Archives of the Mayor's Press Office

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today proposed legislation to protect children by requiring school staff to immediately report crimes involving the health and safety of a child to the Police Department and to the principal. The bill, which was prompted by numerous incidents where Board of Education personnel failed to report crimes to the Police Department, would also provide personnel with immunity from any civil liability arising from filing a report in good faith. However, anyone who knowingly fails to file a report would be guilty of a misdemeanor, subject to a possible one-year jail sentence and/or a fine of up to $1,000.

Joining the Mayor to announce the legislation were City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, Criminal Justice Coordinator Steven Fishner, Schools Chancellor Harold O. Levy, Board of Education President Ninfa Segarra, Department of Investigation Commissioner Edward Kuriansky, and Special Commissioner of Investigation Edward F. Stancik.

"Although school should be a sanctuary from crime, unfortunately children can and do fall prey to dangerous crimes on school grounds," the Mayor said. "There have been numerous criminal incidents that school personnel failed to notify the Police Department about, letting dangerous criminals go unpunished and placing other children at risk. This legislation will better protect children by enlisting the Police Department to investigate suspected criminal incidents, drastically reducing the chances that cases will be mishandled or lost in a vast bureaucracy."

City Council Speaker Peter Vallone said, "In the last few weeks, we have seen too many examples of our children's safety being jeopardized by insufficient investigative and safety regulations in our schools. This bill would help keep our children out of harm's way by ensuring that law enforcement is immediately notified when a child is a victim of a crime at school."

Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik said, "This legislation ensures that crimes committed in our schools will be handled by the same experts that made New York the safest large city in America. The NYPD has the best officers and detectives in the world, but they can't do their job unless they are notified immediately after an offense occurs. With the passage of this bill, calling a law enforcement professional at the outset of a school-related crime won't just be good common sense, it will be the law."

Schools Chancellor Harold O. Levy said, "It is imperative that crimes involving the health and safety of a child should be reported to the police and for that reason I issued regulations requiring all school personnel immediately to make such reports. The Mayor's proposal would strengthen the current regulations by giving them the full force of the law. I fully support his proposal and greatly appreciate his leadership on this issue."

Board of Education President Ninfa Segarra said, "This legislation is an important step toward ensuring that school officials take responsibility to report criminal activities on or near school property. The potential imposition of serious penalties impresses upon our personnel the urgency and importance of bringing such matters to the attention of the proper authorities. This guarantees prompt notification leading to swift intervention by the appropriate law enforcement agencies, thus making our schools and our children safer."

Special Commissioner of Investigation Edward F. Stancik said, "Over the years, my office has repeatedly reported on the problem of educators failing to notify the Police about criminal activity in the schools. We are gratified that this new law recognizes the paramount importance of protecting the safety and wellbeing of children."

The bill would also require any public or private school employee to report to the Police Department a crime involving the health or safety of a child that has occurred or will occur: on or near school premises, at a school sponsored event, while traveling to or from school, or away from school premises but having a nexus to the school. The law would not limit the authority of other individuals or agencies to conduct investigations into crimes in schools, or alter any obligation to report crimes to such individuals or agencies.

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