Lavender Heights Fights Back: Volunteers Walk Bar Patrons Home After Attacks

After a series of attacks in Sacramento’s Lavender Heights neighborhood, a group of volunteers decided to take safety into their own hands. They’ve formed a patrol of lavender-vested walkers who escort bar patrons to their rideshares or accompany them home at closing time. The group trained Wednesday night at Mango’s Sacramento, and the room included attack victims and survivors, including Joseph Sais, who says he refuses to stop living his life.

The patrol arrives at a moment when the city’s official safety net is stretched thin. Sacramento Police currently have only five officers patrolling every entertainment district in the city, and Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum says Sacramento is facing $35 million in additional budget cuts, making more police funding unlikely. At the same time, some attendees at the training pushed back on police involvement altogether, pointing to the complicated history between law enforcement and the LGBTQ+ community. Organizers, including Zachary Basler of the Sacramento Stonewall Democrats, say the mission is simpler than the politics: neighbors getting neighbors home safely.

Volunteers are trained not to intervene in confrontations and to call police instead. More patrols are planned for this weekend, and organizers are actively recruiting. If you’ve ever felt that knot in your stomach walking to your car after last call, this is a chance to be the person who makes that walk easier for someone else.

Would you volunteer for a patrol like this in your neighborhood? Tell us in the comments.