By Elizabeth Reich
September 27th, 2024
CITY COLLEGE - In “CUNY cops fear schools unprepared for looming onslaught of ‘potentially dangerous’ anti-Israel protests: ‘It’s going to be bad,’” several CUNY officers criticize CUNY and City College administrations for alleged underfunding, unpreparedness, and decreasing morale among officers. “The university is going into this under fire – they have no idea what’s going to happen. There’s no preparation,” one officer told The Post. Officers also say City College’s decision to hire private security last semester was a mistake and an insult. Notably, CUNY Executive Public Safety Officer André Brown is the target of the officers’ ire. The New York Post writes, “Brown, they claim, epitomizes the post-George Floyd ‘hands-off’ policing approach that’s taken hold at universities and police departments across the country, emphasizing ‘de-escalation’ above all.”
August 28th marked a quiet start to the fall semester, contradicting what the anonymous CUNY Public Safety officers told The New York Post two weeks before classes started. Classes ran uninterrupted and without many of last semester’s heightened security measures. The only thing indicating an encampment existed on campus is a large rent-a-fence positioned along Amsterdam Avenue that guards the North Academic Center’s upper plaza.
On campus, Public Safety wants the number of officers to increase. “Our numbers just aren’t there. If there’s a spontaneous protest that we don’t have any knowledge of, we’re going to be outnumbered - just by the sheer number of students enrolled, we’re outnumbered.” They also believe that the Administration does not care about actually fighting or preventing crime. Instead, the officers think the Administration prioritizes the University’s “image and making sure the students express their freedom of speech.”
CCNY infamously allowed the New York City Police to dismantle the CUNY Gaza Solidarity Encampment. In the following days, City College Administration implemented a so-called “free speech zone” for protestors to stand in while being observed by campus security. Protests and other exercises in free speech continued on campus despite heightened tensions between students, Administration, and Public Safety.
What really increased hostility between the latter and CUNY leadership was the decision to temporarily hire private contractors for the final weeks of the spring semester. Officers complain the hired help had “no training, no background” in policing or public safety. To add insult to injury, CCNY Administration found four million dollars to pay for private security while CUNY officers are complaining “The pay is [already] so low for [them].”
With a possible labor dispute permeating the New York Post article, the question remains: If these officers are truly concerned about conditions on campus, why tell The New York Post?
The officers and Administration are not exactly on the same page about policing students. While Admin tends toward soft power (like the ‘free speech zone’) and reporting incidents, the Public Safety officers have something else in mind. The officers who are supposed to protect students and staff take issue with the concept of de-escalation and are concerned about being “outnumbered” by students.
This conflict is made clear at the end of the article. The New York Post reveals a statement made to the publication by CUNY. Interestingly, it is addressed to The Post, not to the officers themselves, and repeats the University’s commitment to the safety of everyone on campus. It states that the University has been constantly preparing for the return of students in the fall, saying “University leadership has been in ongoing communication with campus directors of public safety, academic and student affairs regarding their preparedness for the fall.” As for the officers themselves, the CUNY spokesperson says, “Our officers undergo extensive and continuous training certified by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.” The statement repeats what many officers had an issue with in the first place, such as student’s’ First Amendment protections. With no new concessions made, how long will the stalemate remain?
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