Dear Colleague

Chapter VI

IF SOMETHING HAPPENS

Our primary object in preparing this booklet is to assist staff members in preventing incidents. The secondary purpose is to assist and help protect the rights of those who are victims of crimes in school. This chapter provides information on Board of Education requirements for medical and legal protection. It also deals with your rights vis-a-vis the criminal justice system.

NOTIFICATIONS

The board’s policy is to pay the full salary of all staff members (including paraprofessionals) who are injured as a result of a criminal act at school or on school business.

To be certain that your rights are protected, be sure to fill out and file the proper forms. All of these, unless stated on the forms, should be returned to the school secretary as soon as possible. Delays could cause you inconvenience or perhaps cost you money. The forms are:

Division of School Safety Incident Form—The principal must file this report, which describes the incident, within 24 hours. You have the right to review the incident report and, if you wish, attach a statement. Comprehensive Accident Report—This report details the nature of your injuries. It also is the responsibility of the principal to file this form within 24 hours.

UFT Incident Form—This report notifies the UFT School Safety Department. Chapter Leaders should mail or fax these reports as soon as possible so that the union can provide assistance and information to the victim.

Application For Excuse of Absence (OP198)—The victim and his/her physician fill out this form. If absence is prolonged, a new form is required as necessary.

Confidential Medical Form (OP407)—If you consider the nature of the incident or injury confidential, have your doctor fill out this form and mail it to the Board’s Medical Office.

Assignment Form (OP200)—This legal form, which must be notarized, states that if you sue and collect and the settlement is larger than the salary paid during the period of your convalescence, you will refund your salary to the board.

Request for Reimbursement of Medical Expenses–Assault (OP505A)—The board will reimburse you, in most instances, for all or almost all of your out-of-pocket medical expenses if you have been assaulted. (If you cannot get an OP505A, write "assault" across the top of an OP505.)

Reguest for Reimbursement for Loss or Damage to Personal Property (OP504)—The board will reimburse you for stolen or destroyed property up to $100, but only if the property is of the type that is normally brought to school. Reminder: don’t bring valuables to school!

PARAPROFESSIONAL NOTIFICATIONS

In addition, paraprofessionals need the following forms:

Employer’s Report of Injury (C2)—Paras should fill out only the employee section of this two-part form.

Employee’s Notice of Injury (WCD23)—This report provides the para’s description of the incident.

OTHER NOTIFICATIONS

Office of Legal Services—According to the chancellor’s regulations and the UFT contract, principals must call the board’s Office of Legal Services immediately when there is a crime against a staff member. The principal must send to that office a full account along with names and witness statements within 24 hours. The Office of Legal Services is located at 110 Livingston St., Brooklyn, NY 11201; the phone number is (718) 935-3624.

Intent to Sue—If you suspect that an injury is very serious or that the school was in some way culpable, you might want to consider a civil action against the city. Call your UFT borough office, which will arrange a free consultation with an attorney. In any case, you have ninety (90) days from the date of the incident to file a "Notice of Claim" with the city.

MEDICAL BUREAU

Staff members who are injured in the line of duty and are absent for more than a few days must report to the medical bureau. Call (718) 935-3331 for an appointment. Those whose injuries resulted from assaults or other criminal acts should call the UFT’s Victim Support Program at (212) 598-9539 to arrange for someone to accompany you.

It is the job of the physicians at the medical bureau to examine you to determine the nature of the injury and to establish whether the injury is job-related. If the medical bureau denies or terminates your injury-in-the-line-of-duty status and you and your doctor disagree with that finding, call your UFT borough office to see if the contract provisions for an independent medical review (medical arbitration) apply in your case. You have 10 days from the medical bureau’s decision to apply for medical arbitration.

JUSTICE SYSTEM

POLICE

If you are the victim of a school-related crime, please keep the following in mind:

Your principal is required to notify the police when a crime has been committed in school.
You have the right to call the police if you are the victim of the crime.
The police will determine whether a crime has been committed and inform you of your options depending on the severity of the crime.
You can file a police complaint. However, you must express willingness to press criminal charges before any police action will be taken
If the police consider the crime to be minor, you may be referred to the summons part of criminal court to get a summons which you must serve. This is the case only when the perpetrator is 16 or older.
For those under 16, when the crime is considered minor, the police will issue a youth services referral, commonly called a YD card. The net effect will be a home contact and a referral to a social agency.
In the case of serious crimes, police make arrests and will notify you of court dates
If you press charges you will be expected to cooperate with police and prosecutors
The UFT Victim Support Program will assist you in every step of the process.

Be sure to get the names and phone numbers of the officers assigned to your case. Call them periodically to inquire about progress or to get answers to any questions that you may have.

COURTS

Going to court is seldom a one-time thing. The UFT Victim Support Program will accompany and advise you during the process. The union encourages school crime victims to press criminal charges.

If the perpetrator is under 16 years of age, Family Court usually has jurisdiction. In extremely serious juvenile cases (first-degree felonies), the perpetrator is tried in adult courts. All adult cases start in Criminal Court, where relatively minor charges, called misdemeanors, also are tried. Serious adult cases, called felonies, are tried in State Supreme Court.

All New York City courts use metal detector screening which causes lines outside, so dress appropriately for the weather and be prepared to wait.

FAMILY COURT

As the complaining witness (victim) in a case involving someone under age 16, you will have to go to court at least twice. Here’s the process:

Intake—This first appearance involves an interview with a probation officer where you will be offered several options:

Drop the charges.
Allow the probation officer to handle the case without going to trial. This is called "adjustment at intake."
Have a petition drawn and proceed to trial. In most cases, the UFT advises members to take this option and go to trial.

Drawing the petition—If you decide to go to trial, you will meet with an assistant corporation counsel, the city’s lawyer who acts as the prosecutor in Family Court. Based on a discussion with you, he/she will draft a formal petition or statement of violations of laws involved.

The city’s Victim Services Agency—This is your last interview. You can arrange to be put on telephone alert so that you are called for trial only when everything is in place, saving you many frustrating trips to court.

Arraignment—This is a court procedure before a Family Court judge at which the juvenile, known in court as the respondent, appears. The respondent is informed of the charges and can plead guilty or not guilty. A hearing date is set. The respondent is released on bail or more likely in the custody of his/her parents. In very serious cases he/she will be remanded to a juvenile detention facility. You may be required to appear only when the corporation counsel seeks such a remand.

Hearings—Trials in Family Court are called hearings. The court hearing is divided into two parts:

Fact finding determines whether the respondent committed the act as stated in the petition. These proceedings are not open to the public but they resemble a trial. All parties concerned give testimony and are cross examined. The rules of evidence apply.
Disposition, which is akin to sentencing, if the finding is against the respondent, these are the most common dispositions:
- Adjournment Contemplating Dismissal—This is an informal probation. If the respondent does not get into further trouble, the record will be wiped clean. If there is further trouble, the judge can impose a more severe sentence.
- Formal Probation—The respondent is assigned a probation officer who supervises the youth for a designated period.
- Community service.
- PINS (person in need of supervision) proceedings—These are used when the judge feels that the parents can’t provide proper supervision.
- Mandated treatment—The judge can mandate psychiatric or other counseling.
- Sentencing to a juvenile correction facility.

CRIMINAL COURT

Criminal proceedings against an adult defendant involve many steps. Depending on the case, you may have to be present at all of them. To complicate matters further, most courts have different assistant district attorneys assigned to each step of the process. As in Family Court, you can arrange to be placed on witness alert.

If you fail to appear at any required step, the charges may be dropped. Here are the steps:

Information—You and an assistant district attorney (ADA) review the police complaint filled out by the arresting officer. The ADA prepares and you sign a court document known as the "information," which describes the incident.

Arraignment—Same process as in Family Court.

Dispositional hearing—You must appear because the judge may send the case to trial that very day. At this hearing prosecutors may offer to reduce charges for a guilty plea; this is commonly called plea bargaining. If the case is not settled, it is sent to trial.

Trial—These are, for the most part, non-jury trials which last an hour or so. You will have to testify and be cross examined. If a guilty verdict is reached, the judge sets a sentencing date.

STATE SUPREME COURT

Serious cases, those called felonies, are tried in State Supreme Court even though the information and arraignment take place in Criminal Court. The entire process of felony cases may take from six to nine months. Here are the steps:

The Grand Jury—This is a panel of citizens who determine if there is sufficient evidence to bring a felony case to trial. You will have to testify before the grand jury, which has the following options:

Present an indictment stating that there is sufficient evidence for the case to go to trial.
Reduce the charges to a misdemeanor and return it to Criminal Court.
Vote "no true bill," thereby dismissing the charges.

Hearings—After an indictment there is a series of hearings, most of which do not require your presence. You must be present for the Wade Hearing, which is for the purpose of establishing the identification of the defendant.

Trial—These are usually jury trials and can last up to ten days. The procedures are the same as in Criminal Court.

Note: Having to go through the process and testifying in court can be stressful. You should keep these tips in mind when you testify:

Remain calm.
Listen carefully to the questions.
If you don’t understand a question, ask for it to be repeated.
Answer the questions, but don’t volunteer additional information.
If you don’t know an answer, simply say you don’t know.

DEFENSE OF STAFF MEMBERS

Among the most upsetting events that can happen to a school staff member is to be placed under arrest, be named in a lawsuit or served with a summons to appear to court.

If you are questioned by a police officer or an agent of the Special Commissioner of Investigations, say, "I will be glad to talk to you when I have my lawyer present." Call the UFT borough office and a lawyer will be provided. The UFT will provide legal assistance from the initiation of a criminal investigation through the arraignment in school-related cases.

If you are arrested or served with a summons, inform your principal. The principal will request legal assistance from the city by writing to the Office of Legal Services at the board. The letter should be counter-signed by the superintendent. Copies of all supporting documents should be attached.

If for whatever reason the board does not secure representation for you, you should secure your own lawyer. You should ask your UFT borough office for an application for the NYSUT Legal Defense Fund. This fund will reimburse you for up to $25,000 in legal fees if you are found not guilty.