The email warning, required by federal law, provided the time and place of the assault and a general description of the suspect: a black male in his early 20s, muscular build, with shoulder-length braided hair, wearing a light-colored sweatshirt and acid-washed jeans. The circumstances of the assault were not mentioned.
UPD acting Sgt. Dale Glander said details are purposely vague in a timely warning because the department doesn't want to jeopardize a case or report too much information about the victim, risking his or her safety.
“It’s kinda one of those situations to use discretion,” Sgt. Glander said. “That way, it doesn’t encapsulate all the information but provides the most information to keep the community safe but not jeopardize the case.”
The timely warning was issued three days after the assault because that was when UPD first received information about it.
Mike Hiestand, senior legal consultant at the Student Press Law Center, told ChicoReport that timely warnings are the "most non-specific" part of the federal Clery Act, since there are no set rules to follow and most cases are different.
“In situations like this, (waiting to issue) a timely warning ... or letting days pass (diminishes) their need to give out a timely warning,” Hiestand said. "The timely warning would have been better if the person reported it right when it happened.”
The law, according the Clery Center, aims to provide transparency around campus crime policy and statistics.
Chico State police follow "The Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting," which requires them to issue a prompt warning if a crime is reported to campus authorities and if the institution believes the crime still poses a threat to its students and employees.
Butte College will only send a timely warning if its police chief or college administrator believes that an incident poses an ongoing threat to the college community.
Daniel Carter, president of Safety Advisors for Educational Campuses, explained that institutions are obligated to report information because they have to ensure campus safety. Even if the institution were to get more information later about a crime, he said, it isn’t required to send a follow up about the incident.
“The primary purpose of a timely warning is supposed to empower the campus community to protect themselves,” Carter said.
Mikie Weidman, Women’s Program Coordinator for the Chico State Gender and Sexuality Equality Center, said he knows fellow students who have been sexually assaulted around campus and have not received a timely warning about those assaults.
What makes this sexual assault different from the rest?
“I just want to know the protocol for the timely warning,” Weidman said, “I’ve always been curious if the survivors are comfortable (with) the information being out or if they have a say in it.”
--Yaritza Ayon