BREAKING: University of Utah police officer dies on duty

SALT LAKE CITY– University of Utah police officer Sgt. Kory Newbold, 59, died while on duty Wednesday.

U of U police Deputy Chief Jason Hinojosa confirmed that Newbold passed away from a medical condition. Newbold had served in the UUPD since 2014. 

Newbold was involved in the case of the murder of University of Utah student and athlete Lauren McCluskey in 2018. Newbold fired detective Kayla Dallof, who was assigned to McCluskey’s case before her murder.

Both Lauren and her mother, Jill McCluskey, made numerous calls to the university expressing concerns about Lauren’s ex-boyfriend, Melvin Rowland. Dallof never met in person with Lauren McCluskey or conducted a complete background check on Rowland.

After  McCluskey was murdered by Rowland, errors were found in Dallof’s handling of the case, but she was not reprimanded. 

In February 2019, Dallof was assigned a new case involving death threats against a teenage girl by her ex-boyfriend. The ex-boyfriend, a U student, held the young girl hostage in his dorm room. Once Dallof reported information to Newbold, she went home instead of making an arrest. 

In a memo to Dallof, Newbold wrote: “We must have detectives who recognize the need to act; to take proactive measures and to not simply notify me there was a threat made and then leave for the day to screen it next week. The resulting impact of what may have occurred is unthinkable if the male student had attempted or carried out his threat of violence.”

Before his tenure at the U. of U., Newbold had worked with the West Valley City Police Department.

More reading:

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• University of Utah police chief on leave, deputy chief to assume duties

• U. launches two independent investigations after student-athlete’s murder

• University announces measures to beef up safety & security

• How safe is your son or daughter’s university?