Fighting Crime at Newtown High

One year after being put on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Impact School List, crime is down considerably at Newtown High School. Although most people around the school are happy about the decline in crime, the debate continues about whether the potential long-term negative effects associated with being on that list outweigh its benefits.
Newtown High School in Elmhurst was added to Bloomberg’s Impact School list after the 2005-2006 school year, and shortly thereafter, a Uniformed Task Force of three police officers and one sergeant were brought to the school. In addition, 20 New York Police Department (NYPD) schools safety agents (who do not carry guns) and 55 surveillance cameras were installed as part of the initiative. The school safety agents also work with officers from the 110th Precinct, who help to respond to serious incidents.
The NYPD School Safety Division’s latest crime record showed that in 2005-2006 school year, the one prior to Newtown having the Impact designation, 15 major crimes, which included robbery, assault, burglary and grand larceny took place. The 2006-2007 school year, after Impact, that number dropped to six. In addition, in 2005-2006, 29 reports of “other criminal incidents” like mischief, petty larceny, sex offense and weapons occurred, while that number dropped to 24 the following year.
“Impact has helped reduce these crimes,” said School Sergeant Chris Chappelle, who works in the 110th Precinct.
Students have taken notice of the increased police presence in and around the school, as well as airport-style scanning of students for weapons. Although the numbers show that major crime is down, not all students are quick to praise the new security measures.
“The cops stare at us weird, ask stupid questions, check our programs and tap our bags,” said Newtown senior Christian Perez. “But, security is important as well. I guess it’s a win-some, lose-some situation.”
“We don’t treat the students as criminals, we treat them as students,” Philips said. “There is a good interaction between us and them.”
Despite the high crime statistics, Newtown is well known in Queens for its Pre-Engineering program as well as Arts and Business Institutes. Its ethnically diverse 3,330-student population makes it one of the most diverse and overcrowded schools in the city, but school officials are not convinced that being added the Impact List will benefit the school in the long-term.
Newtown Assistant Principal, Nelson Iocolano believes that the Impact Initiative has hurt the school more than it has helped by needlessly tarnishing its reputation.
However, the school administration fears that the “Impact” brand will discourage good students from applying to their esteemed programs, and the school is making every effort to transition out of the Impact List. However, they fear that recovering from the label will take a long time.
Some students believe that Impact has helped to reduce weapons coming into the school, but say there are still some dangerous instruments on school premises.
“People don’t carry guns and stuff anymore, but students still have knives, lighters and razors,” Newtown student Kavya Dunlap said.
Officer Philips acknowledged that is true, but he believes that the Impact designation has given the students a safer environment to attend school.
“There are still fights, weapons, robberies and grand larceny here,” Phillips said. “If we take the police out of the place, it would be catastrophic.”