Gotbaum speaks from personal experience, having been subjected to a metal detector screening and a hands-on-the-table, electronic wanding prior to a visit to a Bronx high school. Even after Gotbaum made her public-official status known and the host principal expressed his concern, school safety agents persisted in scanning her for potential weapons. “The principal was mortified,” says Gotbaum. “If this happens to me, as a public official,” she asks, “what is it like for the children? If the school principal can’t stop the school safety officers, where’s the accountability?”
“If the Police Department is the entity that’s supervising the agents, and no police officer is in sight, who’s minding the store?”
Still, Gotbaum is doubtful that the Civilian Complaint Review Board can be directed to take responsibility for school safety agents. “I don’t think anybody in this atmosphere is putting more money in,” she says, referring to the tightening economic climate. So the Student Safety Act’s progress has, for the moment, stalled in City Council. Whether that’s primarily economics-driven or underpinned by political caution in an election year, the issue remains controversial. Elected officials approached for comment, including U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez and Mayor Bloomberg, declined to speak with City Limits on the subject. DOE officials said that commenting on the Student Safety Act would be premature, as they have not seen the act and thus have not reviewed it.
Councilman Robert Jackson, who chairs the Education Committee, points to “a lack of clarity” in the lines of responsibility and accountability. “In today’s world, a child can be arrested for assault, when in another time, that child would be sent to the dean’s office, the parents would be called, and the child would be suspended.”
An institutional lack of candor is also troubling, says Jackson: “I don’t think we hear about many incidents that occur.”
“There needs to be absolute clarity and transparency, and there needs to be an objective appeals process independent of the NYPD,” he said.
