NBC New York – Ninety-five percent of arrests made in New York City public schools in the last school year were of black or Latino students, according to a new report from the New York Civil Liberties Union.

The NYPD School Safety Division personnel made 882 arrests and wrote 1,666 summonses at the city’s public schools during the 2011-12 school year. Sixty-three percent of the arrests were black students, and close to 48 percent of summonses were issued in the Bronx.

“When a student gets ticketed or arrested in school for minor misbehavior, the student’s ability to succeed academically is greatly weakened,” said the NYCLU in a statement.

More than 5,100 police personnel work in the city’s public schools, as compared to approximately 3,000 guidance counselors and 1,500 social workers, according to the NYCLU.

The NYPD responded in a statement , “The NYCLU’s kneejerk reaction to claim racism is as old as it is false… the NYCLU persists in smearing school safety agents and police officers who do good work professionally in an unbiased manner.”

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