The head of the NYPD School Safety Agents Union says department officials are pushing agents not to report weapon confiscations to the public.
Gregory Floyd, president of the union, told the New York Post that his agents have been threatened with punishment from members of the NYPD after sharing information on weapons seizures with local media outlets.
“The purpose [of the threats] is to intimidate and to make an example of them so other safety agents will be afraid to report crime,” Floyd says.
Floyd speculates that political motivations are behind the threats.
Campus Safety has previously reported on a New York City Hall panel recommending some metal detectors be removed from New York City Schools, while Mayor Bill de Blasio recently implemented major reforms in the district’s disciplinary procedures that have caused suspension rates to plummet.
“If there’s no information to report, de Blasio can come out with his skewed numbers that crime is down and schools are safe, and parents don’t get a true picture of what’s going on,” Floyd says.
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Even as student punishments dropped significantly in 2015, NYPD data shows a 26 percent rise in the number of weapons confiscated at city schools since July.
“In many cases, the children aren’t arrested, so the crime statistics are down, but it’s just not being reported,” Floyd says. “We shouldn’t be in the secrecy business. We should be in the business of making sure weapons brought to school doesn’t happen.”
The NYPD School Safety Division employs around 5,000 school safety agents and 200 police officers. The force provides security for New York City Schools, the country’s largest school district.
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