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NY requires colleges to report crimes to police

Posted at 10:19 AM, Dec 19, 2014
and last updated 2015-12-14 10:19:54-05

New York is requiring colleges and universities to notify police within 24 hours after a violent felony is reported or someone goes missing from university housing.

The law takes effect in January.

Legislators cite federal data indicating one in five college females have been sexually assaulted and only 12 percent are reported to law enforcement.

However, the state law says it won't conflict with related federal law that gives those student victims the option of whether to report the crime to those authorities.

Assemblyman Edward Braunstein, a Queens Democrat and bill sponsor, says too frequently crimes on campus "are swept under the rug" by colleges to protect their reputations.

The amendment strengthens the state law adopted after Suzanne Lyall disappeared from the State University at Albany in 1998.