The Office of the Public Advocate sees a vision for schools and community safety that centers New York
City’s children and families—schools that heal and address trauma, and that center on de-escalation and
supportive resources. We know the main drivers of safety in communities are access to quality and wellresourced education, healthcare, and housing. Schools need to address the ways that those are accessed
to reimagine public safety in our schools. This vision of public safety in our schools does not rely on law
enforcement except only in the most extreme circumstances. Black and Latinx children are not inherently
more criminal or predisposed to committing crimes. We need schools that not only send a clear message
but that proactively and actively reaffirm the conditions, behaviors, and environments that we know truly
protect and ensure the mental and physical wellness of our children. The role of teachers and staff in our
schools needs to revolve around providing education and providing students with the tools to address
trauma, not paving the way for more trauma to be perpetuated by those working in our schools. The call
for police-free schools not only requires that police infrastructure, culture, and practice be removed from
schools, but also that this system be replaced by youth-, parent-, and educator-led solutions that center
liberation and restorative justice. It is in fact a proposed system meant to maintain safety.
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Citation
2021. WhitePaper on Reimagining School Safety, City of New York.
Retrieved from https://coilink.org/20.500.12592/dzwrgg on 12 Oct 2024. COI: 20.500.12592/dzwrgg.