NYC-Feature Story

‘Move Along’
Has police security gotten too tough at high schools?

By Donald Moore

My friend and I were walking toward the subway one fall day two years ago, relieved to be out of school, when we heard a voice behind us. “You,” the voice said. It was deep and authoritative. I turned to see a man dressed in a light blue shirt and dark pants. “Security officer,” I thought. I was ready to turn around and ignore him—after all, I wasn’t in school anymore. Then I noticed the gun in a holster at his waist. He was a police officer.

Walking toward us, he signaled to my friend. “Let me see your ID.” My friend handed the officer his ID card. Turning it over in his hand, the officer looked at him, his eyes hidden behind shades. “Go to the dean’s office to get this back,” he said. He turned and walked away.

It was the second time that week that one of my friends had given their school ID to a police officer only to be told they’d have to get it back at school the next day. Students need their IDs to get into Brooklyn Tech HS, where I went to school at the time.

And earlier that month, police had started to tell kids from my school who were sitting on the steps of apartment buildings near the school, standing in the doorways of corner stores or hanging out in the middle of crowded sidewalks, to go home.

No More Hanging Out

Suddenly it was no longer OK to hang out in front of our school or even in the area—even if we were already walking toward the subway. What had once been a mass of chatting students spread over several blocks just a couple of weeks before, had become a steady line of pedestrians, headed to the subway.

When my fellow Youth Communication writers and I surveyed students at high schools around the city, we found that this appears to be happening at many other schools besides mine. Being reprimanded by police has become a normal part of many city teens’ lives over the past few years, as police officers have started clamping down on teens hanging out where they’ve always hung out—around their schools.

Of the 19 students surveyed throughout the five boroughs, only four said that their schools and the local police allowed them to stay on the block of their school after classes ended. Many of the others responded as though the idea that they might be able to hang out around their school was, in itself, foolish: “Of course, no,” said Yaki Lin, 17, a student at Flushing International HS in Queens.

These teens said they were regularly told to “move along” by both school security agents and police. Some said that police even escorted students to the next block.

Clamping Down for Safety

Dr. Lee McCaskill, the principal of Brooklyn Tech at the time, informed his students that the local police clampdown on student loitering at Tech was safety-related. Students from Tech were being robbed and getting involved in fights, he explained in an announcement last February that appeared on the school’s website.

“We are working very closely with the 88th Precinct and other law enforcement officials to identify those involved in acts such as rowdiness, fighting, assault and even robbery,” the announcement read. It went on to ask that students “whenever possible, travel in groups and leave” in a timely manner. “Students not involved in after-school activities should leave the school area immediately. Do not hang out near the subway, on our neighbors’ property or other inappropriate areas. The officers of the 88th Precinct may also ask you to move swiftly to your destination.”

A call to the New York City Police Department confirmed that the police presence at my school was in response to a number of recent fights and robberies.

Students surveyed at other schools revealed that complaints from the school’s neighbors was another common reason why they were regularly approached by police officers and told to find somewhere else to socialize. “We can’t stay next to the building because people in the neighboring apartment buildings complained to the school about noise,” said Ilya Arbit, 18, a senior at Edward R. Murrow HS in Brooklyn.

Guilty of Loitering

Many found it especially inconvenient if they lived far away from the school or were waiting for friends. “The police presence forced us to rush our after-school plans,” said Lionel Cox, 19, a former student at Tech. “We weren’t allowed to wait for friends who hadn’t left school yet or who were still in stores.”

New York City has the authority to institute this policy at any public school under to Section 240.35(5) of New York Penal Law, which says that a person is guilty of loitering when he “loiters or remains in or about school grounds, a college or university or grounds of a children’s overnight camp.” I don’t know exactly when or why the police started enforcing that law, but most of the students I talked to said it had been happening as long as they’d been in high school.

Some of the teens we surveyed have learned to outwit the police by walking, instead of standing, in front of the school building. As long as they never stop in any one spot, the logic goes, they won’t attract police attention. Others simply move on to a different block where police are less likely to go.

Eating More Junk Food

But many more teens end up spending money in local stores or businesses near their schools—pizza parlors, corner stores, even local billiards halls or bowling alleys—just so they have a nearby place to hang out with friends after school.

As private property, stores are not covered by the loitering laws police enforce when they patrol outside of schools. While I haven’t found any study linking the new crackdown on hanging out around schools to poverty or teen obesity, teens say that hanging out in these businesses definitely means buying and eating more junk food.

A few especially productive students we surveyed found that after-school clubs like debate teams and Model U.N. are a good way to socialize with classmates after school, far from the watchful eyes of the NYPD. But over all, when it comes to facing police officers or extracurricular activities, most teens I know choose the police.