The number of knives found in New York City public schools has increased by 7% so far this year, despite a sharp decline in the number of school safety officers and scanners that identify weapons.
According to NYPD School Safety Division data, as of December 6, police and safety agents have found 1,088 knives and 260 boxcutters. This is more than the 1,256 (1,004 knives & 252 boxcutters) found during the same period previous year.
However, the most recent count by the school safety officers union indicates that only around 79 out of 1,500 school buildings have permanent metal detectors, in addition to seven mobile detectors. Both have proven highly effective in identifying firearms and knives that were smuggled into schools this year.
Additionally, there are currently only around 3,700 school safety agents on the roster, down from a peak of 5,200 in 2020.
Based on NYPD data, knife play has increased over the past few years. According to department statistics, 3,291 blades (2,600 knives, 691 box cutters) were recovered during the 2021–22 school year, and that figure climbed by 9% during the 2022–23 school year when 3,588 blades (2,865 knives, 723 box cutters) were confiscated.
According to the NYPD, schools equipped with scanners “are chosen based on a data analysis of recovered weapons, crimes, and overall violence.”
Department of Education spokesperson Jenna Lyle said: “Weapons and dangerous items have absolutely no place in our schools, and our staff works every day with the NYPD to keep weapons out of schools … Every NYC public school has, at a minimum, access to a full-time social worker, guidance counselor, or a school-based mental health clinic, and additional supports are being made to any student who needs it”.
