Creates an incident reporting system for NYC health and hospitals corporation

BILL NUMBER:S2104

Title of bill

An act to amend the New York city health and hospitals corporation act, in relation to the creation of a corporation incident reporting system

Summary

This bill creates a Corporation Incident Reporting System implemented by HHC with technical advice and assistance rendered by the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) when so requested by HHC. The Incident Reporting System will be used to record, track and monitor any and all incidents occurring within corporation Facilities. HHC's security officers will be responsible for completing a report to be submitted to his or her supervisor within twenty-four hours of the conclusion of the officer's tour of duty detailing any incidents which occur during their tour of duty. The report shall include such things as the nature and description of the incident, whether the incident was determined by on-site health personnel to be medically or psychologically related to substance abuse, the name or identification number of both the officer and the offender, the location of the incident, the number of persons involved and a designation of how each was sustained as a result of the incident. Furthermore, the report shall include the disposition of the incident, including an explanation of how it was handled and resolved, whether by arrest or otherwise.

Justification

The New York City Health and Hospitals' corporation security officers must regularly and routinely handle numerous incidents of extreme disruption, chaos and often violence in the 21 facilities it serves throughout the 5 boroughs of New York City. In many cases the offender is both psychiatrically impaired and an alcohol and/or substance abuser. It is thought that this category of offenders often created the most serious problems within HHC and is by far one of the most difficult groups of people a security officer is faced with. Implementation of the incident reporting system will allow both HHC and DCJS to identify the most troublesome facilities, the number and type of incidents occurring at those facilities and the nature of the offender(s) involved in or causing the incidents. Once this information is recorded, a thorough review of the statistics will more adequately reveal the training needs of HHC's security force and perhaps specifically identify what many suspect to be the most serious problem - individuals acting out in a manner that is injurious to themselves as well as to others and doing so as a direct result of a psychiatric disability coupled with an alcohol and/or substance abuse problem.

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.