{
  "id": "2024-09-29-ndsu-uvs-parking-lot-mvt",
  "slug": "ndsu-uvs-parking-lot-mvt-2024-09-29",
  "institution": {
    "name": "North Dakota State University",
    "shortName": "NDSU",
    "state": "ND",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "NDSU CENS / Safety Awareness Notice",
    "alertPlatform": "NotiFind",
    "enrollment": 12000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2024-09-29",
    "endDate": "2024-10-01",
    "type": "motor-vehicle-theft",
    "cleryCategory": "timely-warning",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "Car stolen from a campus parking lot over a weekend; vehicle later recovered",
    "headlinePublic": "Car stolen from a campus parking lot over a weekend; vehicle later recovered",
    "summary": "Between 5:30 p.m. CDT Friday, September 29 and 3:00 p.m. CDT Sunday, October 1, 2024, an unknown suspect [stole a 2014 Silver Chevrolet Impala](https://www.ndsu.edu/police_safety/safety_awareness_notices) from the University Village South (UVS) parking lot on the [North Dakota State University](https://www.ndsu.edu/police_safety) campus in Fargo. NDSU University Police and Safety issued a Safety Awareness Notice (the institution's equivalent of a Clery timely warning) and recovered the vehicle while the investigation continued. The notice reminded the community to lock vehicles and secure keys and valuables.",
    "outcome": "The vehicle was recovered. NDSU University Police continued investigating the theft. No suspect arrests had been publicly announced.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Posted in early October 2024 (within hours of the recovery, after the theft was discovered Sunday afternoon)",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "NDSU Safety Awareness Notice — Motor Vehicle Theft: A motor vehicle theft took place involving a 2014 Silver Chevy Impala which was stolen from the UVS parking lot between 5:30 p.m. Friday, September 29, and 3:00 p.m. Sunday, October 1. The vehicle has been recovered and University police are continuing the investigation into this theft. Please remember to lock your vehicles and secure your keys and other valuables. If you have information that would assist the police investigation you are asked to call the NDSU Police at 231-8998.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.ndsu.edu/police_safety/safety_awareness_notices",
      "sourceDescription": "NDSU University Police Safety Awareness Notices archive",
      "annotations": [
        "NDSU formally labels these notices 'Safety Awareness Notices' rather than 'timely warnings' even though they fulfill the same Clery Act § 668.46(e) function",
        "The 540-character notice was distributed via the NDSU-CAMPUS-ALERT@LISTSERV email channel, the primary written-record method for Safety Awareness Notices",
        "The UVS (University Village South) lot is one of NDSU's two married-student-and-family-housing parking areas, which sees lower foot traffic than central-campus lots, a recurring factor in theft notices",
        "The notice's emphasis on locking vehicles reflects the fact that many Fargo MVT cases involve unlocked cars, a 2023 study found North Dakota saw the third-largest jump in vehicle thefts in the nation"
      ],
      "characterCount": 537
    }
  ],
  "context": "Motor vehicle theft is the lowest-profile of the Clery-reportable property crimes, but [North Dakota State University](https://www.ndsu.edu/police_safety) issues a [Safety Awareness Notice](https://www.ndsu.edu/police_safety/safety_awareness_notices) for each one that occurs in its Clery geography. This September-29-through-October-1, 2024 incident (a 2014 Silver Chevrolet Impala taken from the University Village South parking lot at Fargo's residential edge of campus) illustrates the format. The notice was sent through the [NDSU CENS (Campus Emergency Notification System)](https://www.ndsu.edu/police_safety/communications_call_center/campusemergencynotificationsystems) email channel and remains archived on the university police website. The reminder to lock vehicles came at a time when [North Dakota saw a 53% year-over-year jump in vehicle thefts](https://www.kvrr.com/2023/02/28/study-north-dakota-sees-third-largest-increase-of-vehicle-thefts/), third-highest in the U.S., and Fargo Police had publicly urged residents to stop leaving keys in unattended vehicles. Although the Impala was recovered, the case shows how Clery-mandated awareness notices keep low-violence property crimes in the campus-safety conversation alongside higher-profile incidents.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "NDSU's Clery 'Safety Awareness Notice' fulfills the same Clery Act § 668.46(e) function as a 'timely warning' but uses different terminology, illustrating institutional variation in language for the same legal product",
    "Motor vehicle theft is the least-publicized Clery-reportable property crime but still triggers a campus-wide email notice in North Dakota's Clery scheme",
    "The University Village South parking lot serves married-student and family housing, a quieter campus zone that recurs in NDSU property-crime notices",
    "The Impala was recovered before the notice was even published, demonstrating how Safety Awareness Notices serve a preventative/educational purpose rather than active-search role"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "NDSU Safety Awareness Notices (University Police & Safety Office)",
      "url": "https://www.ndsu.edu/police_safety/safety_awareness_notices",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "NDSU University Police and Safety Office",
      "url": "https://www.ndsu.edu/police_safety",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Campus Emergency Notification Systems (CENS)",
      "url": "https://www.ndsu.edu/police_safety/communications_call_center/campusemergencynotificationsystems",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Study: North Dakota sees third largest increase of vehicle thefts (KVRR)",
      "url": "https://www.kvrr.com/2023/02/28/study-north-dakota-sees-third-largest-increase-of-vehicle-thefts/",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "motor-vehicle-theft",
    "safety-awareness-notice",
    "clery-timely-warning",
    "property-crime",
    "north-dakota",
    "ndsu",
    "verbatim-confirmed",
    "university-village",
    "married-student-housing"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-14",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}