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Scottsdale police and schools dissuade students from participating in TikTok theft trend

A viral challenge on the social media platform TikTok, known commonly as the “Devious Licks” challenge, involves middle and high school students stealing or damaging school property.

While participants may see it as harmless, school districts and local police like Scottsdale police Sgt. Kevin Quon are attempting to inform students of the repercussions of the trend.

“There was a couple instances last month where the challenge was to cause damage in the restroom or on school property, which we did take a couple of reports on,” said Quon.

Schools around Arizona and around the country have seen theft and damaged property throughout the past month.

Quon says police are working with school districts to inform parents that participation in this challenge could result in felony charges.

“We wanted to make sure that we’re working with the school districts to let everybody know that these aren’t okay. It’s not something that you want to just jump on because it’s trendy, that there are consequences,” said Quon.

Some schools have resorted to closing or restricting restroom access, as some of the thefts in Arizona have included soap and paper towel dispensers.

Vaughan Jones was a reporter at KJZZ from 2020 to 2022.