Community Education Council District 2
333 Seventh Avenue
New York, New York 10001
Tel (212) 356-3915 Fax (212) 356-7506
www.cecd2.net
Claude Arpels
Jonah Benton
Robin Broshi
Beth Cirone
Eric Goldberg
Matthew Horovitz
Sophia James
John Keller
Carrie Solomon
Shino Tanikawa
Resolution Against the Elimination or Downsizing of the Schools Units of the
NYC Police Department
Whereas the School Unit of the New York City Police Department within each precinct
is responsible for outreach, support, and rapid response intervention to the schools
housed in their respective precincts;
Whereas these units, staffed by Youth Officers, serve a variety of high roles to the
schools: first and foremost, they maintain positive, proactive relationships with every
school in their precinct whether it is a public, private, religious, or special education
school;
Whereas Youth Officers from the School Unit:
•
respond to parent calls when a parent feels his/her child’s safety is at risk,
•
respond to students’ and teachers’ calls for potential dangerous situations, such as
rumored fights at dismissal or heightened students in crisis within the building,
•
provide proactive support to the schools during in-class lessons, street fairs, and
community events,
•
oversee all interactions not just within the building, but on the streets of the
communities;
Whereas the in-depth knowledge of each school allows the officers to diffuse
situations, before they escalate into higher need incidents thereby keeping the
negative police interactions to a minimum at schools;
Whereas the School Unit responds to the 911 or other emergency calls made by
schools on a daily basis, with anywhere from 10 to 40 calls per week for incidents
ranging from out of control students (Emotionally Disturbed Person or EDP), assault
cases in the schools, and larceny/theft cases;
Whereas having specially trained officers who only deal with students/school
staff/parents allows for quick de-escalation of these incidents because these officers
know how to calm down agitated students and are aware of special education needs
related to Emotional Disturbances, Autism, Intellectual Disabilities, etc., all of which
require different response tactics;
Whereas officers from the School Unit take the time to develop a rapport with school
administration, local PTAs, and individual students;
Whereas officers from the School Unit further assist schools by patrolling for truant
students and returning them to their schools, monitoring the daily posts of all
crossing guards within the precinct (ensuring they are on post every day on time
remaining there until every child is safely in their building), and collaborating with the
School Safety agents in each school to ensure adequate support is available for an
expected or unexpected incidents which may occur;
Whereas the School Unit was eliminated from 33rd and 34th Precincts in Manhattan
apparently for budgetary reasons; and
Whereas there appears to be a plan to eliminate the Unit from 19th and 20th Precincts
serving Upper East and Upper West Sides;
Whereas elimination of the School Units from some precincts is implemented without
notification to the affected communities, let alone feedback from the affected
communities;
Therefore be it resolved that the Community Education Council District 2 opposes any
plans to eliminate, downsize or significantly alter the Schools Unit or Youth Officers
from precincts serving schools in District 2;
Be it further resolved that the CECD2 urges the DOE to oppose plans to eliminate,
downsize, or significantly alter the School Unit or Youth Officers;
Be it further resolved that the CECD2 urges the NYPD to share information with and
solicit feed back from the NYC Department of Education on NYPD proposals that
potentially impact students and school communities.