A Free Public Education Guarantees Responsible Citizens
16th August 2012
With the first full school year of data available, the NYCLU (whose lawsuit is still pending) analyzed the data released through the law to find that the NYPD’s “School Safety Division” arrested an average of four students a day and handing out about seven citations a day. According to the NYCLU, upward of 95 percent of the arrests were of black or Hispanic students, 74 percent were boys, and a full 20 percent were between the ages of 11 and 14, meaning at least 165 students arrested last year were 14 or younger.
The NYCLU points out there are more than 5,000 police officers in the New York City school system, more than the total amount of guidance counselors and social workers combined and notes a full 64 percent of summonses issued in the school year were for “disorderly conduct.”