NYC School Security by the Numbers

3,200 Number of school safety personnel when NYPD took over school security in 1998

4,800+ Number of School Security Agents (SSAs) in New York’s public schools as of 2005

200 Number of armed police officers in New York high schools

5 Ranking of the NYPD’s school security force compared to other police forces in the United States.

93,000 Number of predominantly Black and Latino New York public school students who have to pass through metal detectors on a daily basis to enter school

88 Number of New York high schools and middle schools where students have to go through metal detectors on a daily basis to enter school

82 Percentage of Black and Latino students at high schools with permanent metal detectors

71 Percentage of Black and Latino students enrolled at high schools citywide

$11,282 Average annual funding per pupil at high schools citywide

$9,601 Average annual funding per pupil at high schools with permanent metal detectors

$8,066 Average annual funding per pupil at high schools with more than 3,000 students and permanent metal detectors

80 Percentage of the state’s prison population that consists of Blacks and Latinos from 10 New York City neighborhoods

—John Tarleton

Sources: Criminalizing the Classroom, March 2007, nyclu.org; New York Civil Liberties Union press conference, October 2007; Community Service Society, cssny.org.