NYCLU Statement on NYPD Increase of Youth Coordination Officers

NEW YORK – In his State of the City address, Mayor de Blasio further advocated for the addition of 300 NYPD officers to further patrol young people throughout the city.

The New York Civil Liberties Union issued the following statement from Director of the Education Policy Center, Johanna Miller:

“School should be a place where students can learn and grow as individuals, not one where they should expect their every move to be surveilled by police officers. Adding more school safety agents to what is already the largest school police force in the country will not promote positive behavior as the Commissioner and the Mayor suggest, it will only bring create further fear and trauma for students, particularly students of color, and expand our already large school-to-prison-pipeline. If you want to help young people, then you must invest in solutions that will allow them to thrive like school counselors and mental health supports therapy, not push them closer to the criminal legal system.”