'CUT' THE TALK
NYPD told school to hush on knife find
The NYPD wants the flow of weapons found in city schools out of sight and out of mind.
Yet another knife was recovered at a Manhattan school last week — but NYPD officials commanded staffers to shut up about it, sources told The Post.
A 17-year-old girl threatened to attack a classmate with a knife before she was stopped by school safety agents at JHS 99 in Manhattan on Oct. 23, according to police.
The teen was arrested and the blade was recovered — but a source said NYPD officials told agents to keep quiet about it.
Police officials warned them not to discuss the incident or leak pictures of the weapon to the media, or even their own union, sources said.
The NYPD also gave high-ranking school safety agents a similar directive at a September training session, sources said.
Union officials made the same claim last year, telling The Post that members were warned not to expose weapons cases to the press and public.
Mayor de Blasio and the Department of Education have been scrambling to preserve their safe schools narrative after a classroom killing in September. The DOE has cited falling school crime rates over the past five years as well as drops in suspensions, arrests, and summonses. But varying school crime data from the state, a marked hike in weapon recoveries and the shock slaying at Urban Assembly for Wildlife Conservation HS have muddled that portrayal. SSA union president Greg Floyd has stated that administra- tors and the NYPD are pressuring agents and school staffers to keep quiet about misconduct.
“If they don’t, then the mayor’s narrative that the schools are safe, that crime is down and that everything is all right does not work,” Floyd said.
The NYPD even threatened to dock vacation days from school safety agents found to have leaked unflattering information, according to the union.
The DOE has staunchly denied that any suppression is taking place in city schools.
The NYPD has said that school safety agents — who are members of the department — must follow protocols when discussing incidents or providing photos.