John Deutzman's Blog

facts straight.
--An Angry School Safety OFFICER's wife.

Hi everyone and thanks for the comments.

To the angry wife:

First of all you couldn't pay me enough to be a school safety "agent".

(They are not called officers. I did my research to determine what they are called and that they are civilian employees)

But our station is right near a school and I cannot believe what I see on a daily basis. It is a thankless and dangerous job.My heart goes out to anyone who does this work or who has a family member who is a schoo safety agent.

However, when civilian employees are given the ability to use lights and sirens they should use them wisely. Unfortunately these clowns made everyone else look bad.
What we reported about the complaints about school safety agents is a matter of public record and a matter of city council hearings.

If there is indeed a coverup by the board of ed your husband ior anyone else is welcome to come foward to me or any authority and report it. If we have solid evidence that this is going on, of course it's a story. Unfortunately, most people who complain about this stuff don't have the courage to go on tv or to complain to the city because their "horrible and dangerous" job is too more important than the safety and welfare of the children.

to city slicker:

Watch the story again.

We did follow them and (although on camera we were too far away to capture the people getting out of the van) they did go into a school..a school with no emergency...in fact if you watched the story the school safety people inside had no clue what we were talking about.

John

DEAR JOHN,


AS A MEMBER OF THE N.Y.P.D. THIS REPORT HITS CLOSE TO HOME. THE NEWS CREWS ARE ALWAYS WORRIED ABOUT THE NEGATIVES, MAYBE IF THEY WORRY ABOUT REPORTING THE POSITIVE AS MUCH AS THE NEGATIVE THE WORLD WOULD RUN MUCH BETTER. YOU AS AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER SHOULD INVESTIGATE THOSE SCHOOL SAFETY AGENTS WHO RISK THEY LIVES TO SAVE CHILDREN. I HEAR SO MUCH NEGATIVE FROM PEOPLE ABOUT SCHOOL SAFETY BUT NEVER ANYTHING GOOD. FROM FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE FROM WORKING WITH THEM I CAN SAY THEY ARE JUST AS BRAVE IF NOT BRAVER THAN SOME "REAL" COPS. MOST "REAL" COPS WOULD NOT GO INTO A SITUATION WERE A KID IS BEING BEATEN BY TEN OTHERS TO SAVE THAT KID. SOME "REAL" COPS WOULD NOT POST THEMSELVES OUTSIDE A SCHOOL THAT IS BEING THREATENED TO BE BLOWN UP OR SHOT UP BY SOMEONE SO THAT THE KIDS ARE SAFE. MOST "REAL" COPS DO HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT HAVING ABSOLUTLY NO PROTECTION WHEN A GANG MEMBER COMES TO YOUR SCHOOL BUILDING WITH A GUN AND TELLS YOU THEY WILL KILL YOU IF ANY ON THEIR MEMBERS ARE ARRESTED. THE TRUTH IS JOHN THAT A "REAL" REPORTER WOULD NOT FOCUS SOLELY ON ONE PERSON TO JUDGE A RACE, WHY JUDGE A CAREER BY ONE INCIDENT. I WORK WITH MANY BRAVE "REAL "COPS WHO RISK THEIR LIFE ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS, SCHOOL SAFETY IS NO LESS THEN THEM AND SHOULD NOT BE TREATED AS SUCH.

JOHN, BELIEVE THAT EVERY DAY AGENTS AND OFFICERS FACE DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS FOR INFRACTIONS SUCH AS THESE. BUT YOU STATED THAT YOU WOULD NEVER FOLLOW A REAL COP BECAUSE YOU WOULDN'T QUESTION WHY HE/SHE HAS LIGHTS AND SIRENS. I HAVE DISCUSSED THIS TOPIC WITH MANY AGENTS AND THEY RUN THEIR OPERATION MUCH LIKE POLICE OFFICERS DO AND THEY RECEIVE EMERGENCY CALLS JUST LIKE THE REAL COPS ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT THEY RESPOND TO CONDITIONS AT SCHOOLS AND THE NEARBY AREAS OF THOSE SCHOOLS. I WOULD REALLY APPREICAITE IF YOU COULD INVESTGATE THOSE SO CALLED "VAS" OR VOLUNTEER AMBULANCE SQUADS THAT HAVE LIGHTS AND SIRENS ON THEIR JAGUARS AND MERCEDES BENZ IN AREAS LIKE BENSONHURST, KEW GARDENS, WILLIAMSBURG, FOREST HILLS. THESE GUYS WILL RUN YOU DOWN TO BEAT A LIGHT. AND I'VE FOLLOWED THEM ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION AND NINE TIMES OUT OF TEN THEY ARE JUST GOING HOME OR ON AN ERRAND. WHY AREN'T THERE ANY COMPLAINTS ON THEM BECAUSE THEY HAVE A LICENSE PLATE THAT SAYS "VAS". THEY CAN'T GET DISCIPLINED BECAUSE THEY ARE "VOLUNTEERS" NOT "REAL" EMS. THE ABUSE IS OUT OF CONTROL AS YOU SAY BUT DON'T JUST STOP ON SCHOOL SAFETY OR THE N.Y.P.D. FOR THAT MATTER. DO AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORT ON EVERYONE WHO ABUSES IT.

THANK YOU

Dear John,

As a NYPD school safety officer and yes I called us officers. I feel it's my duty to respond on behalf of my fellow workers. I didn't know that seeing lights and sirens on a school safety vehicle would offend you so much that you had to follow it and make up a story as absurd as you did. Yes school safety agents as you evidently put it are not cops. We are better. We don't need guns. We use the tools that we are trained to in the academy, oh yes we have to go and be train at the academy that is conducted by the NYPD. They taught us (PCR) Professionalism, Courteous and Respect. These are the tools we use everyday. Even when the students are being dispectful, rude, and trying to hurt us.

Also I wanted to say Thank you for the story cause now it has caused a bit of chaos in the schools. Students, parents and other outsiders have lost their respect for the blue uniform that we wear and the patch on our arm with the NYPD logo. It means nothing now since you stated WE ARE NOT COPS!! The reason we are in the schools is to provided a safe environment for the students and faculty, NOT TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED AS A COP but given the respect as one.

Those handcuffs sir are real, as well as the arrest powers used to bring people to justice. By the way, the jail cell my friend is also very, very real. Using your logic, my next guess is you would say the same about other law enforcement agencies like MTA police, health and hospital police, bridge and tunnels, court officers, correctional officers, probation officers, and the like. Every officer in our department faces the same risks each day, and countless officers have been hurt on the job. Not to mention one of our most respected officers who were killed in the line of duty, but I guess your research didn't tell you that. I agree that lights and sirens should only be used in response to emergencies, and I'm sure this person will be disciplined severely, but your attack was intended to degrade a large number of people, and not to inform the public about what occurred. You mentioned the patrol guide for the "real police" as you so eloquently put it. Could this be the very same patrol guide that the police department uses to discipline us when we do wrong? Well it is. Did you know that NYPD School Safety Officers often hold posts on the very same corners as many "real cops" do? Of course not, your research didn't tell you that either. Like every job, there are going to be people who screw up, and don't do the right thing. That is what disciplinary action is for, but your story does nothing but degrade an entire division of the NYC Police Department and tell the public that it is ok to test our people because they are not "real cops". After much thought, I realize that your

Fel723,
I appreciate your venting and your comments and have lots of respect for your job but...

What were the underhanded tactics? These guys pulled the lights and sirens trick right in front of our eyes. Then I simply asked what's the emergency? and according to the NYPD and the DOE there was none.
You are not real cops. That is also a fact. You are civilian employees of the NYPD. Like it or not...there is controversy over the proper use of school safety agents in schools that is also a fact and a matter of city council debate. Part of that debate is that many people feel it creates more of a hostile enviroment and that many of the agents are overly aggressive,poorly trained. You might not agree with the people who say that, but reporting those complaints on my part is just relaying factual information that is part of the public record.

Here are some of the dozens of articles out there about this topic:

http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/46748

http://www.nyclu.org/node/1409

http://www.local237.org/newsroom/091306.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/nyregion/11council.ht
ml

I think what the problem is here is that you guys are put in a very strange and uncomforable position of dressing and looking like cops without the full title of police officer. It creates lots of flack from all directions. Perhaps you should all be granted police officer status and take paid training at the academy on the clock to accomplish this.
That to me would solve lots of the drama around your job. It would also help you all financially. It seems the cit

FIRST AND FORMOST I WOULD LIKE TO SAY IS WHO IS YOU 2 BE QUESTIONING ANYONE OR EVEN FOLLOWING A N.Y.P.D SCHOOL SAFETY VAN ANYWAYS?? SECOND THAT IS WHATS WRONG WITH THE MEDIA TODAY WORRYING AND TELLING SOMEONE HOW TO DO THEY JOB. THE ONLY 2 DIFFERENT THINGS THAT ARE DIFFERENT BETWEEN A POLICE OFFICER AND A SCHOOL SAFETY AGENT IS THAT 1 THEY CARRY GUNS AND WE DONT AND 2 THEY SHIRT IS DARKER THEN OURS THATS IT!! OTHER THEN THAT WE DO THE SAME THING A POLICE OFFICER DOES INCLUDING GIVIN A PERSON A SUMMONS, MAN, WOMAN, OR CHILD WHO IS OLDER ENOUGH 2 RECIEVE A SUMMONS, WE ALSO DO THE SAME PAPERWORK THAT PD DO (PD=POLICE DEPARTMENT IN CASE YOU DIDNT KNOW!). LIKE SOMEONE SAID EARLIER WE COME 2 WORK EVERYDAY AND PUT OUR LIVES ON THE LINE JUST LIKE POLICE OFFICERS DO! IF ANYONE DECIDE THAT THEY WANT TO DO ANY HARM TO ANY OF THE SSA'S THEY GET LOCKED UP AND A POLICE OFFICER DO NOT HAVE TO BE THE ONE TO SLAP ON THE HANDICUFFS EITHER!! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE SOMEONE OR TELL THEM WHATS RIGHT OR WHATS WRONG OR WHATS IN THEY JOB DESCRIPTION, AND AS FAR AS SOMEONE COULDNT PAY YOU ENOUGH TO BE A SCHOOL SAFETY AGENT, THATS CAUSE YOU PROBABLY BE SCARED TO BE IN A SCHOOL WITH KIDS WHO THINK THEY GROWN BEING DISRESPECTFUL, FIGHTING WITH WEAPONS YOU WOULD RUN OUT THAT SCHOOL WF GANGS STARTED FIGHTIN SO FAST LIKE A CHICKEN WITH HIS HEAD CUT OFF!!! SEE ITS PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO MAKES THA WORLD THA WAY IT IS..AND ITS SAD!!!! WE AINT TELLING YOU HOW TO DO YOUR JOB OR WHAT YOUR JOB DESCRIPTION IS, SO DONT ASSUME WHAT OUR JOB DESCRIPTION IS!!! AS LONG AS WE GET THE JOB DONE!!!!

ITS NOT A JOKE!!!. WHAT THE HELL YOU SEE SIRENS AND LIGHTS ON A NYPD WHITE CAR WOULD YOU FOLLOW THEM AND ASK THEM IF IT WAS AN EMERGENCY???? I DONT THINK SO! SO WHY DO IT TO A NYPD SCHOOL SAFETY VAN?? MAYBE IT WAS AN EMERGENCY BUT THEY DIDNT WANT NOSEY PEOPLE LIKE YOU ALL UP IN THE BUSINESS. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU SEE A NYPD CAR OR VAN WITH SIRENS AND LIGHTS AND THEY ARE IN FRONT OF DUNKIN DONUTS? YOU GOING TO GET OUT YOUR CAR AND GO INSIDE?? AND YOU SAYING GOD HELP US, GOD NEED TO HELP YOU!