In a span of 11 days, U Police received reports of three suspicious close calls at the upper campus dorms.
The first, on Aug. 26, occurred when a man followed a female resident into Sage Point 811. The suspect trailed behind the student down a hallway, attempting unsuccessfully to gain access to her room.
On Sept. 5, another male was seen checking the doors of Chapel Glen 803, trying to enter. When officers arrived at the dorms, the person was gone. One day later, a different man grabbed the outside door to Benchmark 820 after a student entered. He followed the resident up one floor but disappeared after she went down another set of stairs to get away.
U Police Sgt. Garth Smith said this type of “tailgating,” following a student into a dorm, is fairly common and the recent spike may not be cause for immediate concern. Because the doors are locked for security, a resident must swipe his or her UCard to get in, meaning those who don’t live on campus can’t enter. Non-residents sometimes wait near entrances, hoping to get inside.
“It happens a lot,” he said. “One person will swipe, and you’ll see three or four people go through the doors.”
All three incidents occurred after 5 p.m. and involved men trailing female students. Smith, however, believes the cases are likely not connected because none of the suspect descriptions match.
In the first case, the male was white and tall with wavy brown hair and a plaid shirt. After this report, the U’s Housing & Residential Education emailed residents urging caution. Smith said the other two cases — one involving a white male in his 20s and the other an Asian male wearing a hat – were likely reported to U Police due to extra awareness among students after the message got sent out.
Smith advises students to close doors directly after entering to avoid any potentially dangerous situations.
“The doors are secured for their safety, so by propping them open or letting people in that haven’t swiped, they’re actually reducing the reliability of those doors,” Smith said. “It’s kind of awkward to tell the person, ‘Hey, you need to swipe’ and close the door, but that would be the safest for the whole community.”
Todd Justesen, associate director of residential education for the dorms, said residents should be “mindful of who’s around” when entering the dorms and walk to a different entrance if a suspicious person is loitering nearby.
Students can call U Police at 801.585.2677 to report any suspicious behavior or request a police officer escort to a location on campus at any time.
@CourtneyLTanner