November crime down 13.6 percent from October

Overall crime for the month of November decreased approximately 13.6 percent from the previous month, according to information provided by the Division of Public Safety.

The decrease in November crime was mostly due to a reduction in property crimes, especially thefts from buildings that decreased 25.5 percent from October.

An increase in aggravated assaults last month was due to the shooting that occurred on Nov. 21, according to DPS Director of Operations and External Affairs Stef Cella. Multiple shots were fired near 40th and Locust streets in what began as a carjacking incident, leaving a suspect dead.

Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush attributed November’s decrease in overall crime to a new initiative DPS implemented with regard to building security.

Police Chief Mark Dorsey explained that the initiative has a “two-pronged approach.” The first part involves plain-clothes public safety officers entering buildings to “look for things that are out of place,” including individuals who may have previously committed theft, Dorsey explained.

The second component involves sending uniformed officers into buildings where theft previously occurred. These officers then indentify vulnerabilities — such as unattended properties — and explain to “students and administrators that this could have very well been a theft,” Dorsey said.

Forcible sex offenses also decreased from four to two cases in November compared to the previous month. None of them involved cases of rape by a stranger, Rush said.

Rush added that these cases “are still sex offenses” that require attention.

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