Campus violence is in the eye of the bystander — at least when it comes to Department of Public Safety and Eugene Police Department reports. Since September, DPS has received fewer than a dozen assault-related reports on campus, while EPD has received close to 200 — mostly made by witnesses and passers-by who request officer response.
“I think a lot of the time someone sees something going on between two (or more) people and calls the police by automatic reaction,” EPD spokeswoman Kerry Delf said. “And just because we receive a call doesn’t mean it will be filed as a case.”
Since the start of the academic year, DPS has received reports of eight assaults, one attempted assault and one “menacing” incident where an individual verbally threatened to assault a student. DPS also received one report of an assault off-campus in a Designated Driver Shuttle van. DDS dispatcher Joel Sokoloff said assault is rarely a problem for the shuttle service, despite the sometimes inebriated state of its late-night riders.
“Violence is very infrequent,” the University senior added.
Delf said assault aggressors are usually gone by the time EPD officers respond to calls for service or officer assistance.
“The number of assaults that lead to arrests is far fewer than the total number of incidents that occur in Eugene,” she added.
Since September 2002, EPD received service calls for 37 fight reports, 45 assault reports, 84 dispute reports and nine menacing reports on campus. Delf said the classification of each incident depends entirely on how the call comes in and is based on the details of the caller’s account.
For EPD, a “fight” usually refers to individuals already engaging in a physical confrontation, while an “assault” could be a fight that seems more one-sided. “Disputes” tend to involve more arguing and yelling than violence, while “menacing” indicates more threatening language, she said.
“Depending on the reported incident, in many cases, we will work together with DPS to handle the situation,” she added.
In a recent incident, a male student requested to press charges against another male student after the two had a dispute in the Student Recreation Center. According to the Student Judicial Affairs program, students who decide to file charges for a dispute, fight, assault or menacing incident on campus should contact different University resources depending on the details of the situation.
If an incident occurs in the residence halls, students should contact their complex director. If it involves fraternity or sorority members, students should contact the Greek Life office. For the majority of incidents, however, students should contact Student Judicial Affairs Director Chris Loschiavo at 346-1140.