Establishes the class D felony of criminal street gang recruitment on school grounds; authorizes municipalities to place gang free school zone signs on highways passing through school grounds.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6840
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 6, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CRESPO -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A.
BROOK-KRASNY, CLARK, DAVILA, FARRELL, FINCH, GALEF, GIGLIO, GUNTHER,
HEVESI, HIKIND, HOOPER, JAFFEE, KOLB, LUPARDO, MAGEE, MAGNARELLI,
MARKEY, McDONOUGH, McKEVITT, MOYA, NOLAN, ORTIZ, RAMOS, RIVERA, RODRI-
GUEZ, SCARBOROUGH, SEPULVEDA, STIRPE, THIELE, TITONE, TITUS, WRIGHT --
read once and referred to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to criminal street gang
recruitment on school grounds; and to amend the highway law, in
relation to authorizing the placement of gang free school zone signs
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 460.10 of the penal law is amended by adding four
2 new subdivisions 5, 6, 7 and 8 to read as follows:
3 5. "Criminal street gang" means any ongoing organization, association,
4 or group of three or more persons, whether formal or informal, having as
5 one of its primary activities the commission of one or more criminal
6 acts, which has an identifiable name or identifying sign or symbol, and
7 whose members individually or collectively engage in or have engaged in
8 criminal street gang activity.
9 6. "Criminal street gang member" means a person to whom two or more of
10 the following criteria apply:
11 (a) admits to criminal street gang membership;
12 (b) is identified as a criminal street gang member by a documented
13 reliable informant;
14 (c) resides in or frequents a particular criminal street gang's area
15 and adopts its style of dress, its use of hand signals or its tattoos
16 and associates with known criminal street gang members;
17 (d) has been arrested more than once in the company of known criminal
18 street gang members for offenses which are consistent with usual crimi-
19 nal street gang activity;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00866-01-5
A. 6840 2
1 (e) is identified as a criminal street gang member by physical
2 evidence, such as photographs or other documentation;
3 (f) has been stopped in the company of known criminal street gang
4 members four or more times;
5 (g) has been identified as a criminal street gang member by other law
6 enforcement agencies; or
7 (h) is identified as a criminal street gang member by a family member.
8 7. "Criminal street gang activity" means the commission or attempted
9 commission of, or solicitation or conspiracy to commit, two or more
10 criminal acts that:
11 (a) were committed on separate occasions within a five year period;
12 (b) are neither isolated incidents, nor so closely related and
13 connected in point of time or circumstance of commission as to consti-
14 tute a criminal offense or criminal transaction, as such terms are
15 defined in section 40.10 of the criminal procedure law; and
16 (c) further a criminal street gang by: (i) being related to one
17 another through a common scheme or plan; or (ii) were committed, solic-
18 ited, requested, importuned or intentionally aided by persons acting
19 with the mental culpability required for the commission of such criminal
20 acts and such person is a member of such criminal street gang.
21 8. "School grounds" means (a) in or on or within any building, struc-
22 ture, athletic playing field, playground or land contained within the
23 real property boundary line of a public or private elementary, parochi-
24 al, intermediate, junior high, vocational, or high school, or (b) any
25 area accessible to the public located within one thousand feet of the
26 real property boundary line comprising any such school or any parked
27 automobile or other parked vehicle located within one thousand feet of
28 the real property boundary line comprising any such school. For the
29 purpose of this subdivision, an "accessible area to the public" shall
30 mean sidewalks, streets, parking lots, parks, playgrounds, stores and
31 restaurants.
32 § 2. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 460.65 to read
33 as follows:
34 § 460.65 Criminal street gang recruitment on school grounds.
35 A person is guilty of criminal street gang recruitment on school
36 grounds when, on school grounds, he or she coerces, solicits, recruits
37 or induces another person to join or remain a member of a criminal
38 street gang, or conspires to do so.
39 Criminal street gang recruitment on school grounds is a class D felo-
40 ny.
41 § 3. The highway law is amended by adding a new section 318 to read as
42 follows:
43 § 318. Gang free school zone signs. Any political subdivision of the
44 state having jurisdiction over any highway within school grounds, as
45 defined in subdivision eight of section 460.10 of the penal law, may,
46 upon the request of the appropriate school authority, place, cause to be
47 placed or permit to be placed within the right-of-way of such highway
48 such signs indicating a gang free school zone.
49 § 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
50 have become a law.
