Smith says that the scanning machines sometimes detect even gum wrappers as metal, leading to humiliating public inspections that take place in front of other students. Her friends have been told to remove their clothes because an SSO suspected they had something concealed. “We have to go to school every day and we want to feel welcome and comfortable,” she says. “Instead, the adults are disrespecting young people.” SSOs and police intervene in non-criminal incidents twice as often at schools with metal detectors than without them, and high schools with metal detectors are more likely to issue suspensions. “There are extraordinary collateral consequences for treating children as suspects rather than as adolescents who need to be educated rather than criminalized,” Banks says of the high rate of suspensions and arrests. In addition to falling behind in school, children who face criminal charges may end up with a record that affects their ability to obtain employment, remain in public housing with their families, receive financial aid for college or even stay in the country, depending on their immigration status.
According to NYCLU research, the School Safety Division of the NYPD has over 5,000 SSOs, which actually makes it the fifth-largest police force in the United States – and leaves more officers in New York schools than there are guidance counselors. The Student Safety Coalition is calling for a renegotiation of power from the NYPD back to educators, with an emphasis on empowering students and parents. They cite alternative models for discipline policies in places like Los Angeles and Denver, whose school districts have implemented positive behavior support programs, as well as schools within New York City that successfully employed similar initiatives. Smith hopes that if the NYPD does remain in schools, that there is increased accountability for their treatment of students. “All over America, there are officers targeting students and making them feel like they’ve done something wrong just by showing up to school,” she says. “It hurts, and it makes you not want to come back to school anymore.”