New Legislation Establishes 24-Hour School Safety Hotline
TRENTON, NJ – A newly introduced bill mandates the Division of State Police to establish and maintain a 24-hour toll-free hotline dedicated to receiving anonymous tips about potential threats to school safety and security. This initiative aims to empower students, parents, school staff, and the general public to report unsafe, suspicious, or potentially harmful activities in schools, such as violence, assaults, suicide threats, and bullying, without revealing their identity.
The hotline will accept reports through both telephone and text message, ensuring the anonymity of the informants unless they choose to voluntarily disclose and verify their identity for the purposes of sharing with law enforcement officers and school officials. The State Police are required to coordinate with local law enforcement agencies and school superintendents or chief school administrators for nonpublic schools to ensure that any reported threats are promptly investigated and addressed.
To raise awareness and encourage participation, information regarding the hotline will be distributed to all public and nonpublic schools within the state, with instructions to further disseminate details to students and their families.