For the most part the NYPD does their job just fine but far too often it is found they are up to no good. The NYCLU is protesting their practice of wrongly arresting children, some as young as eleven for minor offenses. The law states kids under 16 cannot be arrested for non-criminal violations, but obviously the NYPD doesn't care about the laws that govern their own behavior.
From The NYCLU:
New York State law prohibits children younger than 16 from being arrested for minor, non-criminal violations like loitering. If a child commits a minor infraction at school, he may be disciplined, but the Family Court Act prohibits police from arresting the child. But according to NYPD data obtained in a Freedom of Information Law request, between 2005 and 2007, approximately 300 New York City public school students were illegally arrested in or on school grounds for non-criminal violations. And when the children were arrested, they were handcuffed, forcibly removed from school and taken to police precincts.In a letter sent to Kelly late yesterday, the NYCLU and ACLU informed the NYPD of the situation and urged the department to immediately end the illegal practice.
“These children aren’t criminals. The NYPD must follow the law and stop treating them like they are,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “Arresting children for minor infractions in their own schools – in front of their teachers and peers – only stigmatizes and humiliates them.”
Section 305.2 of the Family Court Act states that warrantless arrest of children younger than 16 is illegal unless they have committed crimes. Under New York law, a “crime” includes a felony or misdemeanor but not the minor infractions for which students are being arrested.
The police may want to treat everyone as a criminal regardless of their age but clearly they do not care about the macro-level consequences of their actions. That law is in place for a very good reason and it is best that they stop messing with it. For too many communities, society dictates a playground to prison mentality that teaches kids that the law is not on their side. If the children are doing something wrong and the violation is a minor one, then treat them as kids and return them to their parents or care giver. Also, instead of spending all this money on school law enforcement, we should spend those dollars on teaching the kids, not arresting them.
|