UIPD Jeff Christensen hosted a Question and Answer session on Reddit on Monday. He addressed issues such as drinking tickets, sexual assaults and gun-related incidents.

When it comes to drinking tickets, Christensen mentioned that the UIPD does not recover any money from handing out city ordinances and writes very few drinking tickets.

Regarding the subject of sexual assault, Christensen addressed the question of why campus crime reports are left vague. He stated that the purpose of leaving campus-wide reports of sexual assault vague is to protect the identity of the survivor. They leave out dates and times so that no one can piece together who made the report in order to reduce the survivor’s risk of additional psychological trauma or harassment.

On the topic of gun violence, Christensen talked about all the programs they have put in place to reduce the number of shootings in the area. He said the biggest thing UIPD has done to address this is form the Street Crimes Task Force, which is a multi-jurisdictional group using modern investigative techniques to arrest known violent offenders and has reduced the number of shootings in the greater C-U area.

He also discussed the social work going on in the area to provide alternative resources and paths for those at a potential high risk for violence.

“Any opportunity to get the word out about what we do and the available safety resources is a positive thing, so we think it went very well. We hope everyone who viewed it or asked a question feels the same,” Christensen wrote in an email.

Christensen said that the objective of his Q&A was to give the campus community an opportunity to ask questions and get answers.

“It also gives us the opportunity to dispel some myths, like when people ask us about ticketing for underage drinking and bar raids,” Christensen said.  “It’s that kind of interaction that makes us more aware and responsive to our campus community’s needs.”

Christensen said that he believes that those who viewed the thread learned more about what the UIPD does and about resources they might not have known are available.

“We want to serve our campus community in the best way possible, and this is one tool we use to do that.” Christensen said.

Christensen encouraged everyone to check out the UIPD Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Reddit platforms to stay informed about campus safety.

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