Brooklyn runner's killing raises questions about NYC school hiring

I want to bring State Senator Stephen Chan into the conversation because he is among those calling for answers about how the man accused of killing Katie Suarez was able to work in a school. Senator, thank you so much. I know you're on the line right now. You called this an atrocity. What was your reaction when you learned the man accused in this killing had been working as a teacher's aide? Good morning, Dan. Thank you for having me here. So, you know, I was in shock, just like everybody else. And almost immediately, dozens and then into the hundreds of constituents and concerned parents, as well as teachers and staff members, reached out to me either through text. My constituents have my cell phone number. They can call me and text me. They know that. In email, on Facebook, in social media, they're reaching out to me. They're very concerned. They can't believe how dangerous their children was. How is, you know, how, not dangerous. And we know that the mayor is calling on the Department of Education to take a thorough look as to how this happened, how he was hired. But what do we know so far about how he was hired? And what information has the city, if any, shared with elected officials such as yourself? They haven't shared anything with me, although, of course, I sent a letter of inquiry to the school's chancellor. So, you know, I'm retired from the city myself, having served 27 years in the NYPD. I know of the hiring process in the NYPD. There is a HIPAA check, a criminal background check, as well as checking previous employment and a very important multifaceted psychological evaluation. And for you, I mean, has your office been given any indication that there was a specific warning or anything that was missed or messed up in this particular case? No, we have not. Yeah, and... I'm waiting for a reply from the school chancellor's office. So, you know, it's so simple that, you know, look, he listed the NYPD and the United States Marines as a former employment. So, you know, when you see something, a discharge from the Marine Corps other than honorable, you have to look into that. What was he discharged for? As well as the NYPD. Now, obviously, a HIPAA check would have revealed that he was in Bellevue Hospital for a psychological evaluation. I don't know what happened to that either. And as we look at this case, I want to ask you just a couple quick follow-up questions. One is just broader at how this all unfolded itself. I mean, this is a running path, Bath Beach. A lot of people use it, but you've also expressed concerns about the safety in general there and cameras and things along those lines. What would you like to see and what could be possible there? So I've been involved with the, so that path is actually not inside my district, but I always wanted it to be a part of my district so that I can help maintain it. So now they built a new footbridge across 17th Avenue over there, and I know they pulled new wiring into that side of the water, of the highway. And on the highway itself, there exists a light. Uh, it's not that hard to put that butterfly type, uh, arm on top of the lights to also stretch that light into, uh, the, the bike path over there and the running path. So that, that's the first thing that I would like to see. And of course we have all these, uh, cameras everywhere in New York, these August cameras, we need to put some cameras on that path where we can, uh, keep an, keep an eye on things, uh, look out for escape routes and things like that. We need, we need cameras down there as well. And we had it. We had it live here yesterday, we were listening to the mayor when he was answering questions specifically about this. He says he's ordered a review of the circumstances surrounding the man's employment, obviously a focus on this case. But if we zoom out a bit here. Is this the only situation like this? Is this the only person who maybe there was something overlooked? You know, you have to imagine that education officials have to be looking into that. The mayor has to want to know that. But do you think a broader search here needs to be done in terms of who's working for the school system at this point? Absolutely. So in my letter of inquiry to the school's chancellor, I also included, I requested answers to some questions that I have. Who nominated this paraprofessional? Because they need the nomination. Who hired him? Who actually hired him? And there were numerous complaints, I understand now, in the past. And I want to know what was addressed, how were those complaints addressed? Did the superintendent know about this? Did the principal know about this? So there's a lot of... Questions that remain unanswered right now. And going down the road currently, I'm working on legislation with my legislative director. I want a standard psychological evaluation for these paraprofessionals as well as people that work with our children. And, you know, it's so easy in that environment for somebody to turn dangerous. So I would like a multifaceted psychological evaluation. A long written one, as well as an oral psychological examination by a clinical psychologist prior to employment. It's not that hard. They do it in the police department. They should do it in our schools. All right. Speaking with State Senator Stephen Chan of Brooklyn. And we appreciate your time this morning, Senator.