22.1-280.2 - School crime line defined; development of school crime lines authorized; local school boards' authority; Board of Education to promulgate regulations. - Virginia Statutes

§ 22.1-280.2. School crime line defined; development of school crime linesauthorized; local school boards' authority; Board of Education to promulgateregulations.

A. As used in this section:

"School crime line" means a confidential, anonymous system providinginducements for students to report any unlawful act occurring in schoolbuildings or on school grounds or during school-sponsored activities to locallaw-enforcement authorities which is established as a cooperative alliancebetween the local school board, news media, the community, andlaw-enforcement officials or through a separate, nonprofit corporationgoverned by a board of directors or as part of a local "Crime Stoppers"program.

B. In order to reduce crime and violence within the school divisions in theCommonwealth, any local school board may develop a school crime line programas a joint, self-sustaining, cooperative alliance with news media, thecommunity, and law-enforcement authorities to receive, screen, and rewardstudent reports of unlawful acts committed in school buildings or on schoolgrounds or at school functions, when such reports lead to arrests or recoveryof contraband or stolen property. Police or other law-enforcement personnelshall staff every school crime line program, receive reported informationfrom anonymous student callers, screen such information, and directinformation for further investigation, as may be appropriate.

C. Such programs may be established (i) by a local school board as a joint,self-sustaining, cooperative alliance with news media, the community, andlaw-enforcement authorities; (ii) through a separate nonprofit corporationinitiated jointly by the local school board, news media, the community, andlaw-enforcement authorities and governed by a board of directors; or (iii) aspart of a local "Crime Stoppers" program.

The governing board of any separate nonprofit school crime line corporationshall include broad-based community representation and shall, through itsbylaws, set the policy, coordinate fund raising, and formulate a system ofrewards. Prior to implementation of any school crime line program andannually thereafter, the local school board shall review and approve, ascomplying with the Board of Education's regulations for implementation ofschool crime lines, its regulations or the bylaws of any nonprofit schoolcrime line corporation or the bylaws of any nonprofit "Crime Stoppers"corporation operating a school crime line. No school crime line program shallbe implemented or revised without first obtaining the local school board'sapproval. Every local school board developing a school crime line programshall also notify all students and their parents or other custodian of theprocedures and policies governing the program prior to implementation andannually thereafter.

D. By July 1, 1994, the Board of Education shall promulgate regulations forthe implementation of school crime lines, including, but not limited to,appropriate fund raising, and the appropriateness of and limitations onrewards. In developing the regulations, the Board shall, in consultation withthe Office of the Attorney General, address issues relating to civil rights,privacy, and any other question of law, including the civic duty to reportcrime without compensation.

E. Local school boards may establish, as a separate account, a school crimeline fund, consisting of private contributions, local appropriationsspecifically designated for such purposes, and such funds as may beappropriated for this purpose by the Commonwealth pursuant to theappropriation act. No state or local funds appropriated for educationalpurposes shall be used to implement a school crime line.

(1993, c. 361; 1994, c. 721.)