By Jules Lindgren
Two reports of exhibitionism on campus have reached the BYU Police Department in the last two weeks ? constituting half of the reported incidents since November 2004.
Exhibitionism typically refers to revealing private parts to an unwilling recipient, said Lt. Mike Harroun. Males are the most common perpetrators, he said, though women can also be involved. Because exhibitionists want to be seen, the crimes usually occur where there is a lot of foot traffic.
On BYU campus, Maeser Hill and the road and parking lots near Zion?s Bank are typical places where exhibitionists strike.
However, perpetrators don?t generally stay in one place, which makes it difficult for police to catch them.
?It really depends on how quickly the victim reports those things,? Harroun said. ?We encourage them to do that right away, although a lot of them just kind of blow it off. Then they get home and talk about it with their roommate, or their mom or something and are encouraged to report it, but by that time, obviously it?s too late to catch the person in that area.?
For those who become victims of exhibitionism, Harroun said the best thing to do is take a second look at the person so you can give the police a good physical description, despite how shocked or disgusted they may be, and then call the police as soon as possible.
?Take note of those things jot them down in your book or call on your cell phone right away,? he said. ?Cell phones ? almost everyone has them. I think sometimes people forget that they have them in their pocket. And if you have a cell phone with a camera in it, take his picture.?
Those who don?t carry cell phones on campus should know where the blue emergency phones are and call right away. Harroun said it?s better to use one of those phones than to wait to get home before calling.
He also recommended victims control their response to exhibitionists.
?One reason they do that is to shock you, that?s how they get their jollies, sometimes its just your shock and so forth,? Harroun said. ?Be nonchalant about it, not reacting to it, even act as though you didn?t even see it, or ignore it.?
Harroun also said he had not seen any patterns emerging among perpetrators, which include BYU students and people from the community, young and old, single and married.
Although he has no data showing a correlation between exhibition and more violent sexual crimes, Harroun said it is possible for exhibitionism, a class B misdemeanor, to lead to more ?adventurous? crimes.
Exhibitionism is not a pervasive problem; the Provo Police Department has only had 95 calls for public lewdness, which also includes public urination and obscenity. Sgt. Cory Smith with the Utah Valley State College Police said it?s something they deal with only rarely.
?It?s not big, as far as numbers go,? said Lt. Jerry Harper of the Provo Police Department. ?It?s not like auto burglaries, or burglaries or assaults or anything like that, but it happens.?
And when it does, victim response is the most important thing to apprehending the perpetrators.
?It?s like any other crime, just be the best witness you can be,? Harper said.
