News

NEW YORK, NY March 19, 2007 —Police in the city's public schools have created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, according to a report by the New York Civil Liberties Union. WNYC's Beth Fertig has more.

REPORTER: Mayor Bloomberg's administration has been cracking down on schools that are considered violent, and police with metal detectors show up unannounced at high schools and middle schools. The Civil Liberties union surveyed a thousand students as well as teachers and principals. Many complained about long waits to go through metal detectors and safety agents who were rude and even threatening. Jonathan Clark, a junior at Aviation High School, says agents who showed up one day last October with metal detectors confiscated rulers and class projects.

CLARK: We were treated pretty much like criminals until proven innocent. Being yelled at because I'm carrying the stuff I'm supposed to have for class.

REPORTER: The civil liberties union is calling for the equivalent of a civilian complaint review board for school safety agents - who report to the NYPD, not the schools. FOR WNYC, I'm Beth Fertig.

The city's Department of Education says the types of clashes described in the study are extremely rare. Spokeswoman Dina Paul Parks says the Police Department's involvement in the schools has been a success. Police Department spokesman Paul Browne called some of the report's allegations “insulting and baseless.”