Campus security at colleges is usually not the coolest or most conspicuous part of the experience – it’s something that causes students either mild gratitude (when campus cops help them back into the building when they lock themselves out) or mild annoyance (when loud parties or drinking get shut down).

The Police Department at the University of Texas at Austin has other ideas. The Clery Act, passed by Congress in the wake of a tragic college murder in the early 80s, requires higher learning institutions to publicize their crime statistics. Usually, it’s a dreary litany of petty crime. The Texas university cops took a different tack – they compile the incidents into a Campus Watch newsletter that is part tabloid, part Buzzfeed article and part The Onion. Their treatments of campus incidents include both florid descriptions of mundane events (such as a range of remarkable euphemisms for regurgitating revelers) and dramatic reimaginings of various incidents (such as a suspense-filled account of campus police pursuit of a raccoon that broke into a campus building).

This approach has made the UT blotter compulsively readable, and has earned the cops a readership of over 15,000. It’s all the more remarkable given the frequency of issues – Campus Watch editions see light almost every day.

The reports aren’t just about fun and games – campus security hopes that by bringing campus incidents to light in a viral way, students will be more aware of security issues and petty crime. Many students tend to arrive on campus with their guard down, becoming easy prey to bike thieves and laptop pinchers; if a popular campus publication helps them stay alert, safe and in control of their belongings, then campus security has certainly done its job with flying colors.