American Civil Liberties Union

Today, roughly 5,000 poorly trained and undersupervised School Safety Officers (SSOs) are assigned to New York City public schools. Although ostensibly charged with protecting the safety of students, many students, parents and educators are concerned that these officers instead have caused unrest in city schools.

In January, the Racial Justice Program of the ACLU and the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of New York City students against the New York City Police Department (NYPD), which oversees SSOs. It alleges that NYPD personnel routinely violate the civil rights of public school children through the excessive use of force and wrongful arrests.