DRUM UPDATE:
DRUM YouthPower! youth leaders & Hillcrest students held an energetic rally on Monday at Hillcrest High School calling attention to escalting abuse by School Safety Officers.
DRUM youth leader Kumar Heeralall spoke about guards who attacked him in the "Strip Search Room" while he was handcuffed and had him arrested after. DRUM was joined by NYCLU and Rojan Morgan's family & lawyers who have filed suit & are working closely with DRUM to demand an investigation.
Help us demand an end to these practices on low-income youth of color.
Call your City Council member and express support for the Student Safety Act!
Call DRUM to help out with the ongoing YouthPower! campaign at 718-205-3036
DRUM YouthPower! youth leaders & Hillcrest students held an energetic rally on Monday at Hillcrest High School calling attention to escalting abuse by School Safety Officers.
DRUM youth leader Kumar Heeralall spoke about guards who attacked him in the "Strip Search Room" while he was handcuffed and had him arrested after. DRUM was joined by NYCLU and Rojan Morgan's family & lawyers who have filed suit & are working closely with DRUM to demand an investigation.
Help us demand an end to these practices on low-income youth of color.
Call your City Council member and express support for the Student Safety Act!
Call DRUM to help out with the ongoing YouthPower! campaign at 718-205-3036
Check our website for updates: www.drumnyc.org
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NY 1 News Clip:
http://www.ny1.
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"We came to Hillcrest because, in our view, there is an educational and civil rights emergency," said Donna Lieberman, director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
She said Principal Stephen Duch is "complicit" in ongoing problems and has "turned a blind eye" to the aggressive behavior of security agents, who are NYPD employees.
Hillcrest student Rohan Morgan, 16, filed a lawsuit against the city in August after four security agents allegedly handcuffed him and then severely beat him in the dean's office.
"I was scared and didn't know what to think," Morgan said, recounting the incident at the rally.
School has been difficult since then, he said.
"I still have to look over my shoulder," Morgan said, adding that agents "still mess" with him.
"The student became irate, and pushed and struck the agent," Browne said. Morgan was taken to Long Island Jewish Hospital for psychiatric evaluation.
Trudy Morgan said her son came home with bruises all over his body and suffered a knee injury that required surgery.
"This is not the way they deserve to be treated," she said.
Hillcrest graduate Kumar Heeralall, 21, said he was the victim of a similar assault in 2007.
"They took me in a room, handcuffed me and beat me up," said Heeralall, who did not file a suit. "I thought I was the only one that it happened to."
Hillcrest student Ashley Avery, 16, said other schools don't have such stringent security.
"Not everyone is carrying a pocketknife," she said.
But George Geller, who heads the school's safety agents union, called the claims "outrageous."
"Inevitably, there are going to be allegations from time to time," Geller said. "What you heard here today were irresponsible calls to remove safety agents from schools."
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NY 1 News Clip:
http://www.ny1.com/Default.aspx?ArID=90276&ap=1&Flash
------------Hillcrest High School 'safety agents' under attack from students, parents
BY JOY WILTERMUTH
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Tuesday, December 9th 2008, 6:58 PM
Farriella for News
Activists Saniya and Rishi (they did not want last names used) at Hillcrest HS rally Monday. Rohan Morgan (inset, l.) and Kumar Heeralall accuse school security of abuse.
Students, parents and civil rights activists are demanding a probe of what they call overly aggressive policing at a Queens school, saying safety agents have created a "climate of fear."
Agents at Hillcrest High School in Jamaica have allegedly beaten students, strip-searched them and routinely forced them to line up for at least an hour for security checks, protesters said Monday at the school."We came to Hillcrest because, in our view, there is an educational and civil rights emergency," said Donna Lieberman, director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
She said Principal Stephen Duch is "complicit" in ongoing problems and has "turned a blind eye" to the aggressive behavior of security agents, who are NYPD employees.
Hillcrest student Rohan Morgan, 16, filed a lawsuit against the city in August after four security agents allegedly handcuffed him and then severely beat him in the dean's office.
"I was scared and didn't know what to think," Morgan said, recounting the incident at the rally.
School has been difficult since then, he said.
"I still have to look over my shoulder," Morgan said, adding that agents "still mess" with him.
City Education Department officials declined to comment on the lawsuit. But spokeswoman Marge Feinberg said such allegations are taken seriously.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said the July incident was sparked over a cell phone, which is banned in school. When agents tried to pull Morgan aside after his phone set off the metal detector, Morgan resisted, Browne said."The student became irate, and pushed and struck the agent," Browne said. Morgan was taken to Long Island Jewish Hospital for psychiatric evaluation.
Trudy Morgan said her son came home with bruises all over his body and suffered a knee injury that required surgery.
"This is not the way they deserve to be treated," she said.
Hillcrest graduate Kumar Heeralall, 21, said he was the victim of a similar assault in 2007.
"They took me in a room, handcuffed me and beat me up," said Heeralall, who did not file a suit. "I thought I was the only one that it happened to."
Hillcrest student Ashley Avery, 16, said other schools don't have such stringent security.
"Not everyone is carrying a pocketknife," she said.
But George Geller, who heads the school's safety agents union, called the claims "outrageous."
"Inevitably, there are going to be allegations from time to time," Geller said. "What you heard here today were irresponsible calls to remove safety agents from schools."
With Jonathan Lemire
http://www.nydailyn
