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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Eva, Youth Leader from Sistas & Brothas United on School Safety and Policing
9:14:50
ยท
3 min
Eva, a youth leader from Sistas & Brothas United, testified about the negative impacts of policing in schools and called for a shift in focus from increased policing to addressing root causes of violence through investment in resources and support services.
- She shared personal experiences of feeling uncomfortable and criminalized due to police presence in schools.
- Eva emphasized that more police often lead to longer lines and delays, citing examples from her current school.
- She called for a hiring freeze on school cops and reallocation of funds to support staff and resources that address underlying issues causing violence.
Eva
9:14:50
Good afternoon elected officials, peers and community members.
9:14:53
My name is Eva, my pronouns are sheher and I'm a youth leader for Sisters of Brothers United at Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition and the Urban Youth Collaborative.
9:15:03
I'm a recent high school graduate and I am currently attending Co op Tech which is a DOE operated program.
9:15:10
During my high school years, I experienced policing in my school as harmful and just I like it.
9:15:14
Harmful.
9:15:15
And despite there already being 12 police there, rarely arrived when there was an incident leading to a teacher slash teachers actually supporting to deescalate the situation.
9:15:26
The minimal times when school police were involved they had actually escalated situations instead of deescalating them.
9:15:34
One time when an officer was going through my bag they pulled out a pin and started passing it around to their colleagues making jokes about what the pin said.
9:15:43
I felt embarrassed and unwelcomed.
9:15:45
Imagine that being the first thing that happened to you as you came into school.
9:15:49
Being bullied by the people, principals across NYC and the mayor call on to keep us safe.
9:15:56
It is clear that more police in school would lessen violence and oftentimes make students more uncomfortable, suffocated and criminalized, invading and judging their privacy and private items.
9:16:08
Police being there in general makes the line longer.
9:16:11
Even now that I go to Co op Tech, they share a building with a DOE school that recently had metal detectors for two days in which they usually have none.
9:16:20
Despite there being over 10 police there, that security check made me take twenty minutes longer to get into class one day and on the other twenty three minutes making me late for my class when it usually takes around three minutes to scan my ID and go up the stairs.
9:16:37
It's striking that many DOE principals would share the same message as the mayor to call for more policing in our communities and schools when they should understand that the safest communities are those with the most resources.
9:16:50
Violence often stems from underlying issues in someone's life.
9:16:53
If we focus on investing in resources that address those issues such as mental health support, financial assistance like higher wages and more accessible benefits, housing stability and medical care, people would have the help they need to cope with life's challenges reducing the likelihood of violent outcomes.
9:17:12
Instead of focusing on controlling individuals whose emotions are escalating, we should address the root causes of their struggles by providing support that tackles the issues affecting people's well-being.
9:17:24
We could prevent violence and create healthier safer communities.
9:17:31
It is the committee's responsibility to ensure that young people have fully funded schools free of police.
9:17:38
Don't add to the many uncertainties students already face because of what is happening at the federal level.
9:17:44
We call for the city council to fight for a budget that secures a hiring freeze on school cops.
9:17:51
This hiring freeze would not allow the city to fill for attrition, cut funding for the vacant school comp positions.
9:17:58
Use the money from both these divestments to baseline funding for school support staff that schools like mine desperately need.
9:18:05
It's time that the school that the city council stand with students and fight for a budget that funds our futures not our criminalization.