Senate Bill S1029

                                BILL NUMBER:S1029

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the administrative code of the city of
New York, in relation to requiring the New York police department and
the parks and recreation department to submit to the city council
reports of crime in all parks, including playgrounds, recreation
centers, beaches and pools within the city; and repealing certain
provisions of such law relating thereto

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:  The purpose of the bill is to
require the New York Police Department to issue a more substantive
crime status report in parks within the jurisdiction of the department
of parks and recreation including parks, playgrounds and recreation
centers.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill repeals paragraph 4 of subdivision a of section
14-.150 of the administrative code of the city of New York and a new
paragraph 4 is added that sets forth reporting requirements for crime
status in parks.

The new section requires the police department and the department of
parks and recreation to provide crime status reports to include the
total number of crime complaints (categorized by class of crime,
indicating whether the crime is a misdemeanor or felony) for each
              

patrol precinct, including housing bureau and transit bureau
complaints within each precinct; arrests (categorized by class of
crime, indicating whether the arrest is for a misdemeanor or felony)
for each patrol precinct, housing police service area, transit
district, street crime unit and narcotics division; summons activity
(categorized by type of summons, indicating whether the summons is a
parking violation, moving violation, environmental control board
notice of violation, or criminal court summons) for each patrol
precinct, housing police service area and transit district; such
reports reports shall include the total number of major felony crime
complaints for all parks under the jurisdiction of the department of
parks and recreation.

In addition, the department shall submit to the council, the total
number of major felony crime complaints quarterly one year after
enactment of this law for parks under the jurisdiction of the
department of parks and recreation.

The Police and the Parks Department also shall submit biannual reports
on all summons activity (categorized by type of summons, indicating
whether the summons is a parking violation, moving violation,
environmental control board notice of violation, or criminal court
summons, broken down by type of summons, i.e. illegal Dumping, Lewd
Acts, Failure to Comply With A Sign, Illegal vending.)

The Police and/or Parks Department shall conspicuously post all
reports online via the department's website within five business days
of the department's submission of such reports to the City Council and
no later than one month after the end of the quarter.


Section 2 sets forth an effective date thirty days after it shall have
become law.

JUSTIFICATION:  Currently the New York Police Department tracks crime
in only 30 of the city's 1700 public parks and playgrounds. This is
despite the fact that each of the 1700 public parks are located within
a New York City police precinct. In addition, weekly data is currently
available on only one New York City park w Central Park in Manhattan.

Given that each park is located within a police precinct there is no
reason that tracking and reporting of crime in all parks, playgrounds
and recreation centers could be made readily available.

Furthermore, the department of parks and recreation currently tracks
arrests although it does not publicly release such data and they
currently track weekly, monthly and weekly and yearly statically
summons activity reports broken down by park.

This bill will revise the breadth and manner in which crime status
reports are to be issued to the city council. Such information is
necessary to adequately inform the public and to assist relevant
agencies, including the police department and department of parks and
recreation, in reducing criminal activity in city parks.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: None.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None to the state.

EFFECTIVE DATE:  This act shall take effect thirty days after it shall
have become law.