The Iowa State University Police Department (ISUPD) December activity report showed a significant decrease in operating while intoxicated numbers, down 75% compared to December 2022. The department continues to do heavy enforcement in an attempt to get drunk drivers off the road, according to the chief of the department.

“The officers have been working hard, and the good news is they’re not finding as many, so hopefully, that’s an indication that people are doing the right thing by using Lyft and Uber or walking,” ISUPD Chief Michael Newton said. “We’re going to spend this next year combating driving behaviors, so hopefully, we continue to see that trend that we’re finding less.”

This initiative will continue into this year with help from a grant the department received. The Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau awarded the department $18,684 for 2024. This grant covers directed overtime for impaired enforcement as well as directed overtime for general enforcement. 

Theft statistics were down 71.4%. Newton said he hopes this decrease is due to the continued education efforts regarding theft. 

“We hope that it stems from the fact that we’re trying to educate people. Our outreach team does a great job of trying to remind people not to leave their stuff unattended,” Newton said. 

Newton said overall, the number of theft cases year-to-date decreased a significant number of cases, and he hopes the trend and pattern continue.

While December report statistics for theft are down 35.1%, numbers were still up for the year compared to 2022 at an 8.9% increase. 

Calls for service also saw an increase of 14.6% in December, which, according to Newton, continues to be due to better documentation by the officers. 

“We’re up significantly in calls for service for the whole year, and that really revolves around making sure we’re cataloging the things that we’re doing,” Newton said. “We’re trying to make sure that we capture that so we can show the community all of the great work that the team does.”

Looking into the remainder of 2024, Newton said the department will continue its effort toward building partnerships with the campus community and curb some of the driving behaviors in and around campus, especially regarding pedestrian safety. 

“We did have a pedestrian that was struck during this year, so we definitely want to focus in on some pedestrian action,” Newton said, “We just had an officer do a presentation to all of us that she would like to do some more education on pedestrian safety and getting people to be paying more attention.”

Along with focusing on driving safety, the department hopes to make significant progress in its accreditation process.

“In 2024, we are going to focus on working to get our accreditation process moving along and become an accredited police department or actually Department of Public Safety as a whole,” Newton said. 

December Activity Summary Statistics:

Assault: 0

Sexual Assault/Fondling: 1 

Harassment: 2

Burglary: 0

Theft: 4

Theft from motor vehicle: 0

Motor vehicle theft:  

Drug violations: 8 

Alcohol violations: 7 

Extortion/Forgery/Scam/Fraud: 1

Criminal Mischief/Vandalism: 3 

OWI: 5

Traffic and accidents: 17

Welfare check/medical assist: 9

Traffic stops: 457

New reports: 61

Calls for service: 2,501