The California Statewide University Police Officers Association issued a press release Thursday that called into question recent media coverage of last semester’s string of sexual assaults. The release states the media should place its focus elsewhere.

On Jan. 25, KXTV News 10 broadcast a story about the sexual assault victims on campus. The association found that the “assaults were being called into question” and the approach of the story blamed the sexual assault victims instead of solving the problem, according to the association’s press release.

“They challenged the veracity of the witnesses coming forward,” said Jeff Solomon, president of the association. “They blamed the rise in numbers because of people reporting them. But what does that have to do with anything? We should be saying, “Great that’s what we want.'”

Last semester, Sacramento State witnessed seven sexual assaults and increased patrol by adding more officers throughout the school day to reduce the chances of another sexual assault &- bringing the total to 21 police officers.

“We want victims to feel that they can report crimes, that their trauma will be taken seriously and that we’ll do everything possible to apprehend the perpetrators,” Solomon said. “Sacramento State has been the scene of eight sexual assaults and one murder in the past school year &- this is a sad fact. How the cases were resolved does not diminish the crimes committed or the victims’ suffering.”

News 10 reviewed all seven assaults from last semester and noticed one of the victims was assaulted at 7 p.m. walking back from her last class, which ended at 2:45 p.m &- more than four hours after her last class, according to a News 10 story.

“Essentially they said we skewed the sexual assault numbers,” Solomon said. “They said they weren’t all rapes, and I don’t think that anybody said that they were all rapes. If you touched the outer clothing of women’s breast or other private area, it’s a sexual assault. And they challenged the credibility of these reports.”

Gloria Moraga, Sac State’s public affairs associate vice president, was previously themanaging editor at News 10 and could be considered a conflict of interest, according to the police officers association’s press release.

On the other hand, in response to the outcry for more protection on campus, Sac State Police Chief Daniel Davis recently received a vote of no confidence in a 14-1 vote by fellow Sac State officers.

Although Davis received a vote of no confidence, Interim Vice President for Administration and Business Affairs Ming-Tung Lee said he still appreciates Davis’ work dealing with the last semester of assaults.

“Chief Dan Davis has my full support in regard to the job he has done to protect lives and property on the university campus,” Lee said, according to a recent press release. “Under his leadership, the campus police department has implemented and improved several public safety initiatives, including bicycle patrols, the Community Service Specialist Program, the Emergency Notification System and the Community Service Officer Program.”

Coordinator of Violence and Sexual Assault Services Jessica Heskin works closely with the sexual assault victims and said Sac State’s assault numbers are not unusual compared to other campuses with the same enrollment.

“If you take our statistics and compare them to San Diego State, they average about 15 sexual assaults a year,” Heskin said. “When you compare us to other campuses of our size, we are no more out of bounds within what is the normal limits.”

Heskin said the university has taken proactive steps like sending out the campus police bulletins on the assaults, email alerts, provided a self-defense class that occurred last semester and implementing a mandatory online tutorial for all new students about alcohol and sexual violence. She said that everyone needs to work together to solve any sexual assault crime on campus and that every student should be aware of these situations.

“Sexual violence is a community problem not an individual problem, and we all need to take responsibility,” Heskin said. “The problem is that most sexual assaults go unreported, so we may not know about a sexual assault.”

Marshall Hampson can be reached at [email protected]

Tim Sandoval can be reached at [email protected]