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91_HB1417
LRB9104134NTsb
1 AN ACT concerning school community policing partnerships.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5 School Community Policing Partnership Act.
6 Section 5. Legislative findings and declarations;
7 purpose.
8 (a) The General Assembly finds and declares all of the
9 following:
10 (1) Many of the public schools in this State and
11 their surrounding communities are experiencing crime and
12 violence to a degree that makes it difficult for pupils
13 and staff to feel safe.
14 (2) Schools need assistance in carrying out their
15 responsibility to provide safe environments to educate
16 our children.
17 (3) Schools also need assistance in ensuring safe
18 passage for pupils to and from school and in securing the
19 school campus from outside criminal activity and
20 disturbances.
21 (4) A school community policing approach to school
22 safety, modeled after community policing principles,
23 offers an effective strategy for using proactive problem
24 solving and school law enforcement partnerships to
25 address the causes of crime and fear as well as other
26 safe school issues in the school and its surrounding
27 community.
28 (5) Partnerships among schools, law enforcement,
29 and their communities provide a positive support system
30 for schools in addressing safe school issues.
31 (6) Collaboration by school and law enforcement
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1 community partnerships results in strategic approaches to
2 meet the unique needs of the school community.
3 (b) The purpose of this Act is to provide financial
4 assistance to school districts to ensure safe, secure, and
5 peaceful school campuses through the use of a community
6 policing approach to school crime and safety issues.
7 Section 10. Definition. In this Act "school community
8 policing" means an approach to safe schools that is founded
9 on developing positive relationships between law enforcement
10 and the school community in which (i) schools, law
11 enforcement, community agencies, and the members of the
12 surrounding school community collaboratively develop
13 long-term, proactive approaches and systems to address the
14 underlying conditions that affect the level of school safety
15 and (ii) law enforcement becomes an integral facet of the
16 school community with highly trained law enforcement officers
17 having a visible and active presence on and around school
18 campuses. School community policing also involves highly
19 trained law enforcement officers working with pupils during
20 and after school, providing opportunities for pupils' active
21 involvement in positive activities. School community
22 policing also involves teaching pupils skills and providing
23 them with a consistent system of recognition and
24 reinforcement of positive behavior.
25 Section 15. School Community Policing Partnership Grant
26 Program.
27 (a) The School Community Policing Partnership Grant
28 Program, which is hereby established, shall be administered
29 by the State Board of Education through a School and Law
30 Enforcement Partnership. With respect to this program, the
31 School and Law Enforcement Partnership shall do all of the
32 following:
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1 (1) Develop application criteria and procedures for
2 school districts pursuant to the provisions of this Act.
3 (2) Award grants to school districts or a
4 consortium of school districts.
5 (3) Evaluate the effectiveness of the funded
6 projects.
7 (4) Report to the General Assembly and the Governor
8 every 2 years on the results of the Program.
9 (b) Grants under the Program shall be awarded on a
10 competitive basis to school districts or a consortium of
11 school districts to develop and implement a plan that
12 demonstrates a collaborative and integrated approach between
13 the grant recipients and local law enforcement agencies for
14 implementing a system of providing safe and secure
15 environments.
16 (c) The School and Law Enforcement Partnership shall
17 award grants to a school district or a consortium of school
18 districts to pay the costs of establishing and operating, on
19 behalf of one or more qualifying schools within the school
20 district or consortium of school districts, programs that
21 apply a community policing approach to school crime and
22 safety, as follows:
23 (1) Grants may be awarded to school districts or
24 consortia of school districts that have demonstrated
25 readiness to begin operation of a program or to expand
26 existing programs. Grants shall supplement, not
27 supplant, existing programs.
28 (2) Grants shall be awarded for no more than
29 $300,000 for the 3-year grant period.
30 (3) Recipients of grants may also receive one-time
31 startup grants, in addition to the base grant, that may
32 be used, among other things, for purchasing equipment,
33 hiring staff, designing a program evaluation, or hiring a
34 program or evaluation consultant. Startup grants shall be
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1 awarded for not more than $100,000.
2 (4) All grants awarded under this Act shall be
3 matched by the participating school district or
4 consortium of school districts and its cooperating
5 agencies with $1 for each $4 awarded. The match shall be
6 contributed in cash or as services or resources of
7 comparable value. It is the intent of the General
8 Assembly that participants seek and utilize funds or
9 resources for this purpose. The School and Law
10 Enforcement Partnership may waive the match requirement
11 upon verifying that the school district or consortium of
12 school districts made a substantial effort to secure a
13 match but was unable to secure the required match.
14 (5) Pursuant to this Act, the School and Law
15 Enforcement Partnership shall award competitive grants to
16 school districts or consortia of school districts in
17 urban, suburban, and rural areas of northern, central,
18 and southern Illinois.
19 (6) Grants shall be awarded for programs that
20 demonstrate the greatest need and meet the criteria for a
21 program pursuant to subsection (b) of Section 20 of this
22 Act. The School and Law Enforcement Partnership shall
23 consider the latest school crime data for the school or
24 schools in which the program will operate when
25 determining that need.
26 (7) Commencing in fiscal year 2000, and each
27 subsequent year for which funding is available, grants
28 shall be awarded according to the following schedule:
29 (A) The School and Law Enforcement Partnership
30 shall issue requests for applications on or before
31 November 1.
32 (B) Grant applications shall be submitted to
33 the School and Law Enforcement Partnership on or
34 before March 1.
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1 (C) The School and Law Enforcement Partnership
2 shall award grants on or before May 15.
3 Section 20. Applicant requirements.
4 (a) School districts applying for grants under this Act
5 shall demonstrate that their proposed programs adhere to the
6 definition and principles of school community policing as set
7 forth in this Act.
8 (b) An applicant for funds under the School Community
9 Policing Partnership Grant Program shall demonstrate how a
10 program's overall design addresses the definition of school
11 community policing by describing how the program will do all
12 of the following:
13 (1) Form school community policing partnerships to
14 prevent and respond to crime and violence in the school
15 environment.
16 (2) Employ a proactive problem-solving process to
17 accomplish all of the following:
18 (A) Identify problems through coordinated
19 needs assessments.
20 (B) Analyze in a thorough manner information
21 concerning the problems.
22 (3) Develop responses that are innovative and
23 tailor-made with the best potential for eliminating or
24 reducing the problems.
25 (4) Evaluate the responses to determine their
26 effectiveness and modify them as necessary.
27 (c) An applicant for a grant under the School Community
28 Policing Partnership Grant Program shall demonstrate how the
29 plan will be sustained after the grant period has expired.
30 Section 25. School community policing partnerships.
31 School community policing partnerships funded pursuant to
32 this Act shall demonstrate how their programs will address
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1 the following:
2 (1) Identify the school communities that face a
3 significant public safety risk of crime, including
4 without limitation gang activity, daylight burglary,
5 late-night robbery, vandalism, truancy, controlled
6 substance sales, firearm related violence, and juvenile
7 alcohol use.
8 (2) Develop information and intelligence sharing
9 systems to ensure that actions by school districts are
10 fully coordinated with local law enforcement agencies.
11 (3) Identify outcome measures to evaluate the
12 effectiveness of the program, which shall include without
13 limitation each of the following:
14 (A) The rate of drug and alcohol-related
15 offenses on the school campus.
16 (B) The rate of crimes against persons on the
17 school campus.
18 (C) The rate of crimes against property on the
19 school campus.
20 (D) Incidence of pupils in possession of
21 firearms or other weapons on the school campus.
22 (E) The rates of school attendance and
23 truancy.
24 (4) Increase understanding and trust between
25 police, the school, and community members.
26 (5) Include an ongoing commitment to developing
27 long-term and proactive programs and strategies to
28 address the underlying conditions that cause school and
29 community problems.
30 (6) Include knowledge of available school and
31 community resources and how to access and mobilize them,
32 as well as the ability to develop new resources within
33 the school and community.
34 (7) Include sustained personal commitment of the
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1 top management of law enforcement and other local
2 government agencies, as well as from all other levels of
3 management and key personnel.
4 Section 30. Construction. Nothing in this Act shall be
5 construed to require a school district to hire police
6 officers as a condition of receiving a grant under the School
7 Community Policing Partnership Grant Program. Grant funds
8 may not be used to provide funding for school resource
9 officers.
10 Section 35. Funding. It is the intent of the General
11 Assembly that funding for the School Community Policing
12 Partnership Grant Program established pursuant to this Act
13 shall be provided through annual appropriations to the State
14 Board of Education and that grants shall be for a period of 3
15 years.
16 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July
17 1, 1999.