Student Named Police Commissioner For A Day For Essay On Illegal Guns
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- How do you keep teenagers from getting their hands on illegal guns?
As CBS 2's Maurice DuBois reported, the NYPD has decided to ask that question to teenagers themselves in the form of an essay contest, and a winner has been selected.
The winner, Alanna McAuliffe, has a plan in mind.
"I would set up an alliance between law enforcement and teenagers to explain the dangers and responsibilities that come with ownership of a weapon, emphasizing the tragedies that have occurred from the lack of both knowledge and accountability," McAuliffe read from her essay.
McAuliffe is a junior at Bishop Kearney High School in Brooklyn. Her essay won her the position of police commissioner for a day.
She even got to sit at Commissioner Ray Kelly's desk – a desk that once belonged to Theodore Roosevelt.
The Staten Island native said popular culture is part of the problem.
"We live in an era where violence and brutality is extoled on television, in movies, and our favorite video games," McAuliffe said.
This is not the first time McAuliffe has been honored by the NYPD for her writing.
"Alanna has previously won, in this contest, and was given a day with the Commissioner of Management and Budget, and previously the Chief of Internal Affairs," Kelly said, "so she's a veteran."
McAuliffe said she has not decided on a college or major yet, but she says she wants to be a journalist.
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