Every week, the police beat is one of the most read sections of the paper. These entries from Fall semester 2011 give an idea why:

Suspicious Activity

Aug. 28 – A suspicious person was reported to be lurking in the shadows at 67th and Wymount around midnight. It was a lost parent of a tenant.

Aug. 28 – A white male was seen hiding something outside the Wilkinson Center. When the officer arrived he found a geocaching game tucked safely behind a large pine tree.

Sept. 16 – Students dressed in red were on campus. Officers went to talk to them and found the students were just in a festive mood, trying to have a good pregame experience. The students were extremely cooperative.

[media-credit name=”Karissa Urry” align=”alignright” width=”300″] [/media-credit] Oct. 4 – A woman was reported grilling chicken in the library. She said it was for a project requiring students to break a social norm.

Oct. 15 – A fight was reported at Wyview Park. The caller reported four loud voices near the volleyball courts. Officers arrived and found a group of students playing a game of acting out adverbs. The adverb the individuals heard being acted out was “aggressively.”

Nov. 4 – Students in Wyview were reported taking pumpkins off steps. They were going to take the pumpkins and build a pyramid outside the Wyview multipurpose building. No complaints were made so the students were released.

Nov. 13 – Two people were reported looking at bikes in Heritage Halls. When officers arrived, they discovered they were parents of a student who lives there and they were waiting for him to get out of church.

Dec. 2 – A group of llamas were reported by the Marriott Center. The students with the llamas were advertising the upcoming “Carollama” to raise money for the needy.

Criminal Mischief

Week of Oct. 26 – A student returned to his car to find a note on the window demanding $50 because the student had taken another student’s parking space. The note threatened the student if he didn’t pay. Officers tracked down the writer of the note and charged him with extortion and terrorist threats. The student claimed the victim should be charged with theft for stealing his parking space. Officers informed the student that the university owns the parking spaces.

Oct. 30 – Three students were playing soccer at 4 a.m. on the third floor of Merrill Hall. Their play woke another student who asked them to stop. When the players refused, the student punched one of the players. Officers charged the student with assault and the three players with disorderly conduct.

Graffiti

Nov. 4 – Chalk art was reported on the JFSB steps to the basement reading “Jesus was a socialist. Occupy.”

Dec. 2 – Students were reported painting small letters in mud on the sidewalk outside the HBLL. The messages were positive, saying things like “Life is Good” and “Detach Yourself.” When officers arrived, the students said it was for a final project in an art class. They took pictures of the work and then cleaned up the mud.

Theft

Nov. 9 – A student noticed his wallet was missing when he got off the UTA bus at the WSC. He reported that someone had used his credit cards. He was later contacted by UTA, which said the wallet was in the lost and found. The charges reported on his card were his own.

Nov. 10 – A vehicle was reported stolen. The student later realized he had forgotten where he had parked.

Nov. 11 – A student was charged with two counts of retail theft after he was reported stealing deodorant and Orajel from the Bookstore.

Nov. 20 – A female reported seeing two individuals feeding ducks while standing very close to the water. One approached and grabbed a duck while the other recorded the event on his cell phone. They put the duck in a bag and ran to an older model pickup truck and drove west down 800 North.

Nov. 28 – A unicycle was stolen from the bike rack near the SWKT. The unicycle is valued at $70.