Group: More And More Weapons Being Recovered In NYC Public Schools
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Two guns were confiscated in schools in Jamaica, Queens this week alone, and one group said it is a crisis.
As CBS2's Andrea Grymes reported, students noticed more security on Friday at York Early College Academy, or YECA, in Jamaica, one day after a 15-year-old high school student was caught with a .38-caliber gun on campus in Queens.
Police said he is being charged as a juvenile.
Sources said the teen got in a quarrel with a group of students inside the school then opened up his backpack and flashed the weapon, CBS2's Andrea Grymes reported.
One of the classmates who saw the gun alerted a school security guard. Students were kept in their classrooms until police arrived.
Parents and students, such as freshman Audrik Carter, had mixed emotions at drop-off on Friday.
"I feel unsafe," Carter said. "There could still be another person with a gun coming to school."
Some parents had confidence in security.
"I know the principal. Their first priority is the school safety and education, so I feel safe," said parent Allison Bell.
But some parents and classmates said the entire ordeal was terrifying.
"We're disappointed and I'm fearful," said parent Dayne Francois.
But the trend has been worrisome. On Tuesday, police said an 11-year-old boy brought a loaded 9mm semiautomatic pistol to P.S.40. His grandfather faces charges, including criminal possession of a weapon.
The group Families for Excellent Schools, which supports charter schools, said the incidents are not isolated.
"They're part of a shocking surge of violence that continues to threaten our children's safety," said Joe Herrera of Families for Excellent Schools.
The group claimed NYPD data show the numbers of weapons recovered in city public schools went up 25 percent in the last school year, WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported.
The increase includes firearms, knives, box cutters and Tasers, according to a report released by the group said.
"In every single category, weapons in our schools are rising," Herrera said.
The group claimed that from 2014 to 2015, Taser and gun recoveries sparked a staggering 1,450 percent from four to 62. The group said knives sparked 29.5 percent from 647 to 873.
But for guns, the NYPD said only nine were confiscated last year -- actually down from 10 the year before. The group had said 13 were reported, but police said one of those incidents involved police taking away three guns from a legitimate gun club at one high school that was disbanded, and another involved a gun taken from an armed domestic assault suspect leading police onto a chase into a Brooklyn high school.
"I'm glad they're actually finding these weapons, but what about the ones that they don't find? They're actually there and that's alarming," said Mary Melendez, who has a daughter in a Washington Heights public school. "That's just horrifying."
A city Department of Education representative responded, saying: "There is absolutely zero-tolerance for any weapons in schools. We work in close partnership with NYPD and there are clear protocols in place to address any incidents swiftly."
The Education Department said schools must be safe havens. Families for Excellent Schools did not offer suggestions on how to make them safer, only asking the city to admit there's a problem.
