NYC Schools Average 5 Student Arrests a Day

279 arrests were made over 55 days

Forget reading, writing and arithmetic. New York city public school students need to be more concerned about not getting arrested. A new report released by the NYPD details the arrest records for last Fall and the numbers aren't too kind for students of color.

NY Post reports:

This amounted to 279 arrests and 532 summons over 55 school days between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2011 — with black and Hispanic students accounting for 94 percent of the busts.

In fact, while they make up 31 percent of the school population, black students accounted for roughly 60 percent of the arrests, according to an analysis released by the New York Civil Liberties Union.

“This data demonstrates that the impact of heavy-handed policing in city schools falls mostly on African American students... and on male students who suffered nearly three-quarters of all arrests,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the NYCLU.

The numbers also show that nearly 19 percent of those hauled away were students between the ages of 11 and 14.

Assaults were the main cause of student collars, followed by resisting arrest and weapons possession.

Summonses were mostly issued for disorderly conduct, followed by riding a bike on the sidewalk and knife possession or sale.