Tag UTPD

The College introduced Eve Stephens as the brand new chief of the UT Police Division and the Assistant Vice President of Campus Safety. Stephens will formally start her function on July 5. 

Stephens’ appointment comes after former UTPD Chief David Carter handed away on April 22, 2022, at 64, following an extended battle with most cancers. 

Stephens has served the Austin neighborhood in legislation enforcement for nearly 24 years. In 2021, Stephens was promoted to Commander of the Austin Police Division. She created APD’s first Ladies’s Mentorship Program for feminine cadets and helped type a state-level feminine officer mentorship program for the Texas Police Chiefs Affiliation.

In an e-mail from the College, a consultant stated, “I’m assured that Chief Stephens will lead our campus safety to larger power within the coming years with integrity and with a spirit that nothing is inconceivable.”

UTPD officers responded to studies of a suspicious particular person within the 2800 block of San Gabriel Avenue in West Campus at roughly 5:10 p.m. Wednesday. UTPD tweeted an alert in regards to the incident 2 1/2 hours later, and an official e mail notification was not launched to college students till over 4 hours after preliminary studies. 

Austin law enforcement officials who led the case decided there to be no ongoing menace, in accordance with Martin Barbosa, a UTPD spokesperson. 

An APD consultant mentioned the suspect disappeared shortly after preliminary studies got here in, and  officers from APD and UTPD had been unable to find the suspect on the time. 

“There was a report of what seemed to be a homeless particular person (who) picked up a rifle by the barrel,” an APD consultant mentioned. “One way or the other he simply disappeared into the wind.”

Stories of the incident and a video of the suspect holding what seemed to be an assault rifle unfold throughout college students’ social media, fueling rumors of potential shutdowns on the Perry-Castañeda Library, the Texas Union and different scholar life facilities on websites like YikYak, Reddit and the UT Campus Incidents GroupMe. 

The APD consultant confirmed that no lockdowns occurred Wednesday. 

An up to date notification Thursday morning mentioned a UTPD patrolling officer was in a position to determine the suspect within the video and confirmed the weapon was a plastic toy. No arrest was made and UTPD said there continues to be no menace. 

UTPD’s up to date notification suggested the group that if any motion is required, probably the most correct data would come from an emergency textual content message and be amplified on official UT platforms.