8/16/2012

96 Percent Of Students Arrested By NYPD In 2011 Were Black Or Latino

A new report conducted by the NYCLU and released on Monday reveals the NYPD arrested 882 students in 2011.

Ninety-six percent of students arrested were either black or Latino. 74 percent of those arrested were male.

An average of four students are arrested and seven summoned each day over the course of the 216 high school and 209 middle school days.

NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said in a statement:

We’ve now collected a year’s worth of data demonstrating how the impact of heavy-handed policing in city schools falls squarely on the shoulders of black students and young men, who are being subjected to a disproportionate number of arrests at school. If the Bloomberg administration is serious about helping young men of color succeed, then it must address these disparities and focus more resources on educating children, not arresting them.

The NYCLU's study is the result of the newly enacted Student Safety Act which requires the police department to report arrests and student encounters to the City Council on a quarterly basis.

The data also shows nearly 48 percent of all arrests taking place in Bronx schools.

While the civil liberties group suggests many of the arrests stem from petty violations including "writing on desks and horseplay," a spokesman for the NYPD said otherwise.

The department's chief spokesman Paul Browne said, "They would often like to portray them as simple spats between schoolchildren. But, unfortunately, that is not often the case. It can involve serious assaults, with weapons, and including sexual assaults and including serious crimes.”

The startling numbers echo the department's controversial stop-and-frisk policy which many say overwhelmingly targets black and latino males.

The New York Times recently featured a profile on an 18-year old black male who opened up about overcoming the painful experience of being stop-and-frisked over 60 times in his young life.

Tyquan Brehon spoke candidly about his encounters with police and said, "When you're young and you're black, no matter how you look, you fit the description."

In March, an analysis of federal data showed minority students across the nation to have less access to advanced courses. Black students were also found to be three and a half times as likely as white students to be either suspended or expelled.

Salaries for teachers in schools with high populations of minority students were also notably less.

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