The Bobster
Senior News Editor since 2004
Over 1000 knives confiscated at NYC schools as blade seizures soar by 7% this year
The number of blades seized in New York City public schools has rocketed 7% so far this year compared to last, troubling new NYPD data obtained by The Post show.
nypost.com
Over 1000 knives confiscated at NYC schools as blade seizures soar by 7% this year
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Published Dec. 9, 2023, 2:00 p.m. ET
Blades seized in New York City public schools has rocketed up 7% this year — as the number of weapons-detecting scanners and school safety agents plummets.
The troubling data comes the same week as three student stabbings inside schools.
This school year, through Dec. 6, cops and safety agents have recovered 1,088 knives and 260 boxcutters, surpassing the 1,256 (1,004 knives & 252 boxcutters) seized during the same period last year, according to NYPD School Safety Division data.
Yet only about 79 of 1,500 school buildings have permanent metal detectors, along with seven roving detectors on wheels, according to the latest known tally by the school safety officers union. In 2018, there were 93 school scanners.
Scanners are highly effective, responsible for finding 56% of weapons smuggled into schools this year.
00:06 03:49
13 On Wednesday, a 12-year-old girl was sliced in the leg by a fellow student at JHS 123 James. M. Kieran School in Soundview, the Bronx. Matthew McDermott
13 For the third time this week, blood was shed in school due to a blade. This time, on Thursday, a 15-year-old boy was slashed in the face, possibly with a boxcutter, inside the AECI Charter School, in Melrose, also the Bronx. Peter Gerber
13 The Murrow school stabbing victim arrives at Maimonides Hospital following the Tuesday morning incident. Paul Martinka
The NYPD refuses to discuss the number of scanners. But Gregory Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, said the number has stagnated.
At the same time the roster of school safety agents has plummeted from a high of 5,200 in 2020 to about 3,700 now.
“They don’t do enough to stop these things before they happen … I would agree with more frequent random scanning,” said one frightened senior at Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn, three days after cops said a 15-year-old boy was stabbed there after a fight with another teen.
“For a lot of us, it’s scary that this happened inside the school,” added a classmate.
13 The Murrow student was stabbed in the stomach after a fight with another teen, police said. Paul Martinka
13 The city currently has 3,700 NYPD school safety agents, a drop from a high a high of about 5,200 in 2020. Gregory P. Mango
A day after the bloodshed at Murrow, a 12-year-old girl was sliced in the leg by a fellow student at JHS 123 James M. Kieran School in Soundview, the Bronx.
The suspect in that attack, a 14-year-old eighth-grade classmate, and the victim got into a scuffle inside a classroom, possibly related to a social media spat, according to sources.
And on Thursday, a 15-year-old boy was slashed in the face, possibly with a boxcutter, inside the AECI Charter School in Melrose, also in the Bronx, cops said.