New York will reassign 5,000 school police officers

School safety officers will be transferred out of the police department and trained in restorative justice practices. But for some, retrofitting' the job isn't enough

New York City's school system is beginning to remove the police from its corridors and classrooms in a move welcomed by advocates as a de-escalation of a system that is often seen as imposing harsh punishments that disproportionately target students of color.

In all, about 5,000 New York City school safety agents (SSAs) will be transferred from the supervision of the New York police department to the Department of Education (DoE) in June 2022. The city's school system is the biggest in the US.