NYPD Cuts Nearly 500 School Crossing Guards
The school crossing guard job cuts will result in $7.5 million savings in 2024 and beyond.
Photo via Adobe, by Steve
New York, New York – In an effort to reduce costs, the New York Police Department (NYPD) will be eliminating 483 school crossing guard positions.
The cuts are expected to be completed by July 2 and were ordered by NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell, reports the Daily News.
Although the cuts are an 18% reduction in part-time school crossing guard positions, an NYPD spokesperson said no one will be fired. Instead, vacant positions will be eliminated. However, some crossing guards believe the posts being eliminated are currently occupied.
For fiscal year 2024, the city will have 2,219 crossing guards. Back in 2019, there were more than 3,000 guards, reports StreetsBlog NYC.
The school crossing guard job cuts will result in $7.5 million savings in 2024 and beyond.
Chell blamed the cuts on Mayor Eric Adams’ budget team, however, according to an NYPD report, the agency had always planned on eliminating the positions.
Although the NYPD said it is committed to recruiting and hiring school crossing guards up to the authorized headcount, sources tell the Daily News they believe the current reduction will eventually lead to crossing guards losing their jobs.
The head of the union, however, said layoffs aren’t on the table and that anyone suggesting their jobs will be cut “is deceitfully spreading fear.” That said, he believes the city needs more school crossing guards.
On school days, there are 57% more vehicle accidents and 25% more injuries per mile on streets near K-12 campuses than on other city streets, reports StreetsBlog NYC. Streets outside of New York schools that serve students of color or who are poor are even more dangerous.
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About the Author
Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief
Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.
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