When it comes to safety, students have mixed feelings about walking through Sonoma State’s campus. Some may feel comfortable walking around campus, while others feel that they cannot walk alone due to the poor lighting among other factors. There has been concern in the past regarding the transparency of SSU’s campus police and what crimes students are informed of. Many are questioning whether or not the campus police scanner reports should be publicized or more easily accessible to ease students’ minds.
Through Sonoma State’s website, students have the ability to view crime and arrest logs on campus. The arrest logs are official records that document arrests that happened on and near the SSU campus. The crime logs are also official reports, which document all criminal activity or alleged criminal incidents within the general vicinity of campus.
Nader Oweis, the campus police chief of Sonoma State, explains that not only is it California law, but part of the Clery ACT, which allows police to post details of a crime. This allows anyone from newspaper sources like the Press Democrat, The Argus Courier, and The Community Voice to implement this information to inform their readers.
Sonoma County’s police scanner updates are posted through a variety of social media platforms. On Instagram and Twitter, residents can receive fire and crime updates through @sonomascanner. It is all perfectly legal and helps residents feel more confident in knowing the goings-on in the county.
Chief Oweis further states, “Under the state and California law, we do post information about crime and the arrests we make on our website.” Regarding publication of police scanner information, he added, “We are in discussions with a vendor to be able to put crime mapping on our website as well.”
Crime mapping technology is used by law enforcement agencies across the U.S. It allows them to inform the public about recent crime activity and incidents in areas around them by marking down such an event in the specific spot that happened. This will allow citizens to view information relating to the area in which they live or are planning to visit, move to, etc.
Many students, such as Nathan Khalili, feel like it’s a start in feeling more safe roaming around campus. Khalili states, “It would definitely feel a lot better and a lot easier to ease the tension between the police and students if there is [publication of police scanners], as it will leave more openness.”
Ryan Harris, a third year student at Sonoma State, has mixed feelings regarding such an inclusion, commenting, “I feel like on the one hand it could make people nervous if they know about crimes, but on the other hand I feel like it’s important because maybe it can change the way people act or think and change they way they feel towards the police too.”
Making the crime and arrest logs have more of a public presence, such as posting on social media, would be a step in the right direction in regards to easing the unsettled nerves students have with their safety. Students are more inclined this day in age to check news through many different social media platforms, and posting through them will give students more transparency.
