Alyssa's Law: speeding up police notification during life-threatening emergencies

Alyssa Alhadeff

At long last, I'm able to share what I've been working on in the wake of the shooting in Parkland, Florida.   There's a bill in New Jersey, A-764, that calls for the installation of emergency lights and panic alarms in all schools, to be used in the event of a life-threatening emergency in order to ensure rapid notification of law enforcement, and hopefully, a timely response.

The bill was filed 5 years ago, and has passed the NJ Legislature 3 times already with strong bi-partisan support, but was subject to a veto by (now former) Governor Chris Christie each time.  After reviewing the bill, and seeing its obvious merits, I reached out to the Alhadeff family about it. After discussing the bill with them and confirming their support, I put them in contact with Assemblyman Ralph Caputo, a former teacher and the bill's prime sponsor. The result is that he has agreed to designate the bill "Alyssa's Law" in honor of Alyssa Alhadeff.

Fore more info, you can visit the website for my non-profit charity, the Keep NJ Safe Foundation, which advocates for crime victims and common sense safety legislation: www.keepnjsafe.org.   Please feel free to follow the bill's progress as it makes its way through the legislature. I intend to take an active role in advocating for its passage, and will be posting updates on Keep NJ Safe.