep a close eye on their belongings because many laptops and cell phones are stolen due to students leaving them unattended in study spaces.
“We had over 100 such cases last school year alone. We ask that community members use the lockers provided in AAC to secure their items if they won’t be taking anything with them for these study breaks. Should anyone see anything valuable unattended, please contact us at 303-871-2334 so that we can contact the owner before the item gets stolen.”
DCS lastly wants to remind the student body to have a fun and safe Halloween. “We see a number of pedestrian accidents each year around Halloween and would like to ask that everyone remember to use crosswalks and pay close attention to traffic when crossing streets,” said Johnston.
More information can be found on Campus Safety’s website.
