These are the weapons brought to schools no one wants you to see
By Susan Edelman
May 15, 2016 | 5:36am
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A student was found carrying this 9mm pistol with two magazines at Gladstone Atwell Middle School in Brooklyn.
These are the guns and knives Mayor de Blasio doesn’t want you to see.
A surging tide of weapons — including loaded revolvers, 9mm handguns, meat cleavers and daggers — has been confiscated this year from students in city schools, most of which do not have metal detectors.
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But instead of praising unarmed school safety agents for grabbing the weapons, the NYPD is cracking down on them for alerting the press and public, according to Gregory Floyd, president of the agents union, Teamsters Local 237.
Several agents have given photos and information about weapon seizures to union officials, who then shared them with newspapers and TV stations, Floyd reports.
Now NYPD officials, who oversee school safety, are grilling the agents and have threatened to dock their vacation days if they leak information, Floyd says.
“The purpose is to intimidate and to make an example of them so other safety agents will be afraid to report crime,” he told The Post.
Floyd called it a push by City Hall to keep parents and the public in the dark.
“If there’s no information to report, de Blasio can come out with his skewed numbers that crime is down and schools are safe, and parents don’t get a true picture of what’s going on,” he said. “We shouldn’t be in the secrecy business. We should be in the business of making sure weapons brought to school doesn’t happen.”
From July 1, 2015, through May 8 of this year, safety agents and cops recovered a total of 1,751 guns, knives and other weapons in schools. That’s up 26 percent from the same period last school year, when 1,394 weapons were confiscated, according to data provided Friday by the NYPD.
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This revolver was found on a student at M169 on the Upper East Side.
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This dagger was confiscated at Newtown HS in Queens.
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This revolver was found at York Academy in Queens.
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This steak knife was seized at Urban Assembly School in The Bronx.
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This .38 caliber pistol was found loaded with a single bullet at PS 40 in Queens.
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This cleaver was seized at Grover Cleveland HS in Queens.
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This .25 caliber pistol was seized at Brooklyn's South Shore HS in December.
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A girl allegedly brought this 10.5-inch knife, and a razor, to Chelsea's Fashion Industries HS.
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These are the weapons brought to schools no one wants you to see
May 15, 2016
This revolver was found on a student at M169 on the Upper East Side.
Families for Excellent Schools, a pro-charter-school group that recently filed a lawsuit charging that city schools fail to protect kids against violence and bullying, said the latest data confirm its fear that “more and more weapons are being brought into classrooms and endangering students.”
The controversy has erupted as de Blasio seeks to extend mayoral control of city schools under legislation that expires in June. The state Senate Education Committee has set a second hearing on the issue for Thursday.
At the same time, a City Hall-appointed School Climate Leadership Team is mulling whether to slash the use of metal detectors in schools — a move Floyd strongly opposes: “It will increase the chances of someone getting hurt or killed,” he said.
Modal Trigger Gregory Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, which represents school safety agentsPhoto: Gregory P. Mango Of the weapons seized this academic year, 698 came from schools with metal detectors, the NYPD stats show. Students brought 1,053 weapons — 60 percent of the total — into schools unequipped with metal detectors.
Floyd also disputes the city Department of Education’s new discipline policy, which discourages student suspensions, and a pilot program to give “warning cards” to students for marijuana possession or “disorderly conduct” such as yelling, cursing, fighting and assaults. Some offenses previously might have warranted a criminal summons.
“In many cases, the children aren’t arrested, so the crime statistics are down, but it’s just not being reported,” Floyd said.
The mayor insists crime in schools has declined.
Among recent weapons cases exposed by the union:
The supervising agent was called in for interrogation by NYPD officials and faces another round of questioning on May 24.
“It’s a cover-up, while putting the lives of our children and school staffs at risk,” she said.
The NYPD defended its actions.
“Members of the NYPD, whether uniformed or civilian, are subject to department guidelines in making any statements to the media,” a spokesman said. “Disseminating official photos of potential evidence must be approved” by the public-information office.
By Susan Edelman
May 15, 2016 | 5:36am
Modal Trigger
A student was found carrying this 9mm pistol with two magazines at Gladstone Atwell Middle School in Brooklyn.These are the guns and knives Mayor de Blasio doesn’t want you to see.
A surging tide of weapons — including loaded revolvers, 9mm handguns, meat cleavers and daggers — has been confiscated this year from students in city schools, most of which do not have metal detectors.
Modal Trigger
But instead of praising unarmed school safety agents for grabbing the weapons, the NYPD is cracking down on them for alerting the press and public, according to Gregory Floyd, president of the agents union, Teamsters Local 237.
Several agents have given photos and information about weapon seizures to union officials, who then shared them with newspapers and TV stations, Floyd reports.
Now NYPD officials, who oversee school safety, are grilling the agents and have threatened to dock their vacation days if they leak information, Floyd says.
“The purpose is to intimidate and to make an example of them so other safety agents will be afraid to report crime,” he told The Post.
Floyd called it a push by City Hall to keep parents and the public in the dark.
“If there’s no information to report, de Blasio can come out with his skewed numbers that crime is down and schools are safe, and parents don’t get a true picture of what’s going on,” he said. “We shouldn’t be in the secrecy business. We should be in the business of making sure weapons brought to school doesn’t happen.”
From July 1, 2015, through May 8 of this year, safety agents and cops recovered a total of 1,751 guns, knives and other weapons in schools. That’s up 26 percent from the same period last school year, when 1,394 weapons were confiscated, according to data provided Friday by the NYPD.
Modal Trigger
This revolver was found on a student at M169 on the Upper East Side.Modal Trigger
This dagger was confiscated at Newtown HS in Queens.Modal Trigger
This revolver was found at York Academy in Queens.Modal Trigger
This steak knife was seized at Urban Assembly School in The Bronx.Modal Trigger
This .38 caliber pistol was found loaded with a single bullet at PS 40 in Queens.Modal Trigger
This cleaver was seized at Grover Cleveland HS in Queens.Modal Trigger
This .25 caliber pistol was seized at Brooklyn's South Shore HS in December.Modal Trigger
A girl allegedly brought this 10.5-inch knife, and a razor, to Chelsea's Fashion Industries HS.18
These are the weapons brought to schools no one wants you to see
May 15, 2016
This revolver was found on a student at M169 on the Upper East Side.
Families for Excellent Schools, a pro-charter-school group that recently filed a lawsuit charging that city schools fail to protect kids against violence and bullying, said the latest data confirm its fear that “more and more weapons are being brought into classrooms and endangering students.”
The controversy has erupted as de Blasio seeks to extend mayoral control of city schools under legislation that expires in June. The state Senate Education Committee has set a second hearing on the issue for Thursday.
At the same time, a City Hall-appointed School Climate Leadership Team is mulling whether to slash the use of metal detectors in schools — a move Floyd strongly opposes: “It will increase the chances of someone getting hurt or killed,” he said.
Modal Trigger Gregory Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, which represents school safety agentsPhoto: Gregory P. Mango Of the weapons seized this academic year, 698 came from schools with metal detectors, the NYPD stats show. Students brought 1,053 weapons — 60 percent of the total — into schools unequipped with metal detectors.
Floyd also disputes the city Department of Education’s new discipline policy, which discourages student suspensions, and a pilot program to give “warning cards” to students for marijuana possession or “disorderly conduct” such as yelling, cursing, fighting and assaults. Some offenses previously might have warranted a criminal summons.
“In many cases, the children aren’t arrested, so the crime statistics are down, but it’s just not being reported,” Floyd said.
The mayor insists crime in schools has declined.
Among recent weapons cases exposed by the union:
- On March 11, a safety agent at Fashion Industries HS in Chelsea found a 4-inch razor blade in a girl’s backpack. When she began to kick and scream, a report said, three agents restrained and handcuffed her before finding a 10½-inch meat cleaver in her bag.
The supervising agent was called in for interrogation by NYPD officials and faces another round of questioning on May 24.
- On March 15, an 11-year-old boy sneaked a .38-caliber handgun loaded with one bullet into PS 40 in Jamaica, Queens. He was seen waving the gun at another student he had a beef with.
- On March 17, a 15-year-old student stashed a .38-caliber handgun in his backpack and smuggled it into York Early College Academy, a middle school in Jamaica. He was spotted flashing the revolver during a dispute with students in a stairwell.
- On March 22, at Dr. Gladstone H. Atwell Middle School in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, a 14-year-old student brought a 9mm pistol and two magazines of bullets in his backpack. When a dean questioned him about a prior fight with neighborhood kids, he admitted packing heat.
- On March 29, a 14-year-old student at Urban Assembly School for Careers in Sports in Concourse Village in The Bronx pulled an 8½-inch steak knife on a 16-year-old boy. He had tucked the knife up his sleeve to sneak it into the school and brandished it in a fight with the other teen outside the main office.
- On April 4, a 13-year-old boy reportedly threatened a female student with a .22-caliber revolver at M169 Robert F. Kennedy on the Upper East Side, then passed the gun to a friend. When cops arrived at the elementary-middle-high school, they questioned the boy and two of his pals. They found the gun in the hood of a 15-year-old’s sweat shirt and extra bullets in a 14-year-old’s pockets.
- On April 8, a 16-year-old boy was allegedly found with a medieval-style dagger at Newtown HS in Elmhurst, Queens, after a 17-year-old girl told authorities that he had put it to her neck. Cops found the weapon after searching the boy.
“It’s a cover-up, while putting the lives of our children and school staffs at risk,” she said.
The NYPD defended its actions.
“Members of the NYPD, whether uniformed or civilian, are subject to department guidelines in making any statements to the media,” a spokesman said. “Disseminating official photos of potential evidence must be approved” by the public-information office.
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