Sacramento is, in my opinion, one of the best cities in the United States. It has the potential to become so much greater. I have lived in Sacramento for almost 17 years, and no matter where I travel to, no place that I go makes me feel the way this city does. From late-night trips to Gunther’s with my aunt and uncle, walks around Tahoe Park, and cheering at Kings games back at Sleep Train Arena, and now Golden 1 Center, to catching shows at venues like Ace of Spades, Goldfield Trading Post or the new Channel 24 (which I visited for the first time recently), I always enjoy my time most when I am in my city.
There is one unfortunate problem I have been noticing about the city I love so much recently, especially in the last five years since the pandemic: crime. Sacramento, like any major city, has had its issues with crime over time. Still, they have always been able to overcome the problems, lowering crime rates by a noticeable amount, especially from the 1990s and 2000s, when we were seeing crime rates like over 1,200 per 100,000 population, according to CityRating.com. Despite this, in recent years, it feels like safety in Sacramento has gone downhill.
In areas like DOCO and Old Sacramento, the Sacramento Police Department often claims that these areas are improving when it comes to safety, mainly due to increasing patrols and general police presence. But many students, including myself, feel and believe otherwise. If you happen to be in these areas on most Friday, Saturday, or Sunday nights, you will likely be safe, especially when staying within the populated and well-lit areas.
Most City College students that I spoke to agreed, but when discussing the safety during weekday evenings, especially when no events are going on, many students said they did not feel safe walking around downtown Sasha Popova, a student that I spoke to, stated, “As a young woman, I feel that Sacramento is quite unsafe, and even disturbing in several areas,” also stating that “homelessness and crime in general have become quite prominent”.
Six students that I spoke to stated plainly that they will not go to most areas of the city at night, including most of North Sacramento, most of South Sacramento, DOCO, Old Sacramento, Downtown Sacramento, and even some parts of Midtown. This should not be the case, as students and citizens of Sacramento should be able to explore their city and walk around freely without their safety being threatened, especially in the areas with the most to do.
One other way many students, as well as I, have noticed Sacramento crime going downhill is with DUI-related incidents. Sacramento now has the third-worst DUI rate in the entire country, according to many sources, including Visual Capitalist, which gets its data from LendingTree’s analysis of tens of millions of insurance quotes from 2024.
Speaking from personal experience, at my job where I work in Arden Arcade, off Fulton Avenue, people often come in with beer cans, or other alcohol bottles in their car, often drinking while operating the vehicle, and driving near people as well as very expensive equipment. I manage a car wash, and I would say much of the clientele is under the influence. Additionally, people often smoke marijuana in their car, which, despite being normalized, is also extremely dangerous to do and is considered a DUI. These same people drive these cars through multiple extremely packed main roads, as Arden and North Sacramento in general are often very busy and filled with traffic, endangering thousands of lives. I myself am always very nervous driving around these areas, and Sacramento in general, as this is something I personally deal with on the road all too often. I would say I have to deal with a driver under the influence of something at least once a day, sometimes several times a day.
I love Sacramento, as does everyone that I spoke to, which is why addressing and discussing these contradictions is so important. Sacramento is a city that has infinite potential, and if we had better policies for crime, like more active police presence, defensive architecture, and harsher punishments for some violent crimes, and the citizens of Sacramento felt safe, it could most definitely exceed people’s expectations. Specific crimes like DUIs, drug-related crimes, vehicle theft and violent crime are major factors as to why many students feel unsafe in these areas. I see it, as do many others, and I hope to someday see the city I love so much become safer again and reach its full potential.
