By Tony Richards
Editor-in-Chief

Last spring, when Bronx Guild High School student Chantel Peterkin arrived at school to take her Regents Exam, it is doubtful she anticipated that her biggest obstacle would be simply making it to class in time for the start of the test.

But when she repeatedly set off the metal detector at her school entrance —which she attributed to the metal in her hairpins as well as her under-wire bra—17-year-old Peterkin said NYPD School Safety Agents (SSAs) made her wait downstairs for roughly an hour until all the other students had passed through the detector line before scanning her individually with a hand-held wand. The result of the delay, she said, was that she missed the first 45 minutes of the English and Language Arts (ELA) portion of the Regents Exam, and failed the test.

“That was the first major issue I had with them,” Peterkin said, referring to safety agents.

At press time, Marge Feinberg—a spokesperson for education chancellor Joel I. Klein—said her office was unaware of the incident, and that the education department’s School Safety Office would be in touch with Bronx Guild High School in an effort to find out more information.
More generally, she said, “We work with NYPD and principals to help ensure the scanning operation runs smoothly. Students are aware their belongings will be scanned before they are allowed to enter the building.”

Like several of her classmates at Bronx Guild, Peterkin is an organizer with Youth on the Move, a Morrisania-based organization whose advocacy on behalf of teenagers includes efforts to address student concerns with SSAs and to improve relations between the two groups. Peterkin’s voice is part of a growing chorus throughout New York City that is expressing deep concerns about the conduct of NYPD-trained SSAs as well as the impact of that conduct on students and their ability to learn.

Data, Incidents Raise Eyebrows

September 16 will mark the 10th anniversary of the now-defunct Board of Education’s unanimous decision to cede jurisdiction over school safety to the NYPD. Last March, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) released a report entitled ,“Criminalizing the Classroom: The Over-Policing of New York City Schools.” The report noted that, at the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year, the NYPD had placed 4,625 SSAs in the city’s high schools; if the department’s School Safety Division were its own police force, it would be the tenth-largest in the nation. The study concluded, based on student surveys and interviews with students, teachers, administrators, SSAs, and others, that safety agents stationed at schools throughout the five boroughs were subjecting students to verbal and physical abuse; lengthy and unnecessary delays at metal detectors and in hallways, often resulting in missed class time; inappropriate searches; and unjust confiscation of personal items such as cell phones.

“City schools feel more like juvenile detention facilities than learning environments,” reads an excerpt of the report.

The police department’s own data seems to indicate cause for concern. In June of 2007, responding to the request of Robert Jackson , chair of the city council education committee, for information on the number of complaints filed against SSAs, police commissioner Raymond W. Kelly wrote Jackson that the department had received 2,670 complaints against safety agents since 2002. Kelly said 27 percent of those complaints had been substantiated by the NYPD.

Recently, the behavior of SSAs in middle and even elementary schools has come under fire: In January, safety agents handcuffed a five-year-old boy in Queens and a ten-year-old girl in Brooklyn.

In its March 2007 report, the NYCLU made four main recommendations: Transferring control of school safety back to educators; requiring police in schools to undergo training specifically geared towards working in an academic environment; establishing guidelines limiting the scope of police power and also decreasing the number of metal detectors in schools; and allowing students to file complaints against safety agents with the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB). (The CCRB is an agency whose members are nominated by the mayor, the city council, and the police commissioner, and which investigates allegations of police abuse and misconduct.)
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne blasted the report, calling it “a collection of uninformed and unsupported allegations.” Browne said the methodology of the report was flawed and biased, citing in particular the explanatory note accompanying the organization’s survey, which read in part: “The NYCLU wants to know about cops in your school! Every day students around New York City are mistreated by police officers in their schools. Whether in the hallways, at lunch, or going through metal detectors, students’ rights are violated regularly. Help us protect students’ rights!”
“That’s hardly the way to gather impartial information,” Browne wrote, in an email to the Horizon.

Udi Ofer, advocacy director for the NYCLU, responded that the survey was only one of several means his organization used to gather information about incidents involving SSAs. “We get calls every week from students, teachers, or administrators because there were incidents with police,” Ofer said. “They weren’t calling because there was some survey.”

Movements for a Larger Student Voice

Jamal Fairbanks, a Highbridge resident and a senior at Dewitt Clinton High School on Mosholu Parkway, described SSAs at his campus as “okay”. But Fairbanks, the son of Jim Fairbanks—Councilmember Helen Diane Foster’s chief of staff—went on to say he had witnessed safety agents verbally abusing students who forgot to remove their belt before going through the metal detector. “A security guard might start barking at him,” Fairbanks said, “like that student is an inmate in prison.” Fairbanks also said safety agents had stopped him in the hallways as he walked between classes and made him wait in the school auditorium until the next class period.

In the past few years, there has been something of a movement at Clinton High to demand change in the school safety system there. In September of 2005, 1500 students walked out and marched to their local Department of Education Office to condemn delays caused by metal detectors, policies banning personal items such as cell phones, and alleged mistreatment at the hands of SSAs. More recently, students active with Sistas and Brothas United (SBU)—a group that is part of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition—marched to the 52nd Precinct to demand a meeting with Wilson Hernandez, a community affairs officer, to discuss training methods for safety agents and recourses available for students who feel their rights have been abused.

“We need students training them [SSAs],” said SBU organizer Miguel Hernandez.

“Because they’re going to be trained to work with youth. “ Hernandez, a former Clinton High school student, now attends night classes at Walton High School on Reservoir Avenue; he said harassment at the hands of SSAs and frequent late arrivals to class due to long lines at metal detectors were factors in his decision to change schools.
Deputy Inspector James Alles said the 52nd Precinct would not be able to effectively address the students’ concerns because the precinct is not involved in training SSAs. Alles said he had passed the letter on to the NYPD School Safety Division.

Yvette Ortega, also a community affairs officer, said students concerned about getting to class late should show up earlier to school. “Same thing you do at the airport,” Ortega said. “You gotta go there two hours before you fly.”

Seeking Relief

One of the key questions proponents of school safety change are grappling with is what recourse is available to students who feel they have been victimized. The NYCLU is currently trying to win support for the Student Safety Act, proposed legislation which, if enacted by the city council, would allow students to file complaints against safety agents with the CCRB without parental permission, urge prosecution of SSAs guilty of official misconduct, and require the city police and education departments to report four times per year on school incidents in which officers intervene—and to include information about the age, race, ethnicity, gender, and special education status of persons involved.
Browne did not return requests for comments regarding the Student Safety Act, nor did he respond to questions regarding the process for training and supervising SSAs and student reports of harassment at Bronx Guild and Dewitt Clinton High Schools.

Marge Feinberg, a spokesperson for education chancellor Joel I. Klein, said her office had not yet seen a copy of the proposed Act. Feinberg said that Klein’s office took student welfare seriously. “Safety, security, and respect for our students, staff, and school teams are important to us,” Feinberg said.

A spokesperson for City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn said she generally does not comment on legislation prior to it being introduced. Other councilmembers expressed interest in the Student Safety Act, but qualified that interest.
Andrew Moesel, a spokesperson for public safety chair Peter Vallone Jr., said bringing safety agents under the jurisdiction of SSAs was “an idea worthy of consideration,” but added that doing so would require changing the city charter, which Moesel said would be a “long, difficult process.” He added that he believed increasing funding for the CCRB was a more immediate priority.

Councilmember Helen Diane Foster, whose 16th District includes Highbridge, expressed enthusiasm about the bill, but said it was in need of improvements including greater roles for parents and guardians and a more firm call for the police and education departments to combat abuse by safety agents.
For Nicola Nancoo, a junior at Bronx Guild High School and Chantel Peterkin’s colleague at Youth on the Move, school safety reform cannot come soon enough.

“A high-school diploma is really the base of your life,” Nancoo said. “If every day security guards tick you off and intimidate you, you won’t want to go to school.”