City of San José

December 1, 2022

 

Rachel Davis, Chief Communications Officer, Office of Mayor Sam Liccardo,  rachel.davis@sanjoseca.gov

 

SAN JOSÉ, CA - Today, San José Mayor Sam Liccardo was joined by Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, SJPD Deputy Chief Ellen Washburn, Santa Clara County Assistant District Attorney Terry Harman, and Santa Clara County District Attorney Director of Victim Services Tasia Wiggins, as he introduced a proposal to require all rideshare and taxi companies operating in San José to convey all reports of sexual assault to law enforcement. 

 

As the Washington Post reported in 2019, hundreds of allegations of rape on rideshare platforms go unreported by rideshare companies to local policedepartments. Even worse, the Post found former Uber employees revealed that the company prohibits them from reporting such sexual assault allegations to local law enforcement, or from encouraging survivors to make such reports–even when the company’s investigation yields a confession of felony predatory conduct.  

 

The proposed ordinance seeks to pierce the rideshare companies’ veil of secrecy in addressing sexual assault against riders and drivers, both to better protect our community, and to bring predators to justice.    It also seeks to better inform sexual violence survivors of their options, of available medical and counseling services, and of the consequences of their free choice about whether or not to share information with law enforcement.  

 

The current protocols used by Uber and Lyft leave many survivors believing that they are reporting their sexual assault, and that something will be done by the criminal justice system as a result of their report to the companies.   

Yet nothing will.  

 

As Mayor Sam Liccardo notes, “Survivors likely believe that if they report their victimization to Uber or Lyft, the companies will do something to protect them and the public,” said Mayor Sam Liccardo, “But they won’t–the survivor will see no restraining order, no arrest or conviction of the assailant, and no restitution.   At the very least, these companies should be honest with survivors and tell them so.”  Liccardo concluded, “Regardless of whether companies claim to protect the privacy and agency of sexual assault survivors, or merely protect their own pocketbooks, they’re certainly not protecting our community. 

 

“Uber is resistant to making sure that sex assaults in their vehicles are reported to law enforcement,” said District Attorney Jeff Rosen. “I am resistant to the idea that companies won’t work with us to make sure our community is safe. Please ask yourself if you want a potential rapist showing up at your pickup spot.

Both Uber and Lyft companies contribute millions of dollars to sexual assault survivor advocacy organizations, and they rationalize their unwillingness to share assault allegations with law enforcement as a need to protect an assault survivor’s “privacy” and “agency.” Remarkably,  each company actively shares those same allegations with the other company–apparently finding convenient ways to navigate those same privacy concerns.  

 

In contrast, other organizations routinely mandate immediate reporting of such crimes to law enforcement.  Protocols at Valley Transportation Authority require notification of the County Sheriff, and a Memorandum of Understanding between the District Attorney’s office and all local universities and community colleges requires that police must “conduct a trauma-informed criminal investigation as appropriate,” in coordination with the college authorities, leading to investigations, arrests and prosecutions. Yet rideshare companies and taxis have no such obligation, and insist that they be held to a different standard.

 

To be sure, sexual assault survivors have a right to privacy, and a right to decline to report any assault.   The proposal would do nothing to undermine those rights, and in fact, would require the companies to inform reporting parties that they have a right to decline to answer any questions posed by law enforcement.  

According to 2017-2018 data reported by one company–Uber– to the CPUC,  there were 1,243 sexual assault and harassment allegations by users of Uber’s platform in California, 5% (or around 62 incidents) occurred in Santa Clara County.  According to Assistant District Attorney Terry Harman, the DA’s office received and filed only one Uber-related case that year—for which a defendant received a life sentence for severely predatory conduct.

 

Protecting the community after a sexual assault requires the involvement of law enforcement and the criminal justice system.  To the extent that Uber’s and Lyft’s go-it-alone approach makes the intervention of law enforcement less likely, then our San Jose community is made less safe.  We must demand better, and require more of rideshare and taxi companies. 

 

To read Mayor Liccardo’s full proposal, visit here. 

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With more than one million residents, San José comprises the 10^th largest city in the United States, and one of its most diverse. San José’s transformation into a global innovation center in the heart of Silicon Valley has resulted in the world's greatest concentration of technology talent and development.