On-campus incidents of burglary, motor vehicle theft and liquor and drug arrests all increased from 2015-16, according to the annual Clery Report released Sept. 15. (Read full report here)

Sexual assaults, meanwhile, have dropped significantly in recent years.

The report, which details campus crime statistics spanning the past three years, showed 10 on-campus burglaries in 2016, up from seven in 2015 and four in 2014.

Sacramento State Police Chief Mark Iwasa said that the increase in burglaries is mainly attributable to a decision by the District Attorney’s office to reclassify thefts from the bike compound at Jenkins Hall as burglaries because they are within a covered structure — making those cases a felony.

Bike thefts remain the most common crime reported at Sac State, according to Iwasa.

Sexual assault, which includes reported instances of rape, fondling and statutory rape, decreased from seven reported cases in 2015 to just two in 2016.

Iwasa said he believes the decrease in sexual assaults is mainly attributable to “ramped up security measures throughout the campus, such as additional lighting and blue light phones,” but noted that Sac State traditionally does not report high instances of these crimes.

“Sexual assaults aren’t likely to occur between classes and what not, as you can imagine,” Iwasa said. “It doesn’t happen. It can happen maybe late at night in an isolated area of campus, which we have had in the past five years one that I can recall, but most sexual assault statistics on campuses occur in res halls, or they occur on campuses that have sorority or fraternity houses on campus, which we do not have, so our statistics are going to be traditionally low.”

Sac State does have a relatively lower rate of reported sexual assaults than two other major colleges in the region — UC Davis and Chico State.

In its 2016 Clery Report — the most recent available as of press time — UC Davis reported 25 total rapes and 16 total instances of fondling on campus. Chico State reported six rapes and two cases of fondling.

By comparison, Sac State logged one on-campus rape and two cases of fondling.

Iwasa said that beyond bike thefts, the most frequently occurring crimes on campus are “crimes of opportunity.”

“Someone left a phone on a desk or a laptop on a table, they go off to the bathroom, come back, and it’s gone. Those are the other kind of crime that we see most of,” Iwasa said.

Iwasa advised students to pay close attention to their belongings.

“You have to have your property under your control at all times,” Iwasa said. “While we have a whole bunch of very honest people that attend here, as evidenced by the property that’s turned in everyday at the lost and found. We also have people that visit this campus that are criminals looking for the opportunity to steal. We also have some people who make bad decisions.”