Schools and parents from 59th Street to the top of Manhattan Island have banded together in SUN, Schools Unite Network, to promote school safety and to reduce and prevent crime among kids.  SUN uses the internet as an interactive  tool to gather information about crime and other safety issues and alert schools, parents and other community members in real time.

The system allows people who might be reluctant to report incidents to the police, to communicate suspicious activity and youth-related crime through the internet. SUN provides information to the appropriate New York Police Department personnel and reports back to schools  and community stakeholders, detailing actions taken in response to the problem.  In addition, SUN provides safety tips and resources  in its SUN alerts and on its website

SUN is the brain child of Jill Greenbaum who founded  the Police Liaison Group, Inc (PLG),  a nonprofit organization to promote community collaboration in crime prevention.  A project of  PLG in collaboration with NYC Police Department Division of School Safety in Manhattan North, Sun’s overall goals are to promote school safety, reduce and prevent crime, and help kids who have been engaged in crime to turn their lives around.

Recently SUN expanded its reach through a partnership with the NYC  Department of Parks, and is offering information aboutgraffiti reporting and removal, and the consequences for youths who deface public property.

A list of member schools is on the PLG website. Let us know how this is working in your school or neighborhood.