NYPD Must
Respect Authority of School Officials, Says Group
NEW YORK -- The New York Civil
Liberties Union and co-counsel Morrison & Foerster LLP today announced the
filing of a lawsuit on behalf of two high school teachers who were arrested,
handcuffed and verbally abused by Police Department officers after they
questioned the handcuffing of two students who had been involved in a fight.
"When school officials call the police onto their campuses, they
should be able to expect that the police will respond lawfully and will treat
students and staff with respect," said Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of
the NYCLU. "Except in an emergency where health and safety are in imminent
danger, the police must be instructed to respect the authority of school
officials."
The NYCLU charged that the teachers were wrongfully
arrested and is urging the police department and the City Department of
Education to develop adequate protocols governing the role of police officers in
schools.
The lawsuit describes an incident last March in which
police officers arrested English teacher Quinn Kronen and social studies teacher
Cara Wolfson-Kronen at the New School for Arts and Sciences in the Bronx.
Wolfson-Kronen (who is married to Quinn Kronen) had called 911 for medical
assistance for a student who had been injured during a fight in a school
bathroom. The police arrived at Kronen’s classroom and handcuffed some of the
students who had been fighting, even though school personnel had already broken
up the fight and separated the students.
According to the
complaint, Kronen questioned the officers' decision to handcuff the students,
but the officers yelled at him and ordered him to be quiet. The complaint also
states that Wolfson-Kronen, who was in the classroom, objected to the officers’
actions and was immediately handcuffed and arrested. Police made her wait
handcuffed in the hall in front of her students, and then forced her to wait
outside the building, where the temperature was below freezing.
The police then arrested Kronen as well, and both teachers were
held at the 41st precinct in the Bronx for nearly two hours before being
released with summonses for disorderly conduct. The charges against both
teachers were dismissed at arraignment.
The lawsuit, which was
filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeks
reforms in NYPD training and policies on the relationship between school
officials and police officers. The teachers are also requesting unspecified
damages, a declaration that their rights were violated, and the return and
expungement of all records reflecting their arrests and detention.
The NYCLU is bringing the teachers' case at a time when
heavy-handed policing has caused significant disruption at schools all over New
York City. In December, Aurelia L. Curtis, principal of Curtis High School in
Staten Island, was removed from her position after police claimed that she had
not been deferential enough to police as she dealt with two student disciplinary
issues. Curtis's removal drew protests from parents, students and the teachers'
union; she has since been reinstated.
In a similar case, a popular
principal and aide were arrested and removed from their positions at the Bronx
Guild High School for more than two months last year after objecting to the
questionable arrest of a student in a classroom at the school.
Statements from the teachers in the lawsuit are online at: www.nyclu.org/kronen_stmnt_030506.html
For a copy of the complaint, go to www.nyclu.org/pdfs/kronen_complaint_030306.pdf