During the construction of new juvenile correction facilities, in 1998, the New York City Police Department took over security in the city's schools. The members of Youth Force say they are regularly stopped and frisked by police for suspicious behavior or bulges in their pockets. They've come to school the press about a decline in youth crimes, and to demand incarceration alternatives. Youth Force demonstrators demand reduced use of detention centers, increased funding for alternatives to incarceration programs, and public hearings on the role of police in public schools. Ultimately they want school safety out of the hands of police and transferred back to schools, principals and teachers.
Giant speakers pump out music mixed on turntables.
One by one, teens give impassioned speeches through a loudspeaker, in hopes that those on the other side of the brick wall and barbed wire will hear. A group of savvy Youth Force members deal with the press, and with police who have set up wooden barricades around the protest. The board agrees to work on giving school principals more control than security officers over who is arrested, and to investigate youth complaints of police harassment and violence. I see youth as people who need help, and who need to have their minds and energy focused for change. The Enterprise Foundation.