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
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2940
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 3, 2011
___________
Introduced by Sen. LANZA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed 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;
20 (e) is identified as a criminal street gang member by physical
21 evidence, such as photographs or other documentation;
22 (f) has been stopped in the company of known criminal street gang
23 members four or more times;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00102-01-1
S. 2940 2
1 (g) has been identified as a criminal street gang member by other law
2 enforcement agencies; or
3 (h) is identified as a criminal street gang member by a family member.
4 7. "Criminal street gang activity" means the commission or attempted
5 commission of, or solicitation or conspiracy to commit, two or more
6 criminal acts that:
7 (a) were committed on separate occasions within a five year period;
8 (b) are neither isolated incidents, nor so closely related and
9 connected in point of time or circumstance of commission as to consti-
10 tute a criminal offense or criminal transaction, as such terms are
11 defined in section 40.10 of the criminal procedure law; and
12 (c) further a criminal street gang by: (i) being related to one
13 another through a common scheme or plan; or (ii) were committed, solic-
14 ited, requested, importuned or intentionally aided by persons acting
15 with the mental culpability required for the commission of such criminal
16 acts and such person is a member of such criminal street gang.
17 8. "School grounds" means (a) in or on or within any building, struc-
18 ture, athletic playing field, playground or land contained within the
19 real property boundary line of a public or private elementary, parochi-
20 al, intermediate, junior high, vocational, or high school, or (b) any
21 area accessible to the public located within one thousand feet of the
22 real property boundary line comprising any such school or any parked
23 automobile or other parked vehicle located within one thousand feet of
24 the real property boundary line comprising any such school. For the
25 purpose of this subdivision, an "accessible area to the public" shall
26 mean sidewalks, streets, parking lots, parks, playgrounds, stores and
27 restaurants.
28 § 2. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 460.65 to read
29 as follows:
30 § 460.65 Criminal street gang recruitment on school grounds.
31 A person is guilty of criminal street gang recruitment on school
32 grounds when, on school grounds, he or she coerces, solicits, recruits
33 or induces another person to join or remain a member of a criminal
34 street gang, or conspires to do so.
35 Criminal street gang recruitment on school grounds is a class D felo-
36 ny.
37 § 3. The highway law is amended by adding a new section 318 to read as
38 follows:
39 § 318. Gang free school zone signs. Any political subdivision of the
40 state having jurisdiction over any highway within school grounds, as
41 defined in subdivision eight of section 460.10 of the penal law, may,
42 upon the request of the appropriate school authority, place, cause to be
43 placed or permit to be placed within the right-of-way of such highway
44 such signs indicating a gang free school zone.
45 § 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
46 have become a law.
