SB2738 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB095 19917 NHT 46334 b

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
SB2738

Introduced 2/15/2008, by Sen. Dan Cronin

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

105 ILCS 5/2-3.148 new

Amends the School Code. Creates the SafeCall program, to be implemented by the State Board of Education, to provide students, teachers, other school employees, and the community with the means to relay information anonymously concerning dangerous, violent, or criminal activities to appropriate law enforcement or public safety agencies through a single electronic hotline. Provides that records and information created or obtained through implementation of the SafeCall hotline are confidential. Provides for a penalty for a person who discloses the records or information. Effective July 1, 2008.

CORRECTIONAL BUDGET AND IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning education.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section 2-3.148 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/2-3.148 new)

Sec. 2-3.148. SafeCall program.

(a) The General Assembly declares that the ability to anonymously report information about dangerous, violent, or criminal activities before or after they have occurred is critical in reducing these types of events in schools. The State SafeCall program created under this Section empowers students, teachers, other school employees, and the community by allowing them to easily provide anonymous information about dangerous, violent, or criminal activities to appropriate law enforcement and public safety agencies through a single electronic hotline.

(b) In this Section, "SafeCall program" means a program that has as its primary purpose to provide students, teachers, other school employees, and the community with the means to relay information anonymously concerning dangerous, violent, or criminal activities to appropriate law enforcement or public safety agencies through a single electronic hotline.

(c) There is created the SafeCall program, to be implemented by the State Board of Education, which shall do the following:

(1) establish a method to ensure that the identity of a person who provides information concerning dangerous, violent, or criminal activities to the hotline remains unknown to all persons and entities, including law enforcement officers and employees operating the hotline;

(2) establish a method to ensure that, if the identity of a person who provides information to the hotline becomes known, whether through voluntary disclosure or any other means, the identity is not further disclosed;

(3) assist law enforcement agencies and other public safety organizations in the detection of dangerous, violent, or criminal activities and the apprehension of offenders or at-risk persons by promptly forwarding information received concerning dangerous, violent, or criminal activities to the appropriate law enforcement or public safety agency;

(4) foster the detection of dangerous, violent, or criminal activities and encourage students, teachers, and other school employees to report information about such activities to the hotline; and

(5) encourage local media providers to promote the hotline by informing the public of its functions and benefits.

(d) Records and information created or obtained through implementation of the SafeCall hotline are confidential, and no person shall disclose the records or information except as otherwise permitted under this Section to carry out the purposes of the SafeCall program. Any person who knowingly discloses confidential records or information in violation of this Section commits a Class A misdemeanor.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2008.