Signs don’t cut it, action does. Start locking these punks up and allow teachers to control their classrooms. Impliment uniforms in every school district, no cell phones, no i-pods, nothing but school related things belong in school anyway.

Teachers and faculty need to set the example by dressing like teachers once again. Coat and tie and proper attire for the woman. Let’s make schools a School again, a place for education.

NY Lawmakers seek gang-free school zones

ALBANY — A bipartisan group of lawmakers wants to crack down on gang violence by stiffening penalties for recruitment at schools and posting “Gang Free School Zone” signs across the state.

“We are here to say that if you are evil enough to threaten the life of a child, if you are evil enough to interfere with their education, and if you are evil enough to place in danger the future of our communities, you ought to be punished in a very special way,” Assemblyman Peter Rivera, D-Bronx, said in a statement Monday.

The legislation would make gang recruitment on school grounds and on any public area within 1,000 feet of schools a class D felony, punishable by three to seven years in prison, and allow posting of “Gang Free School Zone” signs at the more than 6,400 schools in New York.

The bill passed the Senate 58-1 last week, with Sen. Thomas Duane, D-Manhattan, the only no vote. It is still in committee in the Assembly, where it has 78 co-sponsors, Rivera said. He, other lawmakers and law-enforcement officials said at a news conference Monday that they want the Assembly to act on the bill this session.

A spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, said the legislation would enable law enforcement to use eavesdropping and video surveillance to investigate gang-related crime.

Gangs are a problem across the country, and there has been more activity in schools of late, said Jeff Frayler, president of the New York State Association of Police Benevolent Associations.

“We need to protect our children, particularly when they’re at school, away from their parents,” he said.

The New York State District Attorneys Association also supports the proposal.

Sen. Andrew Lanza, R-Staten Island, said the legislation is a “common-sense response” to the gang problem in today’s society.

Other anti-gang bills sponsored in the Assembly and Senate this session would increase sentences for committing felonies as part of gang activity and create the crime of engaging in criminal street gang activity. Lawmakers are also considering bills to create a statewide gang database, establishing the crime of gang recruitment while in prison and other measures.

A May 2006 State Commission of Investigation report on gang violence said that gangs are no longer solely an urban problem. They travel from New York City to smaller communities, where the narcotics trade can bring greater rewards with what they perceive as less police scrutiny. The commission found that gangs are attracting younger members.

The report recommended that the state criminalize gang recruitment, increase penalties for gang-related crimes, create a statewide gang database and other changes.