Causes: Children & Youth, Crime & Law, Disaster Aid, Education, Youth Violence Prevention

Mission: The main program of the Police Liaison Group is the Schools Unite Network (SUN). SUN shares information to help improve the quality of life and safety of youth. It is administered by the Police Liaison Group (PLG), a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization founded in 1993. The PLG’s mission is to help improve the quality of life and safety of New York. The PLG administers the Schools Unite Network's (SUN), technology-based youth safety and information sharing initiative activated in cooperation with the NYPD, parents and schools in Manhattan. In addition to SUN and its focus on schools, the PLG develops and implements initiatives with other community members, law enforcement, other public and private agencies, businesses and elected officials to foster closer relationships for this purpose. To participate in the Schools Unite Network sign up to receive free alerts or provide information at SUNnyc.org

Geographic areas served: New York State

Programs: The police liaison group, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, administers the schools unite network (sun). Sun is a technology-based interactive program, activated in cooperation with the nypd, that transmits reliable information to, and receives communications from, parents, schools, the police and other governmental and non-governmental organizations, to help increase the safety of children, reduce juvenile crime and prevent delinquency. Sun is based on the premise that in a post-9/11 digital age, it takes a technology-based network of caring individuals to raise a child. Sun functions on a highly cost-effective basis with the help of in-kind donations of time and services from technology companies/experts and other dedicated volunteers. The sun website is www. Sunnyc. Orgby actively engaging parents and school personnel, sun helps to identify area hotspots and prevent and address suspicious activity and youth-related crimes such as juvenile gang activity, graffiti, and pedophilia. Sun is currently fully operational in manhattan and provides online safety tips and resources to other areas. Through the efforts of sun, children are able to live and learn in a safer environment, a pre-requisite to academic success and personal safety. Key facts about the schools unite network:1. Sun provides reliable information from the nypd to our participants, and is working to engage every community member, parent and school in our interactive network. 2. Sun receives incident reports online, and through voice and text, from parents, youths, school staff and others, anonymously, if they wish. These reports are sometimes from individuals who are unable or unwilling to contact the police, often because of cultural differences or fear of repercussions, or because they believe that a particular problem does not rise to the level of police involvement. Reports may include suspicious activity and youth-related crime, or a request to identify a reputable resource to help a child. The information is transmitted to appropriate decision-makers in the nypd for their response, when necessary. 3. Sun maintains online, downloadable safety maps with locations and schedules of parent patrols, crossing guards, and police patrolled safety corridors on its website. 4. Sun provides several on-demand webinars and podcasts on its website, including: a. Ways to help identify and help prevent juvenile gang activity on the web, on the street, through graffiti and in schools. B. "in a post 9/11 digital age, it takes sun's technology-based network of caring individuals to raise a child," a 3-minute podcast which describes how to report and address youth-related crimes, bullying and suspicious activity through the schools unite network. C. How to guide your child's technology decisions. 5. The police liaison group has become a member of nypd shield* to help identify and communicate potential threats and dangerous conditions to security staff and administrators at schools. The plg holds conferences in cooperation with the nypd for school security staff, administrators and parents to foster closer community-police relations, encourage the exchange of information, and share best practices, resources and tips for the safety of youths. *the nypd shield program partners with security personnel to help protect new york city from terrorist attacks, both foreign and homegrown, based on providing best practices, lessons learned, counter-terrorism training, and information sharing.