Last year, New York City public schools confiscated thousands of “dangerous instruments,” including close to 300 weapons, according to The Post. During the 2023-24 school year, school safety agents and law enforcement officers seized 278 weapons, such as guns, brass knuckles, and knives. A total of 3,695 dangerous instruments were also confiscated during this time period.
The numbers were shocking, but they represented a dip from the previous year when 4,471 dangerous instruments and 476 weapons were seized. Police officers cited gang recruitment in schools as a major cause of school violence. A Manhattan cop described schools as “a powder keg for crime,” with gangs recruiting students to join their crew. A Brooklyn cop agreed, noting that students from different neighborhoods or gangs may cross paths and lead to problems.
In one violent incident last year, a 16-year-old boy was attacked near a school in Staten Island by a group of unknown boys believed to be members of the “400 Gang.” The alleged gang members hit the boy in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground and then kicked and pummeled him. They also threatened the teen by holding out box cutters.
Other school violence stemmed from relationship drama. In one incident last year, a 16-year-old girl in Rockaway was punched in the face by another girl after refusing to talk to her boyfriend. A Queens cop said there are always problems over girlfriends and ex-girlfriends that lead to fights.
The decline in weapons in classrooms and hallways last year coincided with a decrease in incidents reported to police in and around public schools. The 2023-24 school year saw 7,692 incidents, a 13% decrease from the previous school year’s 8,864 reported incidents.
Increasing safety measures can include more scanning and school safety agents. Hank Sheinkopf, the spokesman for the Local 237 Teamsters, the union representing school safety agents, suggested that increasing security ahead of the upcoming semester is essential. Public schools started this year with 3,663 school safety agents, an increase of about 120 from last year.
However, some school safety agents fear they are still understaffed to take on the new year’s challenges. One agent said there aren’t enough guards to do the proper job and that the city doesn’t have enough agents to keep students safe on their walks to and from school. Some sources noted that there may have been cases where school administrators failed to properly report weapons seizures, skewing the numbers downward.
The Department of Education and City Hall did not return requests for comment.
