Braunstein Says Universities and Colleges Should Be Required to Report Violent Incidents to Police

State Assemblyman Edward Braunstein, D-Bayside, is calling on the state to require that colleges and universities alert authorities within 24 hours after learning of a violent incident on campus.

The assemblyman used the recent Penn State scandal involving football coach Joe Paterno as an example of why he believed his bill should passed into law.

"Currently, there is no mechanism in the law to mandate that colleges and universities notify local authorities when informed about violent crimes committed on campus," he said. "Absent this requirement, many colleges and universities frequently attempt to handle these incidents in-house out of fear that contacting the police would generate negative publicity for the school."

Braunstein, who introduced the bill earlier this year, said that unreported campus crimes leads to "a system where criminal are not held accountable for their actions and parents are not given the facts about the safety of the school where they choose to send their children."

One in five college females are the victims of actual or attempted sexual assault, but 95 of such cases go unreported, the assemblyman said.

State Sen. Toby Stavisky, D-Whitestone, said she supported Braunstein's bill.

"What happened at Penn State is a horrible abuse of trust by an authority figure," she said. "This crime should have been reported promptly to the police."