School arrests in NYC mostly black or Latino males
theGRIO REPORT - Recent numbers from the New York City Police Department show that an average of one student per day is arrested in the city. Almost always that child is a black or Latino male...
Recent numbers from the New York City Police Department show that an average of one student per day is arrested in the city. Almost always that child is a black or Latino male.
According to the statistics, officers arrested 63 students in 50 days of classes. They issued 182 summonses in the same period. Some offenses were as serious as robbery and others were for riding bikes on the sidewalk. The majority of those arrested were male at 88 percent. Blacks and Latinos represented 93 percent of students arrested — 68 percent black and 25 percent Latino. Black students make up 29 percent of the 1.1 million students in the city’s school system.
“When students are treated as suspects, it discourages them from going to school and undermines the nurturing climate that is essential for learning,” said New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman.
A representative for the NYPD explained the statistics were collected mostly during the period of summer school, from July 1 to Sept. 30. During this period, blacks represent an estimated 37 percent of students.
The NYPD has yet to release statistics from April to June of 2011.
Follow Donovan X. Ramsey on Twitter at @idxr
