Crime Drops With NYPD Hall Monitors

NEW YORK — Crime in the city’s public school system dropped 33 percent since the NYPD assumed responsibility for school security and began patrolling hallways, officials say.

Public schools have seen a 33 percent drop in serious crime and a 50 percent decline in sexual assaults during the past five years, according to the police department.

The NYPD has been tasked with safety and security in the city’s public schools since 1998, following a memorandum of understanding that transferred responsibility for the Division of School Safety from the city’s Department of Education to the NYPD.

A joint committee to coordinate post-transfer affairs was also created under the agreement. The committee is charged with evaluating the operational performance of the joint security program and publishing an annual report of the results.

In the 2005-06 academic year, the department had 4,625 officers assigned to public schools. At least 200 of the School Safety Agents were authorized to carry firearms.

The city’s public school system has witnessed a 40 percent drop in weapons charges, according to the department. During the current academic year, the NYPD seized 23 guns, 111 pellet guns, 224 knives and 135 box cutters, officials say.