State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Legislation

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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
 
                            -4-                LRB9104134NTsb
 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.

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