‘I don’t feel any safer’: Sacramento State planned to reduce sexual violence a year ago. Did it?

Last semester, Vanessa Pohley, a student at Sacramento State, had a class that ended at 9 p.m. From the classroom, it was a 15 minute walk to her car. She runs through all the precautions she must take to the parking garage safely in the pitch black of night.

Always walk to your car in a group. Carry pepper spray. Have your keys out. Don’t fumble through your bag while looking for them, that will let your guard down. Never wear headphones. Always be aware of your surroundings.

Once she got to her car, a feeling of relief rushes over her. All of her anxiety has disappeared.

Week after week, she’d follow the exact routine with the same feeling of fear.

“Everything I’ve done in the past is because of me. Nothing was implemented by Sac State,” Pohley said.

Feeling unsafe on a dark college campus isn’t uncommon for female students, said Pohley. However, Sacramento State, with enrolls more than 30,000 students, reports assaults have caused fear since an uptick last year.

There were numerous assaults at Sacramento State from 2022 to this current academic year. In October 2022, a female student was assaulted nearby the library quad. The suspect was arrested off campus, but was released and barred from campus. Campus police said he was issued with a misdemeanor and citation for battery, according to the State Hornet, the university’s student-run news publication.

Later that month, a student was assaulted in a campus computer lab. University police sent a “timely warning notice,” to students at midnight the day after the incident was reported. A timely warning notice is Sacramento State’s alert system which adheres to the Clery Act, a federal law that requires institutions alert students of a crime in a timely manner to prevent similar incidents.

There would be more incidents across that academic year, from a man filming a female student in a campus bathroom to assaults within student housing.

The most significant was the case of Nida Muhammad Niazy, who was the main suspect in two sexual assaults that occurred on and off campus last year.

Niazy assaulted two students in 2022. He was sentenced to two years in prison after agreeing to a no-contest plea for assault. Niazy’s sexual assault charges and count of rape were dismissed during a plea agreement with prosecutors.

During a student-led town hall in 2022, many students expressed their frustrations and concerns with safety on campus.

“It is really starting to feel like no one is safe here,” student Kaitlyn Fernandes told the State Hornet last year. “My question to (administration) is: ‘What is going to be next to stop it?’”

Assaults continued last semester

In May, a sexual battery was reported nearby Sacramento State’s entrance. Christina Lofthouse, deputy chief of Sacramento State Police did not provide an update to this case. Other incidents were reported in student housing facilities. Lofthouse said she could not comment on these specific cases.

In response to an increase of sexual assaults reported at Sacramento State, the university created its sexual violence prevention, safety, and support action plan. The plan had a variety of preventative measures assigned to different groups at the school.

Sacramento State has primary police jurisdiction to the campus itself and other properties owned by the California State University trustees. Lofthouse said the department does not patrol areas outside of their jurisdiction. However, they do have agreements with outside agencies that assist them in responding to incidents further away from the main campus.

“We are committed to preventing all forms of sexual violence, and to believing and supporting those who have experienced it,” wrote former university President Robert Nelsen in a campus wide email introducing the plan last year.

But after a year of sexual violence prevention initiatives, crime on campus hasn’t changed. The number of crimes classified as assaults and sexual assaults has remained the same, with 18 combined assaults and rapes both academic years. Lofthouse said there hasn’t been a big change in crime in the past year.

She said campus police are seeing more students reporting sexual assaults. Crimes range from “outside people coming on to campus” and “internal,” Lofthouse said.

Even with their numbers, Lofthouse said the police department does not have “a realistic view” of all incidents. Some go unreported or are reported elsewhere.

“People are reporting more in terms of sexual assaults, which is a good thing,” Lofthouse said. “But then at the same time, the numbers go up and that’s concerning.”

To students like Pohley, there’s been no progress. She is just as fearful on campus as she was a year ago.

“I don’t feel any safer than I did a year ago,” Pohley said. “They send out a lot of emails about things that are implemented, but it doesn’t really feel like there’s a presence on campus.”

What has Sacramento State done?

The plan has several initiatives rooted in trauma-informed approaches. One being Sacramento State partnering with WEAVE, a nonprofit specialized in providing services to survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence.

The campus currently has two confidential advocates located within student housing. These advocates provide students with trauma informed care and are another outlet to report assaults, said Lara Falkenstein, the university’s associate director of health and wellness. WEAVE will provide training on sexual violence prevention through student housing and the university’s sexual violence action team, Falkenstein said.

“We’re trying to make sure students know what their opportunities are for reporting and how to report their information,” Falkenstein said.

Sacramento State Police Department also provides a personal safety course, as recommended by the plan. The department will present the course, when requested. Lofthouse said the course is offered to groups like housing, student groups and faculty.

She said the course has been given to housing, but has not been given to student groups or faculty.

In response to the increase of sexual assaults reported, Lofthouse said Sacramento State has done additionally training with officers. Through partnership with the District Attorney’s office, Lofthouse said their department gets extra training when responding to sexual assault cases.

Lofthouse said Sacramento State Police Department has tried to increase its visibility. She said the department has done things like Q&As and was involved in the university’s sexual assault awareness month events.

“(We’re) trying to be more active in the community. Being there as a resource and letting people know that we’re here,” Lofthouse said. “You’d be shocked how many people don’t even realize there’s a police department.”

The plan recommended Sacramento State increased the number of community safety officers, (who are student officers) visible on campus at night and on the weekends. These officers will also provide an escort service, where they will escort students to their cars or to student housing on campus.

Lofthouse did not clarify how many CSOs Sacramento State has, and said the number of those on duty “depends on the time.”

“The important fact is that we’ve always got somebody available to do a safety escort,” Lofthouse said.

Even though Sacramento State has said they’ve instilled preventive measures, students like Pohley don’t see the outcome or know of these services’ existence. She doesn’t feel like Sacramento State is transparent about what’s going on campus. And if she does learn, it’s not timely.

“I feel like a lot of the communication is after the fact,” Pohley said. “I think that its important, if there’s something that happens, it’s timely communication.”

And in regards to campus safety, Pohley said anxiety with campus safety is a statewide issue. But at Sacramento State, Pohley said she wants to see a stronger safety presence nearby parking lots and garages, where its often not well-lit, she said.

“As far as women and night class safety in general, I don’t feel like there is an emphasis on safety,” Pohley said. “...College campuses at night don’t feel safe already. And it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot of preventative action.”