Jan. 22 sexual battery, Dec. 12 robbery and an Oct. 16 stabbing. These are the most recent Santa Rosa Junior College crime alerts, courtesy of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure Act, which requires colleges and universities to report the last three years of crime statistics and provide additional safety information. Crime alerts and the link to the full Clery Act text are available on the SRJC District Police website.
A further look at the website reveals a sophisticated network regarding the college’s safety practices, procedures and resources. From the home page, the administration link leads to the college safety link, which leads to the district police link.
If students feel unsafe, reading the district police link message from SRJC District Police Chief Matthew McCaffrey can help. Some students are familiar with ALERTU, a basic emergency alert text message system.
Nixle is a more comprehensive and categorized system designed to alert the public about varying shades of crime. The crimes are color coded, increasing in severity from green to yellow to red. McCaffrey highly recommends signing up.
If you still don’t feel safer at school after signing up with Nixle, go to the north corner of Armory and Elliot to the district police department. McCaffrey might be available to sit down and talk with you. In McCaffrey’s words, SRJC is “the safest place to be in Santa Rosa.”
Police dispatcher Monica Chavez confirmed the district police has 13 sworn officers with 700 hours of training each, six police dispatchers, 12 community service officers and 15 to 30 cadets in training who all help enforce the law around campus.
McCaffrey said, “The JC is way ahead of the curve.” Along with social media updates on campus crime, there are links to crime definitions and procedures, child protective services, hospitals information and much more. CIRT, the Crisis Intervention Resources Team, which includes a list of distressed, disruptive and dangerous behaviors and appropriate suggested actions to take when faced with them. There is also a link to a health services suicide prevention hotline. The number is (415) 499-1100.
In addition, Megan’s Law is a website that makes it all too easy to assess the density of sexual predators in any given area. While McCaffrey said Megan’s Law is a valuable tool for anyone, he did point out that offenders vary in risk.
There is a double registration system for sexual offenders who want to attend SRJC. They must register with the state of California, which makes them accessible online and register again as an offender with the college. Both Chavez and McCaffrey confirmed this double registry process.
Santarosa.edu also links to the Department of Homeland Security’s guide of how to respond to an active shooter. No matter how quickly district police are able to respond, these instructions can make all the difference for student safety.
McCaffrey spoke from experience when he said that while crime tends to vary with population density, it only takes one person to ruin your day. The Clery crime statistics between the Petaluma and Santa Rosa campuses confirm this. The Petaluma campus is a fraction of the size and population of Santa Rosa, with a crime spreadsheet displaying almost all zeros. Santa Rosa displays more varied crime in accordance with its larger size and higher population density.
Emergency call boxes are located around campus. There are text message alerts to warn of danger. If necessary, police send a message that pops up on every computer screen on campus to warn students and staff, so if you’re on the fourth floor of the library studying and listening to music through headphones, you’re still in the know.
“The most important thing is the safety of employees and students,” McCaffrey said.