City Settles Lawsuit Over School Safety Agents
SchoolBook | Nov 19, 2015
New York City will pay $54,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by students who claimed they were victims of excessive force by school safety agents.
The suit was originally filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union in 2010, and amended almost three years ago, on behalf of six middle and high school students. They said they were handcuffed and bruised in separate incidents between 2008-2011. The plaintiffs argued these cases were part of a pattern and they accused the mayor, the police commissioner and the school safety division of violating students' rights.
Four of the students will receive payments for damages, the largest of which is $24,000 to Lameak Williams. He was a 16 year-old sophomore at Hillcrest High School in Queens in the fall of 2008 when he claimed he was physically beaten and unlawfully arrested by school safety officers.
Williams claimed the incident occurred when three safety officers mistakenly thought he was carrying a cell phone. He said they punched him more than five times in a storage room, and he was left bleeding and spitting up blood. He was taken to a hospital and charged with disorderly conduct, but the charges were later dismissed.
Another student, Destiny Bruno, will receive $20,000. She claimed she was punched and handcuffed in 2008, when she was 14, after getting into a dispute with a safety agent by the metal detector at Maxwell High School in Brooklyn. Two other plaintiffs will receive payments of $5,000 each, and two will not receive any damages.
“Aggressive policing in school victimizes our city’s most vulnerable children and hurts all students by creating an environment of fear instead of learning and support,” said New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “Treating students like they are criminals instead of nurturing them will not make our schools safer. For these six schoolchildren and countless others who have been thrown to the ground and physically attacked by police in their schools - places that should have been their havens - New York City must have the courage to make its commitment to reform a reality.”
The civil liberties union initially sought changes in the training of the school safety division's 5,000 officers, and a more transparent way for students to file complaints against them. In agreeing to the settlement, it acknowledged reforms taken by Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration. These include a Leadership Team that issued recommendations for improving school climate, and changes to the school discipline policy that encourage alternatives to suspensions and additional training for safety officers in conflict resolution. The city also agreed to discourage the use of 911 calls for disorderly students.
City Law Department spokesman Nick Paolucci said the agency is pleased with the settlement, which "recognizes the remarkable work the city has done to further the safety and dignity of students, including implementing aggressive reforms and improvements in the area of school safety and discipline."
As part of the settlement, the plaintiffs will be allowed to attend a meeting next month with the commanding officer of the NYPD's School Safety Division.
Four of the students will receive payments for damages, the largest of which is $24,000 to Lameak Williams. He was a 16 year-old sophomore at Hillcrest High School in Queens in the fall of 2008 when he claimed he was physically beaten and unlawfully arrested by school safety officers.
Williams claimed the incident occurred when three safety officers mistakenly thought he was carrying a cell phone. He said they punched him more than five times in a storage room, and he was left bleeding and spitting up blood. He was taken to a hospital and charged with disorderly conduct, but the charges were later dismissed.
Another student, Destiny Bruno, will receive $20,000. She claimed she was punched and handcuffed in 2008, when she was 14, after getting into a dispute with a safety agent by the metal detector at Maxwell High School in Brooklyn. Two other plaintiffs will receive payments of $5,000 each, and two will not receive any damages.
“Aggressive policing in school victimizes our city’s most vulnerable children and hurts all students by creating an environment of fear instead of learning and support,” said New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “Treating students like they are criminals instead of nurturing them will not make our schools safer. For these six schoolchildren and countless others who have been thrown to the ground and physically attacked by police in their schools - places that should have been their havens - New York City must have the courage to make its commitment to reform a reality.”
The civil liberties union initially sought changes in the training of the school safety division's 5,000 officers, and a more transparent way for students to file complaints against them. In agreeing to the settlement, it acknowledged reforms taken by Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration. These include a Leadership Team that issued recommendations for improving school climate, and changes to the school discipline policy that encourage alternatives to suspensions and additional training for safety officers in conflict resolution. The city also agreed to discourage the use of 911 calls for disorderly students.
City Law Department spokesman Nick Paolucci said the agency is pleased with the settlement, which "recognizes the remarkable work the city has done to further the safety and dignity of students, including implementing aggressive reforms and improvements in the area of school safety and discipline."
As part of the settlement, the plaintiffs will be allowed to attend a meeting next month with the commanding officer of the NYPD's School Safety Division.
Beth Fertig
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