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Confusion Over Stink Bombs Used at Walton
Some Progress Reported in Security Situation

By HEATHER HADDON

The city steadfastly denies that stink bombs were used by safety officers to disperse loitering students, despite charges made by Walton High School teens last month.

“It has been determined to be unfounded,” said Alicia Maxey, a Department of Education (DOE) spokesperson. “These actions would not be part of the SSA [School Safety Agents] standard practices.”

But some Walton students say that the foul odor is all too common. “You smell them when the periods are changing,” said Cheyenne Garcia, 18, a student at the High School for Teaching and the Professions (TAP), a small school housed on Walton’s third floor. “I can’t really describe the smell, but it’s really bad.”

City Council members were shocked when two TAP teens testified during a school safety hearing last month about stink bombs being used to deter student loitering. “People don’t go to class on time, so the guards get fed up,” said Keith Manning, 16, who spoke at the hearing. Manning said guards throw the bombs in school stairwells, where students often hang out.

Whoever is responsible, the smell lingers and can be irritating. “A lot of people complain because they can’t breathe very well,” Manning said.

But city police say that it’s the students who are actually the culprits. “We’ve done investigations, and found that [the stink bombs] come from the students,” said Detective Water Burnes, a Police Department spokesperson.

Some officials aren’t so sure. “We’re not convinced that kids would come to City Hall and make this stuff up,” said Abby Wilson, a spokesperson for Council Member Eva Moskowitz, who chaired the hearing. Wilson said her office and the New York Civil Liberties Union will be investigating the matter further.

Stink bombs are small capsules that emit a foul odor, often of ammonia, when they are thrown. They are cheap and easily purchased.

Both Garcia and Manning said they hadn’t smelled the bombs in the last few months. They also have witnessed fewer fights recently.

Walton is one of 16 city schools with additional security officers deployed under the “impact” program, which targets schools with violence problems. Controversy erupted last December when a student at the Kingsbridge Heights school was maced by an officer after the teen allegedly hit him.

While security agents do carry Mace, it is used only in extreme situations, according to Burnes. “Mace is not used to control crowds, it’s a weapon,” he said. “There are very few instances that would lead to the point of using Mace, not that it would never happen.”

Burnes would not generalize about what situations would merit using Mace.

Walton’s security situation has generally resisted improvements despite the influx of officers, but there are some indications that things have improved in the last few months.
Agents have cracked down on loitering between classes, with hallways often put on “lockdown,” barring students from exiting classrooms. “We’re there to get kids into the classrooms so they can learn,” Burnes said.

Manning, a Fordham Road resident, had mixed feelings about the procedures. “We can’t get passes from teachers anymore,” he said. “It’s good the fights have calmed down, but not letting us use the bathroom is crazy.”

Principals and other administrators were given walkie-talkies to alert security agents when a fight breaks out, deterring other students from joining in. “That helps a lot,” said Garcia, a Decatur Avenue resident. “The officers will circle around [a fight] to slow down the process before the kids get through.”

Security cameras are slowly being installed in the separate entranceways for Walton and the three other small schools housed there. TAP parent Patricia Britton thinks the cameras have helped some. “Things are improving, but there is still much to be done,” she said.

While Garcia was not always an advocate of using cameras, she has changed her opposition in the face of Walton’s continuing problems. “There was a point of time when I didn’t want them,” she said. “But they are like extra eyes for the security guards.”

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