UC Berkeley warns of sex crimes tied to 'spiked drinks'

Police are looking into reports of possible sex crimes and serious assaults linked to "spiked drinks" at a residence near UC Berkeley on Friday.

Details remain slim this week: It was unclear exactly where the incidents may have happened or whether authorities had been able to corroborate any reports that came in.

On Tuesday, the University of California Police Department put out a vague notice about a report made "recently" to someone at UC Berkeley about "multiple incidents of drug-facilitated sexual assault-battery and aggravated assaults via poisoning (commonly referred to as 'spiked drinks')" that had taken place Friday.

The alert said the incidents occurred "at a residence on the 2300 block of College Avenue," which covers two blocks of College, from Channing Way up to Durant Avenue and Bancroft Way, and ends at the campus border.

The announcement did not say whether the incidents may have taken place at a smaller residence or something like a fraternity or larger complex, what else may have occurred or whether students were involved.

In its WarnMe notice, which alarmed many community members in part because of the lack of information in it, the incident was described as a violent crime as well as sexual battery as well as "sexual assault-battery and aggravated assaults."

One portion of the notice indicated that the crime(s) took place at 11:55 p.m. Friday, while another referenced Friday "evening."

"If anyone has information related to this incident, we encourage them to contact the Berkeley Police Department's Sex Crimes Detectives at 510-981-5724," UCPD wrote in its WarnMe notice, which went out Tuesday just before 2:45 p.m.

"Due to the nature of these cases and the crimes occurring within the city of Berkeley's jurisdiction, the university is unable to provide further details at this time," the author of the notice wrote.

UC Berkeley classified the notice as a "timely warning," which it defines as a warning that is "issued for all Clery Act crimes that occur on UC Berkeley Clery Act geography that are reported to campus security authorities or local police agencies, and considered by the institution to represent a serious or continuing threat to students and employees."

Read more about crime near UC Berkeley.

The Berkeley Scanner immediately asked the Berkeley Police Department about the WarnMe notice due to the unusual and serious nature of what was described.

Multiple community members including longtime residents and Cal parents also asked TBS to find out more.

BPD responded about two hours later to say only that, "This incident is currently being investigated by our Detective Bureau. At this time, we do not have any information available for release, as the investigation is still in its preliminary stages."

Community frustration over WarnMe alerts continues

Writing on Reddit on Tuesday, members of the UC Berkeley community expressed frustration about the WarnMe alert, saying they wanted more clarity about what had happened.

"Since this happened on Friday, shouldn't everyone been notified sooner?" one person wrote, adding, "be safe everyone, never drink something unless you have poured it yourself."

"could’ve been the victim not in the right headspace to report immediately," wrote another. "idk. this shit sucks."

"Are we just guessing here or does anyone know actual information?" another poster chimed in. "Was this at a frat? From the report it sounds like there were multiple victims."

Others expressed similar sentiments.

"Why isn’t the venue mentioned clearly? What exactly happened and are Cal students responsible?" one person said.

Earlier this year, UC Berkeley pledged to review its WarnMe system in the wake of fierce criticism about how it was used when a man started shooting on campus in February.

Since then, the campus says it has streamlined its notification system and trained more people to send emergency messaging. More training for dispatchers is also in the works, a campus spokeswoman said. (Note: This story was updated after publication to include this information.)

"WarnMe: Is this even for me?" students asked

In May, a small research team in UC Berkeley's School of Information published its own "toolkit for understanding and evaluating the emergency mass notification alert system" at Cal (and elsewhere).

The group's "capstone study," titled, "WarnMe: Is this even for me?" described how the Clery Act had come about in 1990 after freshman Jeanne Clery was raped and murdered at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.

In 2007, in response to the Virginia Tech shooting, which left 32 people dead, the federal government updated the Clery Act to require emergency notification systems that could send mass alerts.

But despite 16 years in use, the researchers found, UC Berkeley's WarnMe system "has weaknesses that represent a serious problem and require robust changes."

This week's campus alert neatly illustrated some of those weaknesses: In their report, the students observed that "location details and scene descriptions in WarnMe messages often lack the clarity needed to be fully effective."

In addition to other findings, the group also described "a gap between the perceived and actual security provided by these alerts, leading to unnecessary anxiety and confusion."

See the group's toolkit and companion report to learn more about what it found.

Sex crimes are down in Berkeley this year

The Berkeley Police Department reported a 9% rise in felony sexual assaults last year, with 97 reported in 2023 compared to 89 in 2022, the department said in March.

That does not include any data collected by UCPD, which is a separate police agency.

So far this year, BPD has reported a significant decrease in overall sex crime reports compared to last year — but the department does not reliably break down felony vs. misdemeanor sex crime reports on its public dashboard.

The Scanner has asked BPD to review that issue in the interest of transparency.

Campus sexual violence support resources

• Confidential Care Advocate, PATH to Care Center: 510-643-2005 (24/7)
• University Health Services nurse advice line: 510-643-7197 (24/7)
• Gender Equity Resource Center: 510-643-5727
• Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination

Other 24/7 resources

• Bay Area Women Against Rape: 510-800-4247
• Highland Hospital: 510-437-4800

For more information on sexual violence prevention and resources, UCPD directed members of the campus community to its survivor support website.