GREG SMITH PUSHES FOR SCHOOL SAFETY INITIATIVE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Greg Smith
913.302.9983
February 14, 2012
GREG SMITH PUSHES FOR SCHOOL SAFETY INITIATIVE
Smith Testifies in Support of Legislation Modeled After Jeanne Clery Act
Overland Park, KS …Yesterday State Representative and Republican State Senate candidate Greg Smith testified in support of his legislation modeled after the Jeanne Clery Act to provide greater transparency about crimes committed on K-12 Public School Campuses to parents, students, and employees.
“There is no greater duty serving in public office than to protect the citizens. That’s why I have filed this legislation to provide people access to important public safety information so they can proactively protect themselves,” said Smith. “As a former police officer, I know that crime takes place on our public school campuses. The reporting of that crime is not as transparent as it could be. Knowledge is power and this knowledge allows us to take action to protect our children.”
Reporting crimes committed on campuses has always been mandated, but this bill would require a public record of these crimes to be accessible by parents, students and teachers. While information regarding the victims would not be disclosed, details about the occurrence of the crimes would be.
The Clery Act, originally enacted by the Congress and signed into law by President George Bush in 1990 as the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, was championed by Howard & Connie Clery after their daughter Jeanne was murdered at Lehigh University in 1986. They also founded the non-profit Security On Campus, Inc. in 1987. Amendments to the Act in 1998 renamed it in memory of Jeanne Clery.
Rep. Smith and his wife, Missey, have been working to pass legislation in their daughter’s name. In 2007, the Kansas State legislature passed a similar bill in response to Kelsey Smith’s tragic death. She was abducted from a Target store just nine days after graduating from high school. During the 4 day search for Kelsey, her family and police were denied access to cell phone records that would have helped locate her. This legislation is now law in five states and six other states are considering the law this year.
Greg and Missey established the Kelsey Smith Foundation to empower families, friends, and communities to proactively protect one of its most precious resources, namely its youth and young adults. They have traveled across the country working to pass Kelsey’s law and educate the public on personal safety.
Smith is running against Senator Tim Owens who is one of the moderate republicans in the Kansas Senate. Smith has a lifetime of public service as a U.S. Navy veteran, a police veteran and is currently a social studies teacher in the Shawnee Mission School District. He also serves as the Executive Director of the Kelsey Smith Foundation. The Kelsey Smith Foundation was founded in memory of the Smith’s daughter, a murder victim, who was abducted from a Target store parking lot in 2007. The four day search for her made international and national news.