October 8th, 2008 – Throughout the week,
students from the Urban Youth Collaborative and the New York City Student Safety
Coalition will distribute "Know Your Rights with Police in Schools"
informational cards to students at their schools throughout the city. The
distribution is part of the Student Safety Coalition’s action week to instruct
students on how to protect their rights when interacting with the police in
schools. All week students, educators, attorneys and social workers, will hand
out thousands of cards at city schools that have a large police presence.

Since the NYPD took
control of school safety in 1998, it has installed a massive police presence
inside the city’s public schools. There are more than 5,000 school safety
agents and at least 200 armed police officers assigned to the schools. Students
have increasingly come into contact, and sometimes conflict, with school safety
agents, who are uniformed civilian NYPD employees with the power to arrest.

Along with the
NYCLU and the Student Safety Coalition, students from the Urban Youth
Collaborative are working to pass the Student Safety Act. The Student Safety Act
will provide much-needed transparency and accountability to school security
practices and their impact on the educational environment.

WHAT:  Distribution of
"Know Your Rights about Police in Schools" informational cards at New York City
High Schools

WHERE and WHEN:  Following a series
of actions earlier in the week, students and advocates will be distributing
these leaflets at the following locations:

Wednesday, October 8th, 2-4 p.m.

• Bushwick Campus
  High School, 400 Irving Avenue, Brooklyn

• Hillcrest High
  School, 16005
  Highland Ave, Queens
• Washington Irving
  High School, 40 Irving Place, Manhattan

Friday, October 10th, 7-9 a.m.

• Samuel J. Tilden, 5800 Tilden Ave at E
  58th St., Brooklyn

Friday, October 10th, 2-4 p.m.

• JHS 172 Powell
  Middle School,509 W.129th
  St. at Amsterdam
  Ave, Manhattan

• Bushwick Campus
  High School, 400 Irving Avenue, Brooklyn