New York Assembly has approved Alyssa's law, which requires statewide schools to consider installing silent panic alarms to be used during an emergency. The law is named after Alyssa Alhadeff, a 14-year-old girl who was shot dead in 2018 in her school in Parkland, Florida.
During the passage of the bill, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced that the school should be a safe place for kids as in recent days a number of shootings have taken place in schools.
Schools Should Be Safe
Heastie revealed that they have passed a comprehensive package of legislation to strengthen the state's gun laws but he assured that installing these technologies would add a layer of security to schools in the event of a shooting or an emergency, and give schools a direct line of communication to law enforcement.
Alyssa's Law will force each school district's safety teams to consider installing panic alarm systems and other direct communication technologies as part of their mandatory regular reviews of safety plans, according to the New York Post.
Bill Is Now At The Governor's Desk
The bill, which was previously passed in the state Senate, is now at the governor's desk to be signed into law.
Mayor Eric Adams' spokesperson Fabien Levy, who claimed that the measure will be reviewed, noted that currently, the city doesn't need buttons.
Levy underlined that the children's safety is the administration's top priority but he also pointed out that the administration had already assigned School Safety Agents to the public schools.
The spokesperson also highlighted that these agents are members of the New York Police Department, therefore, schools are directly in touch with the police for any emergency.
"We don't believe there is a need for legislation to supplement the good work we're already doing in New York City public schools, but we will review this legislation," Levy told the Post in a mail.
Alhadeff's family urging for the bill, which already exists in Florida and New Jersey, in New York. Although some of the schools in New York already use the panic button.
Alhadeff was killed in the Parkland school shooting in February 2018 when a teen gunman opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle and killed 17 people. Nikolas Cruz, 19, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder in the incident.
