There were three separate stabbings at New York City schools within three days this month. But parents would be hard pressed to find information on those incidents on the state website supposedly tracking school safety.
The state education department maintains a “School Safety and Educational Climate” database documenting the number of homicides, sexual offenses, assaults and weapons possession cases at city schools. The data hasn’t been updated since the 2021-22 school year – and is jarringly different from NYPD data about weapons recovered at schools.
The state database lists only felony-level weapons possession incidents. During the 2021-22 school year, there were 197 weapons possession charges at 1,853 schools, including charter schools, according to the database.
But internal NYPD data tracking weapons recovered by school safety officers tells a strikingly different story. According to the records from the School Safety Division obtained by Gothamist, cops recovered 970 weapons that school year at just 10 schools.
The discrepancy between the state and NYPD data highlights a reality for parents curious about safety at their kids’ schools: There is no comprehensive, comprehensible or regularly updated database on the issue.
The NYPD data titled “Top 10 sites weapons recovered” shows that officers found 159 weapons at the High School of Fashion Industries in Chelsea in the 2021-22 school year – the most of any school. But the state education department data covering the same period shows zero weapons possession cases at the school.
The NYPD recorded 113 weapons found at Benjamin Cardozo High School in Bayside, Queens, during the 2021-22 school year – the third-most of any school. Meanwhile, state education department data notes only one weapon possession case at the school.
Three of the “educational campuses” listed in the NYPD data for most weapons seized are not named in the state education department data at all. Educational campuses are…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply