A Bullet for Every Two CUNY Students

The SAFE Team, CUNY's political police, prepares for student protests: 9mm Glocks, hollow-tip bullets, shotgun rounds, and body armor. Coming soon: the $90,000 security guard.

By Keith Higgenbotham
Reprinted from The Hunter Envoy

Despite repeated claims to the contrary, CUNY Central administration is continuing the militarization of CUNY peace officers that began six years ago under former chancellor Ann Reynolds.

CUNY records, obtained by the Hunter Envoy under the Freedom of Information Act, show that during the last three years alone, CUNY security has purchased in excess of 110,000 rounds of small arms ammunition worth in excess of $30,000.

These ammunition purchases include many types that might be considered inappropriate for typical campus security, such as 9mm hollow point, .38 caliber Ny-Clad, and 12 gauge shotgun rounds. In addition to the ammunition, CUNY security has purchased 7 Smith & Wesson .38 caliber pistols and 8 Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistols. Seven of the Glock's were also fitted with 'night sights', which allow the pistols' sights to been seen in low light conditions.

With the exception of Lehman College, normal CUNY peace officers are not allowed to carry firearms on campus. This decision rests in the hands of individual campus presidents, and for the most part, none of them have likely for fear of the political or legal fallout from allowing weapons on their campus.(In 1996, CCNY president Yolanda Moses rejected a proposal submitted by Security Director Timothy Hubbard to arm City College guards after vociferous protests by students and faculty.)

However, CUNY SAFE officers, culled from the upper ranks of CUNY peace officers and designated with the mission of dealing with student protests, are permitted to carry firearms if they feel the situation calls for it. Dave Fields, the Special Consul to the Chancellor, points out that despite SAFE's ability to carry weapons, they have never done so, with one notable exception. At the 1995 Black Solidarity Day rally at York College, several SAFE officers brought weapons to the highly charged event. Fields says that the weapons at this event were immediately locked inside a safe that was located in one of the SAFE vehicles. "The weapons were never taken into the rally area," says Fields.

Another exception is when a metal detector is used for events or functions. CUNY policy states that either an armed NYPD officer or an armed SAFE officer must be present when a magnetometer (metal detector) is used on campuses. Fields, who helped draft the related policy, says that the emphasis is put on trying to get an NYPD officer to perform the duty and only use an armed SAFE officer as a last resort.

Over the three years of records reviewed, various other types of so-called "non-lethal" crowd and riot control equipment were also purchased by CUNY Central. These include hundreds of ASP extending batons, over 400 mace/pepper spray dispensers, body armor for SAFE teams, and federally approved riot helmets. During her tenure, Chancellor Ann Reynolds made no secret of her desire to have a SWAT-type force at her call to deal with student demonstrations and protests, and her hiring of University Security Director Jose Elique, a former Port Authority counter-terrorism expert, and the formation of SAFE in 1992, brought her very close to her goal.

However, many people thought that this elaborate buildup and arming of CUNY security had stopped with her resignation two years ago. According to CUNY records, this is not the case. Security at CUNY still receives the highest financial funding of any college system in the northeast United States, between $30 million and $40 million a year. The highest paid SAFE officers, at $81,000 a year, now make more than top CUNY professors who max out at $78,000. There are even plans in the work to create a new SAFE rank that will put some SAFE officers in the same pay range, close to $90,000, as college presidents.

According to CUNY security officials, this money and equipment is all necessary to maintain the peace. However, CUNY records show that crime rates at CUNY schools have remained almost constant over the last ten years, especially in the area of violent crimes. Last year there were less than a dozen violent crimes on the 21 CUNY campuses. The obvious question that many students and faculty are asking is, "If after six years and close to $100 million we are no safer, what has been the point of SAFE?"