Crime in Happy Valley and How to Avoid It
March 11th, 2009
Though violent crimes are down, Provo's Special Victim's Unit has its hands full
by Jacob Hodgen
In 2002, William Turner received national attention when he was arrested for trying to kill his wife with cookies laced with rat poison to cover up an addiction to pornography. When the cookies didn't work, he tried to put poisonous mushrooms in her spaghetti.
This may sound like a bizarre culinary-themed episode of CSI, but it was the actual case of a BYU student in Provo.
Though it has one of the lowest murder rates in the country, Utah Valley has its fair share of criminal activity, but it may not be the kind you think. I sit down with Sergeant Reed Van Wagoner of the Provo Police Department's Special Victim's Unit (SVU) to learn about current crime trends in Utah.
Sgt. Van Wagoner is a 27-year veteran of law enforcement and has worked on many high profile crimes, including the William Turner case. "Provo is a very safe city," he says. "I've raised four kids here, and I would recommend it to anyone. But that doesn't mean you don't have to be careful."
The Provo SVU handles around 300 cases a year, many of them involving minors. He tells me that one disturbing trend is that both the victims and perpetrators of crimes are getting younger each year. For example, teenage "sexting," which is when people send lewd text messages to each other, has recently become a problem in local schools, and it is something they now prosecute aggressively.
Utah's highly religious population creates unique challenges for law enforcement, as both victims and criminals are often extra reluctant to go the police for fear of being ostracized by their church and friends, which leads to a culture of repression. This is especially a concern at BYU, where students fear they may be expelled for violation of the Honor Code. This pressure can also lead women who engage in consensual sex but are "caught" to turn and claim to authorities that they were assaulted to avoid punishment. "Sex is a secret," he says. "We just can't talk about it here."
Sgt. Van Wagoner tells me that another aspect of Utah society that causes problems fow law enforcement is when people often incorrectly think they are safe and let their guard down in dangerous situations. "Religious people can be very trusting, and this can get them into trouble," he says. He reports that most instances of legitimate sexual assault and rape in Utah are committed by someone the victim knows very well: "I can't remember the last time we had a stranger-rape in Provo."
As vices go, pornography is a Utah favorite, and a recently released Harvard study places Utah as the number one top consumer of porn subscriptions in the United States. Sgt. Van Wagoner says that he doesn't think that pornography necessarily creates crime, but he points out that most of the criminals he deals with seem to be involved in it. "Almost all of the people we arrest for sexual assault are into pornography, often child pornography." I ask him if Provo has a cyber crimes task force similar to the sting operation featured in Chris Hansen's popular To Catch a Predator series. He says that he isn't allowed to discuss the specifics, but he assures me that if someone views child porn, they have the tools to track it.
As for geography, Sgt. Van Wagoner is pleased to tell me that Provo is generally quite safe and there aren't really any particularly "bad" spots for crime. One caution he does offer, though, is of the Provo River trail. Its relative isolation has led to recurring reports of lewdness and people exposing themselves. But he says that trail goers can reduce their risk fairly easily using common sense, "Don't go by yourself in the early morning or after dusk."
Utah has much to be proud about when it comes to fostering a safe society, and Provo in particular is one of the safest. However, its unique culture lends itself to specific and largely avoidable problems. Sgt. Van Wagoner says that the best way to fight crime is to prevent it through education: "It's better to be proactive than reactive," he tells me. Only time will tell if Utahns can take this to heart and learn from the mistakes of the past.
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