Police: False reports waste time, resources

crying wolf Statistics from the Dubuque Police Department: False reports 2008 23 2009 20 2010 20 2011 19 2012 21 2013 11 911 obstruction calls 2008 27 2009 24 2010 22 2011 28 2012 29 2013 15Dubuque police investigators normally are tasked with determining who committed crimes. But sometimes instead, they end up proving an incident didn't happen.

Lt. Scott Baxter said that while false reports of crimes are not a frequent issue for the department - only 11 were reported in 2013 - the allegations are oftentimes for severe, felony-level offenses.

Dubuque County Sheriff Don Vrotsos said his department has not been confronted with a false report for the past few years.

Baxter said the false reports range from lying about thefts or burglaries to claim insurance money to making up stories of more serious violent crimes, such as robbery or assault.

"The majority of false reports are related to sexual assaults," he said.

The most recent sexual assault claim determined to be unfounded was reported in October by Clarke University student Robin Levitski.

Levitski, 19, told investigators a man abducted her at knife- point from campus and sexually assaulted her at a house on the city's east side. But police said after a couple days of investigation, she admitted she fabricated the story as a cover for her grandmother discovering explicit photos on Levitski's cellphone of her and the man she was dating. Levitski was sentenced to one year of probation under a plea deal this month.

Baxter said it's frustrating for officers to have to deal with false sexual assault reports, both because of the severity of the allegations and the fact it can cast doubt on legitimate sexual assault reports.

"Our duty is to help the victim and arrest the suspect, but we also have that caveat in the back of our minds," he said. "It's frustrating because we take those charges very seriously."

Baxter said that while most investigators can tell quickly if a reported crime doesn't seem legitimate, it doesn't mean the case is just dropped.

Instead, officers then have to spend more time exhausting all leads to ensure the reported crime did not occur, in case they have to prove in court the allegations were made up, Baxter said. Some cases can be resolved within days, though others might take a lot more time.

He noted that this takes away from the time police can spend patrolling or investigating other cases.

"Especially with sexual assault " you're talking a significant amount of time, money and emotions," Baxter said.

A person who files a false report with police can be charged with either a simple or serious misdemeanor, depending on the severity of the crime. Baxter said it's not a common charge and that police weigh factors such as mental capacity and age when deciding whether to recommend charges.

Dubuque County Attorney Ralph Potter said his office files only a few false-report charges per year. The charge is applied to those who approach police and report a fraudulent crime, as opposed to a person lying to an officer during an investigation.

"It depends on how serious (the alleged crime) is and how far they let it go," Potter said. "Lying to police itself isn't always a crime."

Baxter said the department also deals with unfounded calls to 911 dispatchers, often by those with mental health issues or by small children. Earlier this month, Tia M. Broussard, 31, of Dubuque was arrested and charged with obstruction of emergency communications, first-degree theft and assault causing injury. Police said she called 911 twice to report robberies in progress so officers would respond to those robberies instead of executing a search warrant at her home.

Baxter said the department rarely will devote all of its officers and resources to one incident, so this tactic only will cause more trouble for a suspect.

"Ultimately, we do find out the truth, and it makes the situation that much worse for you," Baxter said. "It's better to just come clean instead of trying to cover something up."