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<title>USU Police Department Archives - The Utah Statesman</title>
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<title>USU Police Department Archives - The Utah Statesman</title>
<link>https://usustatesman.com/tag/usu-police-department/</link>
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<title>Former USU department head pleads guilty to $76,766 theft </title>
<link>https://usustatesman.com/former-usu-department-head-pleads-guilty-to-76766-theft/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kris Carpenter]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 07 Oct 2022 14:00:05 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Amanda DeRito]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Andrew Crane]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[David Olsen]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Douglas Anderson]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Judge Brian Cannell]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[theft]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[USU Police Department]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Utah State University]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Utah Tech University]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://usustatesman.com/?p=22121402</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>*Editor’s Note: This article was updated on Oct. 11 at 12:20pm to correct Douglas Anderson’s title from new head of…</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/former-usu-department-head-pleads-guilty-to-76766-theft/">Former USU department head pleads guilty to $76,766 theft </a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>*Editor’s Note: This article was updated on Oct. 11 at 12:20pm to correct Douglas Anderson’s title from new head of USU’s data and analytics department to Dean of the Huntsman School of Business.</em></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">On Sept. 28, David Olsen, former head of the Department of Data Analytics & Information Systems at Utah State University, pled guilty to stealing $76,766 from USU. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">According to the First District Court’s documents, Olsen waived his right to a fair trial. The hearing’s minutes state the prosecution would not require Olsen to serve jail time if he paid back the required funds. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">“The first thing I did was try to be as cooperative as possible. I offered from day one to pay back whatever number (the theft) was,” Olsen said. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">Olsen said he began taking computer equipment and selling it during 2016 and 2017. He declined to be on the record for his explanation of why. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">USU asked him to resign during March of 2020, and he started work at Utah Tech University that fall as an assistant professor, Olsen said. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">According to Olsen, a lawsuit was filed against him this June, followed by a USU Police Department investigation. He said he was charged to pay back three times the money he stole. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">Olsen said USU had a spreadsheet recording all the equipment he stole, but said the amount he was charged with was “grossly overstated.” Despite this, he was still willing to pay it.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">When asked to comment on the hearing, the USU Police Department referred the Statesman to Amanda DeRito, USU associate vice president for strategic communications. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">“The university is not providing additional information on the case,” DeRito said over an email. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">Douglas Anderson, the Dean of the Huntsman School of Business, also referred the Statesman to DeRito, who again declined to comment. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">Andrew Crane, the Cache County deputy attorney and prosecutor of Olsen, was also not willing to be on the record. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">According to Judge Brian Cannell, on behalf of the Utah State Auditor’s Office, Olsen’s theft was “significant and obviously selfish.” </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">Cannell also said Olsen should apologize to USU’s taxpayers. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">David Perry, the defendant’s attorney, said Olsen had credit from a lender, as well as the full amount to give back to USU.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">One way Olsen planned on making amends was through helping his students at Utah Tech University learn in new ways. According to Olsen, he made a few YouTube videos to help his students learn programming and other parts of his curriculum. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none">“I wanted to make amends, even in my mind,” Olsen said. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>-Jenny.Carpenter@usu.edu</p>
<p>Featured photo courtesy of David Olsen LinkedIn</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/former-usu-department-head-pleads-guilty-to-76766-theft/">Former USU department head pleads guilty to $76,766 theft </a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p>
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<title>USU police recover stolen equipment from former employee</title>
<link>https://usustatesman.com/usu-police-recover-stolen-equipment-from-former-employee/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Karcin Harris]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2020 01:09:40 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[All]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[computer equipment theft]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Detective Christensen]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Police Captain Kent Harris]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[USU facilities]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[USU Information technology department]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[USU Police Department]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://usustatesman.com/?p=22110586</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>A former Utah State University employee was caught by campus police after allegedly stealing about $25,000 in computer equipment. USU…</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/usu-police-recover-stolen-equipment-from-former-employee/">USU police recover stolen equipment from former employee</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A former Utah State University employee was caught by campus police after allegedly stealing about $25,000 in computer equipment.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">USU Police Capt. Kent Harris said while most of the equipment was recovered, some had already been sold or destroyed by 34-year-old Terry Trinkella, who worked in USU’s facilities department. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Harris said Trinkella is being charged with four counts of burglary and five counts of theft.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The stolen equipment included monitors, hard drives, keyboards, memory, laptops and cables. The equipment was taken from multiple buildings on campus as well as South Farm and Caine Dairy, two of USU’s research facilities.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Harris said the department was made aware of the thefts two months ago, but the thefts could have occurred beforehand and gone unnoticed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We’ve recovered property that hasn’t even been reported yet,” Harris said. “We’re waiting for people to come back, fire up their computers in classrooms and notice their missing equipment. Then we can start putting pieces back in their locations.”</span></p>
<div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/UtahStateUniversityPoliceDepartment/posts/3014501618648505" data-show-text="true" data-width="">
<blockquote class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore" cite="https://www.facebook.com/UtahStateUniversityPoliceDepartment/posts/3014501618648505"><p>After our students went home back in March due to Covid-19, we’ve had a lot of people ask us what we’re doing with all…</p>
<p>Posted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/UtahStateUniversityPoliceDepartment/">Utah State University Police Department</a> on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/UtahStateUniversityPoliceDepartment/posts/3014501618648505">Tuesday, July 21, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
</div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Harris expressed his gratitude to the security staff, USU’s Information Technology department, and to Detective Erik Christensen.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“He was putting things together,” Harris said. “Without his hard work and follow up, we wouldn’t have been able to recover a lot of this property.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Detective Christensen called the series of thefts a “perfect storm.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s this confluence of events that occurred that allowed this to go on,” Christensen said. “It was a USU employee who could hide in plain sight, and we had this pandemic where everyone’s been at home, so there were fewer people to notice things going missing.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Christensen said at first the reports of missing items resembled thefts that occur every spring.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“At the end of every school year, we get a few thefts from seniors,” he said, “where people will say, ‘I’m leaving for good so I’m going to take this.’ We thought this may be what the thefts were.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The thief was first noticed on surveillance video from the research farms. According to Christensen, the director at the farms saw a USU facilities vehicle on the property and thought it was strange.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We kept an eye on that vehicle, got a few leads and tracked him down,” Christensen said. “Some members of our department noticed the thief walking by with a stolen computer under his arm. We tracked him on the cameras and saw him get in the same white facilities vehicle.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After getting search warrants, the officers were able to recover the stolen equipment. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some of the officers are certified in computer forensics, Christensen said, so they were able to quickly see that the equipment was USU property instead of needing to send everything to a lab and wait for results. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We brought the thief in for questioning and he admitted to the thefts,” Christensen said. “He was very cooperative with us and made a list of where he’d been. Our total value of recovered equipment was $25,000.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to Christensen, it was lucky that he didn’t move much of it. With many budget cuts due to the pandemic, the university would have had to pay to replace everything. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Christensen, who has been with the USU Police Department for five years, chuckled at the praise from Harris. Christensen said he was just doing his job and doesn’t need the credit. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Honestly, we would not have broken the case without help,” he said. “We have a small department so we had to pull people from patrol and security guards. The credit goes to the security guards. All I did was write the reports and talk to the suspect. Everyone else really pushed it and I couldn’t have done it without them.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Harris said the police department, along with the university, is disappointed in the former employee’s actions. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“His actions are going to affect not only the staff, but also the students in their learning behavior. With the pandemic, it’s going to limit their ability to learn because these parts have been stolen or destroyed. Now computers won’t work well on the first day of class,” he said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He added Trinkella does not represent ”the university’s wonderful staff” as a whole. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Harris said the public safety department wants students to take action when it comes to crime on campus. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“If you see something, say something,” he said. “If something doesn’t seem right in an area, we want people to call us. We would rather respond to something that may not seem like a big issue as opposed to waiting and having it turn into a bigger issue.” </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">—</span><a href="mailto:karcinrose@gmail.com"><span style="font-weight: 400;">karcinrose@gmail.com</span></a></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">@harriskarcin</span></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/usu-police-recover-stolen-equipment-from-former-employee/">USU police recover stolen equipment from former employee</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p>
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<title>Gas leak in the Utah State University life science building prompts evacuations</title>
<link>https://usustatesman.com/gas-leak-in-the-utah-state-university-life-science-building-prompts-evacuations/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Alison Berg]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 02 Apr 2019 00:09:10 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[All]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Campus Crime]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Campus News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[gas leak]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[usu life science building]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[USU Police Department]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Utah State University]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://usustatesman.com/?p=22102295</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>A natural gas leak outside the Utah State University Life Sciences building on Monday caused an evacuation of the University…</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/gas-leak-in-the-utah-state-university-life-science-building-prompts-evacuations/">Gas leak in the Utah State University life science building prompts evacuations</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A natural gas leak outside the Utah State University Life Sciences building on Monday caused an evacuation of the University Inn, the Life Sciences building, and the Biology and Natural Resources buildings. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">USU Police temporarily cordoned off the area while the gas supply to the source of the leak could be disconnected. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The leak happened during the installation of a tree in front of the Life Sciences building. While digging a hole, an excavator punctured a natural gas line. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is a developing story that will be updated as new information emerges.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_22102296" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignnone"> <div class="media-credit-container alignnone" style="max-width: 310px">
<img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22102296" class="size-medium wp-image-22102296" src="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/04012019_gas-leak-cmm_mh_01-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" srcset="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/04012019_gas-leak-cmm_mh_01-300x197.jpg 300w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/04012019_gas-leak-cmm_mh_01-1000x656.jpg 1000w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/04012019_gas-leak-cmm_mh_01-500x328.jpg 500w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/04012019_gas-leak-cmm_mh_01-800x525.jpg 800w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/04012019_gas-leak-cmm_mh_01-1280x840.jpg 1280w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/04012019_gas-leak-cmm_mh_01-1920x1260.jpg 1920w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/04012019_gas-leak-cmm_mh_01-335x220.jpg 335w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/04012019_gas-leak-cmm_mh_01-1050x689.jpg 1050w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><span class="media-credit">Chantelle McCall</span> </div>
<p id="caption-attachment-22102296" class="wp-caption-text">Emergency personnel outside the USU Life Science building take care of the gas leak.</p></div>
<p><em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">pigott.peterson@gmail.com</span></em></p>
<p><em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">@coffee_talk_</span></em></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/gas-leak-in-the-utah-state-university-life-science-building-prompts-evacuations/">Gas leak in the Utah State University life science building prompts evacuations</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p>
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<title>Fire damages third floor of USU’s Animal Science building</title>
<link>https://usustatesman.com/fire-damages-third-floor-usus-animal-science-building/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Alyssa Roberts]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 23 Mar 2017 06:47:40 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[All]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Campus News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Animal Scien building]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[emergency]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Fire]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[fire damage]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Logan City Police Department]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[USU Police Department]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Utah State University]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://usustatesman.com/?p=22012661</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Officials say an air conditioning unit on the third floor of Utah State University’s Animal Science building was the source…</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/fire-damages-third-floor-usus-animal-science-building/">Fire damages third floor of USU’s Animal Science building</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Officials say an air conditioning unit on the third floor of Utah State University’s Animal Science building was the source of a fire Wednesday night. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Logan City fire marshal Craig Humphreys said the fire heavily damaged a third floor office, with smoke damage extending to the rest of the floor.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“On a scale of one to 10 that single office is a nine. The rest of the floor is maybe a two,” he said. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">USU Police Department captain Steve Milne said the Utah Fire Marshal’s office had been notified and would be on campus as soon as possible to confirm the fire was in fact caused by the office’s air conditioning unit. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He anticipates the third floor of the building will be closed tomorrow while an assessment is made. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For now, Milne said he does not suspect foul play. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though the building was built in 1917, Humphreys and Milne said they didn’t think its age played a significant role in causing the fire. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“A lot of these buildings are kind of old buildings. They’ve been remodeled on top of remodeled on top of remodeled and each time they try to make sure that it’s done to code,” Milne said. “I think that helped prevent the fire from spreading.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Anna Quach, a statistics PhD student, was one of the few in the building when the alarm went off. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I heard the alarm and I just walked around to see if there was any smoke or fire and I didn’t see anything,” Quach said. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite not seeing or smelling any signs of the fire, Quach said she decided to pack up her stuff and leave anyway. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Milne said it was fortunate the fire occurred at night, with few people building, but the event should serve as a reminder to students to be aware of their surroundings. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Know where your exits are in case there is a fire, in the event you have to evacuate,” Milne said. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to the university’s website, the damaged office belongs to Pata Rujirawat, a lecturer in the mathematics and statistics department. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">— </span><a href="mailto:ac.roberts95@gmail.com"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ac.roberts95@gmail.com</span></a></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">@alyssarbrts </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Photo by Matt Halton</span></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/fire-damages-third-floor-usus-animal-science-building/">Fire damages third floor of USU’s Animal Science building</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p>
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<title>Multiple accidents on 1000 N Wednesday due to hazardous road conditions</title>
<link>https://usustatesman.com/multiple-accidents-on-1000-n-wednesday-due-to-hazardous-road-conditions/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Alison Berg]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 12 Jan 2017 05:00:39 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Parking and Transportation]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[black ice]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[campus police]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[car accidents]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[cold]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dangerous black ice]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[hazardous weather]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Logan]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[multiple cars]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[road conditions]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[snow]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[USU Police Department]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Utah]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Utah State University]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[weather]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://usustatesman.com/?p=22011383</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Two car accidents occurred Wednesday around 5:30 p.m. on 1000 N in Logan. A total of five cars were involved,…</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/multiple-accidents-on-1000-n-wednesday-due-to-hazardous-road-conditions/">Multiple accidents on 1000 N Wednesday due to hazardous road conditions</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Two car accidents occurred Wednesday around 5:30 p.m. on 1000 N in Logan. A total of five cars were involved, including a Utah State University police car.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The accidents began with a driver headed west on 1000 N after picking up her boyfriend from Utah State University’s campus. She felt her car slipping and opted to turn into a snowbank rather than lose control and continue sliding down the hill. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, when she turned toward the snowbank she hit a car pulled over on the side of the road parallel to Maverik Stadium. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The roads were too slick — I just chose the wrong time to start driving,” said the driver, who asked not to be identified by name. “I thought it was going to slide into traffic and hit another car, but instead it rolled into a snowbank.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The woman said police instructed her boyfriend to move the car by putting it into neutral. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As he was doing this, another car began sliding down 1000 N and ran into her vehicle. Her boyfriend immediately got out to protect himself from being injured. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a separate incident, a USU police department vehicle was parked blocking traffic on 1000 N when a truck slid down the hill and hit the police car.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Both the driver of the truck and USU police declined to comment on the accident. However, police advised everyone to drive safely through the snow. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For more information, the USU police department can be contacted at 435-797-1939.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">— </span><a href="mailto:aligirl123@att.net"><span style="font-weight: 400;">aligirl123@att.net</span></a></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">@AlisonBerg</span></p>
<p>Photo by Tim Carpenter</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/multiple-accidents-on-1000-n-wednesday-due-to-hazardous-road-conditions/">Multiple accidents on 1000 N Wednesday due to hazardous road conditions</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p>
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<title>Police Chief Steven Mecham to retire: A look at his 35-year career at USU</title>
<link>https://usustatesman.com/police-chief-steven-mecham-to-retire-a-look-at-his-35-year-career-at-usu/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Melanie Fenstermaker]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 28 Nov 2016 22:57:26 +0000</pubDate>
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<category><![CDATA[Logan]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Steven Mecham]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Steven Milne]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The Howl]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[USU Police Department]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[<p>On New Year’s Eve, Utah State University’s police chief will celebrate more than just the new year. At midnight, Chief…</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/police-chief-steven-mecham-to-retire-a-look-at-his-35-year-career-at-usu/">Police Chief Steven Mecham to retire: A look at his 35-year career at USU</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On New Year’s Eve, Utah State University’s police chief will celebrate more than just the new year. At midnight, Chief Steven Mecham will officially retire from his 35 years with the on-campus police department.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This year, he plans to enjoy the holiday with family board games and movies, as long as students don’t create a disturbance. If they do, he’ll put on his badge, head back to campus and celebrate by facilitating a few last arrests to finish his career.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But he hopes that doesn’t happen.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Fortunately there’s no activities for campus on New Year’s Eve,” he said. “I hope that doesn’t change this year.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mecham looks forward to retirement. He wants to catch up on golf, travel, spend time with family and maybe serve a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with his wife, Darlene. But that’s not to say he hasn’t enjoyed his years on the force.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s just been a great place to work,” he said. “It’s been good for my family and I’ve just loved it here.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Looking back on his career, Mecham says, the 35 years at the campus police department have “flown by” in a way they never do when he’s looking toward the future.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now, as Mecham begins to pack his office, he can look back at the memories he’s made and the moments that led him to Cache Valley years ago.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_22010858" style="width: 267px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22010858" class="wp-image-22010858 size-medium" src="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1992-257x300.jpg" alt="" width="257" height="300" srcset="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1992-257x300.jpg 257w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1992-855x1000.jpg 855w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1992-335x392.jpg 335w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1992-1050x1228.jpg 1050w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1992.jpg 1199w" sizes="(max-width: 257px) 100vw, 257px" /><p id="caption-attachment-22010858" class="wp-caption-text">Steven Mecham in 1992.</p></div>
<p><b>Coming to Cache Valley</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Although Mecham has been in the profession for 39 years, he says “nothing really specific” drew him to law enforcement. He had a friend who was a police officer at Rick’s College </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">— </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">now known as BYU-Idaho</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">— </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">and Mecham thought it sounded like a good job.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When he came home from serving a two-year LDS mission in Anaheim, California, he signed up for the law enforcement program at Rick’s College.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> “I just fell in love with the profession 39 years ago,” he said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mecham earned an associate’s degree in law enforcement from Rick’s College in 1976. In 1977, he was hired as a patrol officer at Rick’s College.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_22010857" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22010857" class="wp-image-22010857 size-medium" src="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1979-300x218.jpg" alt="1979" width="300" height="218" srcset="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1979-300x218.jpg 300w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1979-335x244.jpg 335w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1979.jpg 550w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><p id="caption-attachment-22010857" class="wp-caption-text">Steven Mecham worked at Rick’s College — now known as BYU Idaho — in his early career. This photo was taken in 1979.</p></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Four years later, he heard Utah State University was starting its own police department. He got the job as a patrol officer in 1981, and was one of nine officers who were hired to get the department running.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mecham had only two of his six children at the time, and he said his wife was “very pregnant” with their third. As his family grew in size, his love for Cache Valley grew as well.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Cache Valley is just a beautiful, beautiful place,” he said. “We’ve always had great neighbors, good friends.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mecham was promoted to sergeant shortly after he was hired, but his full-time job didn’t stop him from pursuing an education. He finished a degree at BYU in justice administration in 1986, went on to earn a master’s degree from USU in social science in 1990 and graduated from the FBI national academy in 1992. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That year, he was chosen to be USU’s chief of police. Over the years, he’s watched the police department and the university grow and change.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s been a great ride,” he said. “I’ve made lots of good memories.”</span></p>
<p><b>Chief Mecham’s Memories</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some of Mecham’s favorite memories come from his days as a patrol officer.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He said the city didn’t send many patrols to the university in the 80s, so when he first arrived the university had a big problem with alcohol </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">— </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">students passing alcohol around Greek Row, drinking liquor openly at sporting events and holding parties on campus </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">— h</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">e made lots of arrests in</span></p>
<div id="attachment_22010863" style="width: 179px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22010863" class="size-medium wp-image-22010863" src="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/steve-milne-1-169x300.jpg" alt="Chief Steven Mecham, who has always been a big fan of Utah State University sports, watches a softball game with USU's mascot, Big Blue. Photo courtesy of Heather Strong." width="169" height="300" srcset="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/steve-milne-1-169x300.jpg 169w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/steve-milne-1.jpg 306w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 169px) 100vw, 169px" /><p id="caption-attachment-22010863" class="wp-caption-text">Chief Steven Mecham, who has always been a big fan of Utah State University sports, watches a softball game with USU’s mascot, Big Blue. Photo courtesy of Heather Strong.</p></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">his early years.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“As a young officer, that was a lot of fun to make a lot of arrests </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">— </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">not hardcore arrests, just alcohol arrests,” he said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mecham said he remembers making a lot of arrests at Tequila Day every year. Tequila Day was held at one football game every year in the 80s, usually when the team played the University of Utah or Brigham Young University.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The event wasn’t university-sponsored, but the school allowed it to be promoted in the student center. Mecham said he still doesn’t understand the logic of the advertisement because USU has always been a dry campus, and he is happy the university stopped allowing advertisements and that Tequila Day has been forgotten.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One fun part of Tequila Day, Mecham said, was dressing in plain clothes and arresting students by surprise. Mecham said he was once sitting in the student section dressed in plain clothes when a student next to him sat down and pulled out several mini bottles of tequila.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I pulled out my badge and said, ‘Come with me,’ and he was pretty bummed, but the look on his face was priceless,” Mecham recalled.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But the chief hasn’t enjoyed every event on campus.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’m not sad that I’ve been to my last Halloween Howl,” he said with a chuckle.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_22010856" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22010856" class="wp-image-22010856 size-medium" src="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-5-howl-2016-300x225.jpg" alt="Chief Mecham, Sergeant Jessica Vahsholtz, Captain Steve Milne and Sergeant Joe Huish sit around before the Halloween Howl, USU's most popular party of the year, in October 2016. Photo courtesy of Heather Strong." width="300" height="225" srcset="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-5-howl-2016-300x225.jpg 300w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-5-howl-2016-1000x750.jpg 1000w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-5-howl-2016-72x54.jpg 72w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-5-howl-2016-335x251.jpg 335w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-5-howl-2016-1050x788.jpg 1050w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-5-howl-2016.jpg 1869w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><p id="caption-attachment-22010856" class="wp-caption-text">Chief Mecham, Sergeant Jessica Vahsholtz, Captain Steve Milne and Sergeant Joe Hush wait around before the Halloween Howl, USU’s most popular party of the year, in October 2016. Photo courtesy of Heather Strong.</p></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Although the Howl brings a lot of mischief to the university, Mecham said it still makes USU students look good.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“That’s our biggest day of the year for arrests and most, the vast majority of those arrests, do not involve USU students, so that’s kudos to our students who are wise enough to not drink alcohol,” he said. “Most universities wouldn’t be able to throw a party like this.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mecham said alcohol problems have decreased over the years. Officers no longer dress in plain clothes at sporting events and more students are aware of the consequences of consuming alcohol on campus. But he’s watched other problems increase.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He said the number of students with emotional and mental illnesses has increased over the years.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The number of students we’ve seen who have threatened suicide or have sought help because they have suicidal thoughts has just skyrocketed over the years,” he said. “It’s sad and it’s hard. There’s just too many students feeling that way and hopefully things will start changing and students will start seeing that there’s help, there’s reason to live and there’s happier days ahead.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mecham said the officers try to help students through those suicidal thoughts, and work closely with student affairs and the counseling center to help students work through mental illness.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He said the department has also been more attentive to the possibility of an on-campus active shooter situation because of increasing incidents around the country.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s been kind of sad to watch that happen across the country, and of course sad when it happens on a college campus, but the reality is it can happen anywhere,” he said. “It can happen here today or tomorrow and nobody I think can consider themselves immune, so we have to prepare.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mecham said these and other prominent issues at USU, such as sexual assault, are at the forefront of the officers’ minds. For the most part, though, he considers USU a safe place.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Overall at Utah State University, we have not a had a lot of the real hardcore crime and that’s a good place to be,” he said.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_22010859" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22010859" class="size-medium wp-image-22010859" src="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/office-photo-graduation-2015-300x133.jpg" alt="Sergeant Travis Dunn, Officer Andy Barnes, Chief Mecham, Captain Milne, Sergeant Joe Huish, Officer Travis Robson and Officer Kim Ellis prepare to enforce the law at Utah State University's 2015 graduation ceremony. Photo courtesy of Heather Strong." width="300" height="133" srcset="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/office-photo-graduation-2015-300x133.jpg 300w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/office-photo-graduation-2015-1000x444.jpg 1000w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/office-photo-graduation-2015-335x149.jpg 335w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/office-photo-graduation-2015-1050x466.jpg 1050w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><p id="caption-attachment-22010859" class="wp-caption-text">Sergeant Travis Dunn, Officer Andy Barnes, Chief Mecham, Captain Milne, Sergeant Joe Huish, Officer Travis Robson and Officer Kim Ellis prepare to enforce the law at Utah State University’s 2015 graduation ceremony. Photo courtesy of Heather Strong.</p></div>
<p><b>Service and Safety</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Every week, among more serious incidents like car accidents and rape investigations, campus police officers respond to lockouts, jump starts and other minor issues on campus.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Steven Milne, the captain of the department, said the USU police responds to more service calls than most other police departments.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We do far more general service calls than we did in the old days. A lot of that’s because of (Mecham),” Milne said. “Are they really in the realm of the police department? I don’t know, but he pushes that. He wants people to call us. He’s quick to say, ‘Absolutely.’”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Since his first day on the job, Mecham has believed officers should care about and serve the campus community in any way they can.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Milne said Mecham tells officers, “Don’t just sit in the car all day. Get out and interact with your community and get to know the people you’re serving and protecting.”</span></p>
<div id="attachment_22010860" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22010860" class="size-medium wp-image-22010860" src="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-6-walk-a-mile-in-her-shoes-2010-300x289.jpg" alt="Ryan Barfuss, Chief Mecham and Officer Chad Vernon of the Logan City Police march against rape while wearing high heels at Walk a Mile in Her Shoes in 2011. Photo courtesy of Heather Strong." width="300" height="289" srcset="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-6-walk-a-mile-in-her-shoes-2010-300x289.jpg 300w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-6-walk-a-mile-in-her-shoes-2010-1000x964.jpg 1000w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-6-walk-a-mile-in-her-shoes-2010-335x323.jpg 335w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-6-walk-a-mile-in-her-shoes-2010-1050x1012.jpg 1050w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-6-walk-a-mile-in-her-shoes-2010.jpg 1454w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><p id="caption-attachment-22010860" class="wp-caption-text">Ryan Barfuss, Chief Mecham and Officer Chad Vernon of the Logan City Police march against rape while wearing high heels at Walk a Mile in Her Shoes in 2011. Photo courtesy of Heather Strong.After Mecham was made chief, he created a bicycle patrol program.</p></div>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I felt like that was one way to get officers closer to people,” he said. “We’re human. They can stop and talk to us. I think that provides a sense of safety and security. You can be safe, but if you don’t feel safe, you’re not safe.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And safety is Mecham’s top priority. He’s happy that USU is frequently ranked among the safest college campuses in the nation.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It speaks well of our citizens; it speaks well of our law enforcement,” he said. “Really I think it speaks to the overall quality of citizens that we have in the valley. Good people, good schools, good opportunities.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mecham said one challenge of enforcing laws in a safe community is avoiding becoming complacent.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“When you work in a department like ours when there’s not a lot of bad crime</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">—</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">we’re so grateful for that</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">—</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">but it could happen tomorrow,” he said. “It demands that we train. Even though it may not happen, we train as though it would happen tomorrow.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Judy Crockett, the department’s emergency management coordinator, said Mecham encourages officers to adjust their work schedules to make time for education.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“He is very, very supportive of furthering your training and doing whatever he can to help you and support your job,” she said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In case there’s a campus-wide crisis, Mecham also encourages officers to join focus groups in the valley and get to know other members of law enforcement.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“He’s very attuned to the fact that, just being a small department, that if we ever have a big emergency, we’ll be relying a lot on the outside agencies. So he works to make sure those lines of communications are established,” Milne said.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_22010861" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22010861" class="size-medium wp-image-22010861" src="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-7-special-olympics-torch-run-2009-300x223.jpg" alt="Fire Marshal Jason Winn, Captain Milne, Lieutenant Shane Sessions, Chief Mecham, Office Sutton Hanzalik demonstrate their strength before the 2009 Special Olympics torch run. Photo courtesy of Heather Strong." width="300" height="223" srcset="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-7-special-olympics-torch-run-2009-300x223.jpg 300w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-7-special-olympics-torch-run-2009-1000x742.jpg 1000w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-7-special-olympics-torch-run-2009-72x54.jpg 72w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-7-special-olympics-torch-run-2009-335x249.jpg 335w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-7-special-olympics-torch-run-2009-1050x779.jpg 1050w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-7-special-olympics-torch-run-2009.jpg 1889w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><p id="caption-attachment-22010861" class="wp-caption-text">Fire Marshal Jason Winn, Captain Milne, Lieutenant Shane Sessions, Chief Mecham, Office Sutton Hanzalik demonstrate their strength before the 2009 Special Olympics torch run. Photo courtesy of Heather Strong.</p></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mecham also cares about his team. He makes sure the officers have personal needs taken care of and have time to spend with family.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I have a firm belief that if people are happy at home, they’ll be better employees,” he said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Those he’s been in charge of are grateful for his influence on the department.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“He’s very calm and easygoing. He’s very service-oriented,” Crockett said. “He’s just a good man.”</span></p>
<p><b>Making space for a new chief</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In December, Mecham will pack up his graduation diplomas. He’ll pack up the pictures of his grandchildren, the knick knacks on his window sill, and the handfuls of Snoopy dolls </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">— </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">one representing almost every year he was chief at USU </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">— </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">sitting by his desk.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_22010862" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22010862" class="size-medium wp-image-22010862" src="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-1-300x225.jpg" alt="Chief Mecham poses with his wife, Darlene." width="300" height="225" srcset="https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-1-72x54.jpg 72w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-1-335x251.jpg 335w, https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/heather-strong-1.jpg 723w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><p id="caption-attachment-22010862" class="wp-caption-text">Chief Mecham poses with his wife, Darlene.</p></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He’ll do so confident that his coworkers and friends will move on without him.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A nationwide search for a new chief has already begun, and the hiring committee will review applications in early December. If a replacement isn’t immediately found, Milne will temporarily fill the position.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’m confident that whoever steps into this office will understand a college environment, what we need to be and what we need to be prepared for,” Mecham said. “I’m confident that they’ll continue on in a new path and probably move to new heights.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The campus police department will hold a farewell party for Mecham on Dec. 8 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Alumni House. Everyone is invited to attend.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">—</span><a href="mailto:melmo12@gmail.com"><span style="font-weight: 400;">melmo12@gmail.com</span></a></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">@mcfenstermaker</span></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/police-chief-steven-mecham-to-retire-a-look-at-his-35-year-career-at-usu/">Police Chief Steven Mecham to retire: A look at his 35-year career at USU</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p>
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<title>Stolen art on campus</title>
<link>https://usustatesman.com/stolen-art-on-campus/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Morgan Pratt]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 04 Apr 2016 01:27:03 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[All]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Campus Crime]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Campus News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Chelsey Patten]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Meili Stokes]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Melody Burton]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[USU Police Department]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://usustatesman.com/?p=22006616</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<p>Installation art was stolen from a pine tree outside of the University Reserve building last week. USU Police are investigating…</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/stolen-art-on-campus/">Stolen art on campus</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Installation art was stolen from a pine tree outside of the University Reserve building last week. USU Police are investigating the origins of the missing art project. </p>
<p>Meili Stokes, Chelsey Patten and Melody Burton spent three hours draping gray tulle around a tree and securing it in place with fish wire in the cold weather. </p>
<p>“The gray tulle was supposed to symbolize smog that was choking the tree,” said Stokes, a senior studying art and English. </p>
<p>They were halfway done putting up their installation art for a class project when they discovered it went missing overnight.</p>
<p>Now all that’s left are the tell-tale signs that an art project was there in the first place: remnants of tulle and fish wire waving in the wind. Burton, a freshman studying art, said she was frustrated when they discovered the art was missing. </p>
<p>“No, this is the worst,” she said. “When are we going to have time to fix this? What are we going to do next? We need to downsize and we have less material now, how are we going to calculate that in?”</p>
<p>Patten, a senior art major, said there was no way the wind blew away the project. </p>
<p>“We had a sign there with our names on it,” she said. “Things were just taken down. In fact, we had a cinder block that was completely moved.”</p>
<p>Burton said the stolen installation art was “not cool,” especially after they put so much time, money and effort into the project. </p>
<p>“If you are ruining someone else’s art, you are ruining their line of work,” she said. </p>
<p>The group didn’t get an extended deadline on their assignment but they still had to rebuild, so they decided to relocate the project to another, more visible, location. Burton said she felt anxious about finishing the installation art on time and with the few supplies that were left over. </p>
<p>“If we put it back again, will they take it again?” she said, “But by no means are we discouraged. We put up more defense, we figured with it being in a more open location it would deter someone from stealing it.” </p>
<p>Capt. Steve Milne of the USU Police Department said the Chase Fine Arts Center is not an area with a lot of crime. Since the beginning of the school year, there were four reported crimes, two of them were involved with stolen installation art. </p>
<p>“One being the art project that was hanging from the tree and the other being a stolen skateboard,” he said. </p>
<p>Milne confirmed with facilities that they didn’t tamper with the art project. He said thefts are the number one problem here on campus, not that it’s rampant. </p>
<p>“We have seen a drop in last year’s thefts as compared to this year’s thefts,” he said. </p>
<p>Milne said if anyone sees anything suspicious or has information about the stolen installation art, report it to the police as soon as possible. </p>
<p>“It is much easier to report it right away than a day or two later,” he said.</p>
<p>According to Tate.org, “installation art is used to describe mixed-media constructions or assemblages usually designed for a specific place and for a temporary period of time.”</p>
<p><i>— morgan.pratt.robinson@gmail.com</i> </p>
<p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/stolen-art-on-campus/">Stolen art on campus</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p>
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<title>USU Drugs: Who, How, Where</title>
<link>https://usustatesman.com/usu-drugs-who-how-where/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jackson Murphy]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2016 19:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[All]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Campus Crime]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Campus News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[alcohol]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Blue Square]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Cache Valley]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[campus crime]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[crime]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[drugs]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[freshmen]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[high risk students]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Living Learning Community]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Logan]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Logan City]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Logan City drug task force]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Logan Police Department]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[marijuana]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[on-campus housing]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[USU]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[USU campus]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[USU Police Department]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[<p>Utah State University, like other universities, has a drug problem. In 2014, three-quarters of arrests were related to drugs or…</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/usu-drugs-who-how-where/">USU Drugs: Who, How, Where</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Utah State University, like other universities, has a drug problem.</p>
<p>In 2014, three-quarters of arrests were related to drugs or alcohol, with USU campus police making a total of 174 arrests.</p>
<p>According to local law enforcement, the biggest problems have always remained the same: alcohol and cannabis. “Marijuana is huge, probably the frontrunner, that and alcohol,” said Sgt. Brooks Davis of the Logan City drug task force.</p>
<p>Drugs like marijuana come to USU through several channels and according to officials, almost always arrive in small recreational amounts. Often it’s purchased in Salt Lake City, or brought over from states where recreational use of cannabis is permitted or permission for medicinal use is easily obtainable.<b></b></p>
<p>“It’s been a while since we’ve had a student that was a dealer,” said Officer Steve Milne of the USU Police Department. “That’s not to say we haven’t had people in the past that were arrested for dealing but most of our arrests are small amounts from single source users.” </p>
<p>Those arrests however, have gone up significantly in the past few years.</p>
<p>Drug incidents have more than doubled since 2012 and 2013 which both saw 11 incidents, followed by 2014 where those numbers totaled 35. According to Milne, these incidents usually result in multiple arrests. </p>
<p>The rise in numbers, said Milne, could be due to a lot of things: an influx in students, campus police working more closely with resident assistants and an increase in the number of roommates who “want nothing to do with it,” who call and give up information about the problem, he said. </p>
<p>Those arrests happen primarily in residential areas on campus, with the Living Learning Community (LLC) leading far ahead of other areas of campus in terms of the number of drug and alcohol-related incidents, followed comparably by ‘the Towers’ and Richards and Bullen Hall. </p>
<p>In preparation for USU’s purchase of the popular off-campus housing complex, Blue Square, USU Police Department collected Logan City’s call reports to try and better understand crime rates in the area.</p>
<p>The rate at Blue Square was “surprisingly not as much as we thought it was going to be,” Milne said referring to the call reports. “There are twice as many residents but we had twice as many calls to the LLC alone.” </p>
<p>The LLC and Blue Square will be the two most expensive university-owned housing options.</p>
<p>Ryan Barfuss, prevention specialist at USU, works with three high-risk groups on campus. </p>
<p>At USU, those high-risk groups are those who’ve had issues in the past, or groups who show they use high risk amounts of these substances. Those groups include freshmen, student athletes and those in the Greek community. </p>
<p>“The difference between on-campus and off-campus is that on-campus is heavily monitored,” Barfuss said. “You have eyes everywhere, the chances of getting caught are pretty good. Whereas if they go off campus, and they’re not drawing attention to themselves, they can generally get away with it.”</p>
<p>Barfuss iterates that although drug and alcohol usage is a problem, it’s not as big as students believe it is.</p>
<p>According to a health and wellness survey USU puts out every two years asking about usage — including mental health, nutrition and sexual health, among other things — alcohol and drug use at USU are not the biggest concerns. The prominent issue has, overwhelmingly, been mental health.</p>
<p>When comparing data with others, the majority of students at USU and other institutions in Utah don’t drink or smoke, including the University of Utah, Weber State University and Southern Utah University.</p>
<p>“Right now, about 75 percent of students don’t drink here at Utah State,” he said. “Looking at national numbers, at other schools, it’s the flip-flop opposite.”</p>
<p>The problem is perceived use, which can sometimes lead to actual use, Barfuss said.</p>
<p> The health and wellness survey found that students think around 80 percent of students use drugs or alcohol at USU, compared to the actual 25 percent that do. “Everybody thinks that’s what college is, it’s a place that students come to drink and party and play around,” Barfuss said.</p>
<p>“You look at Yik Yak and Yeti and it shows one person or a dozen people over and over again and it makes it look like the whole university is doing it,” Barfuss said.</p>
<p>That’s why, Barfuss said, freshman students are one of the high risk groups. “They finally have a bunch of freedom on their hands, nobody to tell them what to do or how to do it, so they jump in headfirst, whether it’s drinking, sex, drugs.” </p>
<p>For Barfuss, fall semester is always the worst. That means his schedule is followed by a busy spring. </p>
<p>This spring, his roughly 10-hour education course will have 60 students, most of which have been sent by housing, the university, a judicial officer or a court mandate to fulfill the requirements of USU.</p>
<p>“We have strong policies and we enforce those policies; it’s not wishy-washy, it is what it is,” said Barfuss.</p>
<p>A student incident involving drugs or alcohol results in fines, at a minimum, of around $1000, community service, education classes and probation.</p>
<p>When asked for student advice, Barfuss said to be responsible. “Find exactly what is responsible, don’t just do it because your buddy is doing it, but do it because it’s the smart thing to do.”</p>
<p>When asked about the two anonymous social media platforms, Yik Yak and Yeti, USU police and Logan City police said that they both monitor the sites. “We like people who advertise,” said Captain Budge of the LCPD.</p>
<p><i>— jacksonmurphy111@gmail.com</i> </p>
<p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/usu-drugs-who-how-where/">USU Drugs: Who, How, Where</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p>
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