Senate Bill S7741

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S7741

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to reports on
certain criminal offenses on public transportation


 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :
This bill amends section 397-c of the vehicle and traffic law by
requiring municipal, town and village police departments in villages,
towns and cities with less than one million residents to prepare,
annually, a report detailing the total number of criminal complaints
and arrests, categorized by class of crime where the conduct occurs on
bus routes operated by such villages, town or municipality or its
transit authority.

Specifically the report shall detail the following criminal activity:

-- section 70.02 of the penal law such as murder, kidnapping,
manslaughter, aggravated sexual abuse, sexual conduct against a child,
criminal-use or sale of a firearm, etc.;

-- assault and related offenses as defined in article one hundred
twenty of the penal law such as intent to cause physical injury to
another;

              

-- sex offenses as defined in article one hundred thirty of the penal
law such as sexual misconduct, rape, and criminal sexual acts;

-- disorderly conduct as defined in section 240.20 of the penal law
such as intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or
recklessness, by engaging in fighting or threatening behavior,
unreasonable noisemaking, use of abusive or obscene language or
gestures;

-- harassment as defined in section 240.25 and 240.26 of the penal law
such as intentionally following or by engaging in a course of conduct
or by repeatedly committing acts which places such person in
reasonable fear of physical injury, with intent to annoy or
alarm-another-person by subjecting such person to physical contact, or
attempts or threatens to do the same follows a person;

-- aggravated harassment as defined in section 240.30 and 240.31 of
the penal law such as intent to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm
another person either by communicating with a person, attempting to
contact, subjecting another person to physical contact, or threatening
to do the same because of a belief or perception.

The report shall contain a separate tabulation for employees of the
authority, passengers and other non-employees.

Such statistics shall be tabulated on a monthly basis and on an annual
basis and shall be maintained and transmitted in an electronic format
to the department of records and information services, or its
successor's and be made available to the public via the Internet.

 JUSTIFICATION :
This bill will provide the public with information on the location of
criminal activity, including sexual harassment; while providing the
police department data that will allow them to focus their resources
on areas most in need of protection: By requiring that these
statistics be updated on a monthly basis, and posted on the Internet,
the public will be able to monitor the progress in reducing crime on
our transit systems.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
New bill.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT :
None to the State

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediately, with the first posting of the required information 90
following enactment.