I have been providing daily “crazy PIC facts of the day” and those have been well-received. However, I also come across daily crazy stories related to the zero tolerance policies that have been enacted in many schools. These policies have served to create a school to prison pipeline for many young people across the U.S. (particularly young people of color). I have decided to highlight some of these stories of zero tolerance run wild on a regular basis. For today’s edition of “Adventures in Zero Tolerance Land,” I would like to feature the chaos that is the New York City public school system.

In 1998, security in New York City schools was turned over to the city’s police department. In January 2010, the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against New York City on behalf of all of its public school students. For more information about the lawsuit, click here.

The lawsuit challenges the NYPD School Safety Division’s policy and practice of unlawful seizing and arresting schoolchildren, in violation of the Fourth Amendment and state law. NYPD personnel manifest this conduct in three ways:

* arresting students for minor violations of school rules that are not criminal activity.
* handcuffing students and locking them in seclusion rooms in school buildings, without parental or teacher consent, absent probable cause of criminal activity.
* removing schoolchildren who misbehave in school, without parental or teacher consent, and transporting them to hospitals for emergency psychiatric evaluations.

The lawsuit also challenges the NYPD School Safety Division’s policy and practice of using excessive force against students. SSOs push, shove and grab students. In many cases, this misconduct is not pursuant to making a lawful arrest. It is to compel a student to comply with an SSO’s orders or it occurs for no legitimate purpose whatsoever. These physical altercations often escalate and result in the child’s physical injury and, in some cases, hospitalization.

The complaint documents numerous incidents in which students engaged in non-criminal conduct were handcuffed, arrested and physically assaulted by police personnel at school.

The out-of-control situation in NYC public schools is described in a number of articles. Here are just a couple of interest:

The Strip Search Room

Students sue NYPD for mistreatment