No one wants to be a victim of crime. The State Hornet had a chance to sit down and interview Lt. Daniel Davis from the Department of Public Safety on the University Police staff and discuss how students can protect themselves from being a victim of crime

State Hornet: What are the most common crimes students fall victim to?

Davis: Usually property crimes, whether they be auto theft, unattended property, auto burglary. Most of the crimes here at Sac[ramento] State are property-related.

SH: Why are these so common?

Davis: Because they’re crimes of opportunity, and when you leave unattended property in a vehicle or unattended property in a building and someone sees it, they tend to gravitate here for those types of crimes.

SH: How can students prevent themselves from being a victim of crime?

Davis: When we’re talking about property crimes it’s mainly: don’t leave your property unattended, don’t bring your valuable property on campus, make sure you lock your vehicle, have a car alarm. A large part of our crime here at campus is vehicle-related because there [are] a lot of cars here parked for long period[s] of time, giving people the opportunity to come here and commit auto burglary or theft of some sort. So, don’t leave anything in your car that’s unattended and, if you do leave valuables, lock them in your trunk or your glove box where they’re not visible from the outside. Have a car alarm and various types of security devices to prevent that.

SH: Are these people that are taking things from others cars from campus, or are they random people that just come onto campus?

Davis: Usually there are people from off-campus that come here and commit these types of crimes. It’s not the norm for students to be the ones breaking into cars or stealing cars.

SH: What about other crimes on campus?

Davis: We do have an occasional sexual assault. There are crimes against persons that do occur. There are assaults that occur on campus, but they’re not as frequent as the property crimes. So just practice standard safety practices like walking in pairs, have your keys with you when you’re walking to your car, walk on the lit paths at night, know where the emergency phones are, have our phone number programmed into your cell phone because if you dial 911 from any of the campus phones you’ll get to our department. If you dial 911 from a cell phone you’ll get the highway patrol, so you should have our seven-digit number programmed into your cell phone.

SH: Can you give students the number?

Davis: It’s 278-6851.

SH: How can you tell if someone is more likely to be a victim of crime?

Davis: Well, there [are] just ways of presenting yourself. Walk confidently with your head held high.

SH: What can students do if they feel uncomfortable walking to the car at night?

Davis: At night there is a night shuttle service on the campus. There’s also a thing called Safe Rides that’s mainly for people who have had too much to drink so they can get a ride home. If the night shuttle service isn’t available, they can call our department and we act as a backup to that. We will help people by giving them a ride to their vehicle.

SH: If you could give students any one tip, what would you give them?

Davis: Don’t leave your property unattended and make sure you have some kind of security device in your vehicle.

SH: So students can call the campus police if they are having trouble on campus?

Davis: We provide vehicle lockout if you lock your keys in your car. We also provide backup to the Safe Ride and shuttle.

SH: Do you have anything else to add about crime?

Davis: Well, Sacramento State is, in general, a pretty safe environment. However, we are situated in a large metropolitan area and there’s crime here like there is in the City of Sacramento. We do have our own police department here that patrols the campus 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so it’s a relatively safe place to be just as long as you’re practicing safe awareness tactics and being conscious that property does get stolen.

For more information visit: www.csus.edu/police. or www.asi.csus.edu/saferides.asp.

Important numbers to remember:Campus Police: (916) 278-6851Night Shuttle: (916) 278-7260Safe Rides: (916) 278-TAXIThe State Hornet plans to run a regular feature that gives the campus community the opportunity to ask Sac State’s Police Department questions. To submit your questions to our “State Hornet ask a Cop” please e-mail the Features section at: [email protected].

Christina Li can be reached at [email protected]