Proposed Int. No. 933-A
By Council Members Cumbo, Ampry-Samuel, Rivera and Lander
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the department of correction to report on sexual abuse
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Chapter 1 of title 9 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 9-155 to read as follows:
§ 9-155 Sexual abuse reporting. a. Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
Correctional health authority. The term “Correctional health authority” means the entity responsible for health and mental health services for inmates in the care and custody of the department.
Sexual Abuse. The term “sexual abuse” has the same meaning as set forth in section 115.6 of title 38 of the code of federal regulations, or any successor regulation.
Sexual Harassment. The term “sexual harassment” has the same meaning as set forth in section 115.6 of title 38 of the code of federal regulations, or any successor regulation.
b. Sixty days after the end of the quarter beginning January 1, 2019, and no later than the sixtieth day after the end of each subsequent quarter, the department shall post on its website a quarterly report of alleged incidents of sexual abuse and harassment that occurred during the preceding quarter. All data shall be submitted in a machine readable format that permits automatic processing. Such report shall include:
1. The facility in which the alleged incident occurred;
2. Whether the alleged perpetrator was an inmate, staff member, contractor, or volunteer;
3. The type of alleged sexual abuse;
4. The gender of alleged victim;
5. The gender of alleged perpetrator;
6. The age of alleged victim;
7. Whether the alleged perpetrator was over the age of 18;
8. The race and ethnic origin of the victim;
9. Whether the alleged victim is known to be transgender or intersex;
10. Whether the alleged victim is known to be lesbian, gay, or bi-sexual;
11. Whether the alleged victim is known to have any mental, physical or developmental disabilities;
13. Whether the incident was reported to the department of corrections or to an outside agency;
14. Whether video camera surveillance recorded the alleged incident;
14. Whether DNA evidence was obtained;
15. Whether physical evidence was obtained;
16. Whether a rape kit was administered, declined or not applicable;
17. The duration of an investigation;
18. Whether an investigation by the department deemed the incident to be substantiated, unsubstantiated or unfounded;
19. Whether the alleged perpetrator and alleged victim were separated from physical contact during the investigation;
20. If the alleged perpetrator was a staff person, whether during the investigation, or after it was closed, the staff person was suspended, placed on modified duty, assigned to a no-inmate contact post, assigned to a restricted-inmate contact post, placed on administrative leave, or administered any other form of discipline;
21. If the alleged perpetrator was a staff person, whether previous allegations of sexual abuse or sexual harassment were lodged against that person;
22. Whether the department of investigation assumed the investigation, and if so, the status of the investigation;
23. Whether the allegation of staff-on-inmate or inmate-on-inmate sexual abuse was referred to a district attorney’s office, including whether that district attorney’s office declined to prosecute, and if the staff perpetrator was prosecuted, the outcome;
24. Whether the allegation was referred for disciplinary action, including whether the department declined to file disciplinary charges, or if disciplinary charges were filed, the outcome; and whether the alleged staff-member perpetrator resigned in lieu of charges or as part of a negotiated plea.
c. Unless otherwise precluded by law, the correctional health authority will assist the department in collecting the data enumerated in subdivision (b) of this section.
d. The department shall review this incident data in order to assess and improve the effectiveness of its sexual abuse and sexual harassment prevention, detection, and response policies, practices, and training by identifying problem areas and trends, taking corrective action on an ongoing basis, and including in a quarterly assessment report its findings and corrective actions for each facility, as well as the department as a whole.
e. Such quarterly assessment report shall also include a comparison of the current six months’ data and corrective actions with those from the prior six months and shall provide an assessment of the department’s progress in addressing sexual abuse and sexual harassment.
f. The department shall ensure that all data collected pursuant to this section is securely retained.
g. Before making data collected pursuant to this section publicly available, the department shall remove all personal identifiers.
h. The department shall maintain all data collected pursuant to this section for at least 10 years after the date of the initial collection unless federal, state, or local law requires otherwise.
§ 2. This local law takes effect immediately.
BC (2016)/MMB (2018)/AS(2018)
LS 7186/Int. 1125-2016
NEW LS# 6649
8/28/18 5:44 P.M.