(Ilya Marritz/WNYC)

NEW YORK, NY August 14, 2008 —Carrying signs calling for "Graduation Not Incarceration," over 100 High School Students joined City Council members on the steps of city hall to rally in support of the "Student Safety Act," a bill aimed at reducing altercations between school safety officers and students.

WNYC's Ilya Marritz was there...

REPORTER: Advocates aren’t actually able to provide very much in the way of stats. They have anecdotal evidence of incidents that have happened in many different high schools over the past several years, but they just don’t have the numbers because they say the police aren’t obligated to provide them those numbers. There’s no mechanism for that to happen.

The bill would require police to report any altercations between safety officers and students, including their race.

Advocates say the officers are technically employees of the NYPD, not the Department of Education, so the civilian complaint review board should have the authority to review such incidents.