Marching from City Hall to the NYPD\u2019s Headquarters, there\u2019s no indication yet their chants will sway the mayor\u2019s approach to school safety.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/3ip1yx1o9rk83ds2ai43j0fbdgu-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/POLICESCHOOLS-4-1168x876.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA protestor outside of the NYPD\u2019s Headquarters, calling for a cut to school police funding (Credit: Niamh Rowe, NY City Lens, April 20 2022).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Singing chants and bearing signs that read \u201cCounselors Not Cops\u201d and \u201cStudents Can\u2019t Read If Students Can\u2019t Breathe,\u201d more than 200 students, parents, teachers and City Council members rallied outside City Hall on Wednesday, before marching a few blocks to New York Police Department headquarters at 1 Police Plaza. Their demand: remove all police from public schools.<\/span><\/p>\nMayor Eric Adams\u2019s proposed budget for fiscal year beginning in October includes $400 million for hiring almost 1,000 additional police to patrol schools, according to a press release by the Urban Youth Collective, one of the groups that organized the demonstration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMeanwhile, the education budget will be cut by just over half a billion dollars, mostly due to a reduction in federal funding offered during the pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/3ip1yx1o9rk83ds2ai43j0fbdgu-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/POLICESCHOOLS-5-1168x876.jpg\")
<\/p>\nProtestors calling for police free schools outside of the NYPD\u2019s Headquarters (Credit: Niamh Rowe for NY City Lens, April 20 2022)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
While the NYPD school safety agents in question are not technically police officers, they \u201cprovide security and ensure the safety <\/span>of students, faculty and visitors in the New York City Public School buildings and surrounding premises,\u201d according to the NYPD\u2019s website. This includes patrolling and operating scanning equipment, verifying identity and escorting visitors and by challenging unauthorized personnel.<\/span><\/p>\nIndeed, rising gun violence is a major issue afflicting the city at present. For the month of February 2022, New York City saw a 58.7% increase in overall index crime compared to the same month last year. Last week saw a mass shooting at a subway station in Brooklyn, injuring 23 New Yorkers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nA core theme of Adams\u2019 mayoral campaign was public safety, which has been put at the center of his first budget.\u00a0 \u201cThe NYPD is our first line of defense against gun violence,\u201d\u00a0 he said in a speech announcing the budget earlier this year. \u201cWe will make new efforts to strengthen and reinforce it, while continuing our mission to involve the community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/3ip1yx1o9rk83ds2ai43j0fbdgu-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/POLICESCHOOLS-2-1168x876.jpg\")
<\/p>\nProtestors calling for police free schools, marching between City Hall and the NYPD\u2019s Headquarters. (Credit: Niamh Rowe for NY City Lens, April 20 2022).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The demonstrators Wednesday made several demands for alternatives to police in schools. They included $350 million in investments for student support networks, such as social workers, mental health counselors and restorative justice coordinators. Demonstrators also called for the elimination of the NYPD\u2019s School Policing Division and a halt to funding for new or existing student scanning and surveillance equipment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLast month, Adams announced he was testing new advanced weapon detection technology at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, created by Evolv Technology, and hinted that it may be installed in schools if successful.<\/span><\/p>\nThe mayor hasn\u2019t indicated any openness to acceding to the demands of demonstrators. In January, after being shown an image of a backpack of weapons found at a Manhattan school, Adams said: \u201cWhen people attack me for having school safety agents in our schools they need to see this. I\u2019m not removing my school safety agents. We\u2019re going to do an analysis of the needs and I\u2019m going to protect my children.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nSpeaking at the rally, Jocelyn <\/span>Palafox D\u00edaz, 17, a student from Staten Island, recounted an experience from the sixth grade, when two of her peers, both 12, had an argument that resulted in one of them being handcuffed. \u201cWe need to have more security in the sense that you feel like you\u2019re being treated with loving hands, instead of feeling like you\u2019re gonna get criminalized for normal teenage behavior once you go inside of schools,\u201d she said. <\/span>\u201cWe have to redirect our notions of safety to police to being teachers and trained professionals that can help de-escalate situations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/3ip1yx1o9rk83ds2ai43j0fbdgu-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/POLICESCHOOLS-3-1168x876.jpg\")
<\/p>\nProtestors calling for police free schools outside of City Hall (Credit: Niamh Rowe for NY City Lens, April 20 2022).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
City Council members Sandy Nurse, Shahana Hanif, Tiffany Caban and Kristin Richardson Jordan each attended the rally and expressed support for the aims of demonstrators, while voicing concerns about funding of police officers over pastoral staff in public schools.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe know that safety is hiring more counselors and social workers,\u201d Jordan said. \u201cWe know that children don\u2019t need to be policed, they need conversations with trusted staff.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nCritics of school safety agents say it encourages a \u201cschool-to-prison pipeline\u201d where students become formally involved with the criminal justice system because of school policies that use law enforcement, rather than discipline, to address behavioral problems.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\nA protestor outside of the NYPD\u2019s Headquarters, calling for a cut to school police funding (Credit: Niamh Rowe, NY City Lens, April 20 2022).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Singing chants and bearing signs that read \u201cCounselors Not Cops\u201d and \u201cStudents Can\u2019t Read If Students Can\u2019t Breathe,\u201d more than 200 students, parents, teachers and City Council members rallied outside City Hall on Wednesday, before marching a few blocks to New York Police Department headquarters at 1 Police Plaza. Their demand: remove all police from public schools.<\/span><\/p>\n Mayor Eric Adams\u2019s proposed budget for fiscal year beginning in October includes $400 million for hiring almost 1,000 additional police to patrol schools, according to a press release by the Urban Youth Collective, one of the groups that organized the demonstration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, the education budget will be cut by just over half a billion dollars, mostly due to a reduction in federal funding offered during the pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Protestors calling for police free schools outside of the NYPD\u2019s Headquarters (Credit: Niamh Rowe for NY City Lens, April 20 2022)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n While the NYPD school safety agents in question are not technically police officers, they \u201cprovide security and ensure the safety <\/span>of students, faculty and visitors in the New York City Public School buildings and surrounding premises,\u201d according to the NYPD\u2019s website. This includes patrolling and operating scanning equipment, verifying identity and escorting visitors and by challenging unauthorized personnel.<\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, rising gun violence is a major issue afflicting the city at present. For the month of February 2022, New York City saw a 58.7% increase in overall index crime compared to the same month last year. Last week saw a mass shooting at a subway station in Brooklyn, injuring 23 New Yorkers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A core theme of Adams\u2019 mayoral campaign was public safety, which has been put at the center of his first budget.\u00a0 \u201cThe NYPD is our first line of defense against gun violence,\u201d\u00a0 he said in a speech announcing the budget earlier this year. \u201cWe will make new efforts to strengthen and reinforce it, while continuing our mission to involve the community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Protestors calling for police free schools, marching between City Hall and the NYPD\u2019s Headquarters. (Credit: Niamh Rowe for NY City Lens, April 20 2022).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The demonstrators Wednesday made several demands for alternatives to police in schools. They included $350 million in investments for student support networks, such as social workers, mental health counselors and restorative justice coordinators. Demonstrators also called for the elimination of the NYPD\u2019s School Policing Division and a halt to funding for new or existing student scanning and surveillance equipment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Last month, Adams announced he was testing new advanced weapon detection technology at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, created by Evolv Technology, and hinted that it may be installed in schools if successful.<\/span><\/p>\n The mayor hasn\u2019t indicated any openness to acceding to the demands of demonstrators. In January, after being shown an image of a backpack of weapons found at a Manhattan school, Adams said: \u201cWhen people attack me for having school safety agents in our schools they need to see this. I\u2019m not removing my school safety agents. We\u2019re going to do an analysis of the needs and I\u2019m going to protect my children.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Speaking at the rally, Jocelyn <\/span>Palafox D\u00edaz, 17, a student from Staten Island, recounted an experience from the sixth grade, when two of her peers, both 12, had an argument that resulted in one of them being handcuffed. \u201cWe need to have more security in the sense that you feel like you\u2019re being treated with loving hands, instead of feeling like you\u2019re gonna get criminalized for normal teenage behavior once you go inside of schools,\u201d she said. <\/span>\u201cWe have to redirect our notions of safety to police to being teachers and trained professionals that can help de-escalate situations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Protestors calling for police free schools outside of City Hall (Credit: Niamh Rowe for NY City Lens, April 20 2022).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n City Council members Sandy Nurse, Shahana Hanif, Tiffany Caban and Kristin Richardson Jordan each attended the rally and expressed support for the aims of demonstrators, while voicing concerns about funding of police officers over pastoral staff in public schools.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe know that safety is hiring more counselors and social workers,\u201d Jordan said. \u201cWe know that children don\u2019t need to be policed, they need conversations with trusted staff.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Critics of school safety agents say it encourages a \u201cschool-to-prison pipeline\u201d where students become formally involved with the criminal justice system because of school policies that use law enforcement, rather than discipline, to address behavioral problems.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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