99% of students handcuffed in nyc schools are black or latinx

In a deeply troubling report further corroborating racial bias in the education system that disciplines black and Latinx students more often and more often, the New York Civil Liberties Union discovered that 99 percent of students who were handcuffed (problem #1) by New York Police Department officers in 2016 were black or Latinx (problem #2). 2016 saw 262 so-called “child in crisis” situations where a child is decided to be emotionally distressed, removed from the school, and taken, in handcuffs, to a hospital for psychological evaluation.

In the same report, the NYCLU also concluded that 208 complaints were made against the school system’s safety officers last year, too. Eighty-nine of which were for the use of force, 15 for abuse of authority, 17 for offensive language, and 87 for “discourtesy“. Statistical evidence shows that many to most of these cases are handled in ways that cross the boundaries of helping.

“When a child is handcuffed, the child is humiliated,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman told the New York Daily News. “It’s incompatible with the safe and supportive learning environment a school is supposed to provide.”

By Erin White*, AFROPUNK contributor

Photo via Raw Story/(Shutterstock)