School Violence Hotline Goes Live
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A new hotline for students that officials are hoping will prevent incidents of school violence went live Monday.
Community advocates and city officials made the announcement together with PAX, the gun violence prevention group that created the hotline.
By calling 866-SPEAK-UP, students can anonymously report a violent incident or the threat of one.
Federal statistics show in 80 percent of school shootings, the attackers tell other students about their plans ahead of time.
"Kids don’t just know who has committed crimes after they occur. They actually know who is going to commit violence crimes before they occur," said PAX Co-founder & CEO Daniel Gross.
"This’ll be an anonymous hotline in our schools where children and staff can use this number to call in when they see a gun, when they think violence is going to occur, or when they’ve seen violence occur," said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
Under a one-year pilot program, at least 10 city schools will be part of a targeted outreach campaign to promote the hotline.