Weapons Seizures, Bronx School Stabbing Bring Renewed Calls For More Metal Detectors
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- There was more fallout Monday, from the fatal stabbing at a Bronx school.
Officials admitted they found a second knife in the classroom where the incident occurred, prompting renewed calls for more metal detectors.
"This is a frightening knife," said Gregory Floyd, President of Teamsters Local 237.
Floyd -- the head of the School Safety Officers Union -- was looking at a picture of a black folding knife, a second weapon found in the classroom at the Bronx school where two students were stabbed, one fatally.
Sources said the knife was found on a radiator by custodial staff sent in to clean the classroom the day after the stabbing.
The NYPD offered little information about why detectives didn't find it and why the discovery wasn't made public when the knife was found last Thursday.
"I'm not going to comment on it. It's an ongoing investigation," Assistant Chief Brian Conroy, head of NYPD School Safety Division said.
Conroy was attending a meeting with parents hosted by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina, to calm fears about school violence.
After Conroy clammed up, a police spokesman said that while the knife was in the same classroom, it did not belong to defendant Abel Cedeno or his two victims.
"Detectives conducted an investigation and determined that this knife was not associated with the stabbing incident at the school," the spokesman said.
With school weapons seizures at an all time high -- 2,120 last year alone -- it brought a renewed demand for more metal detectors.
"We're in the business of protecting children. I'm not trying to put a political spin on anything. If our schools were safe, I would not be here telling you we need metal detectors," Floyd said.
The mayor has been resistant to more metal detectors. he agrees with civil rights groups who said it stigmatizes kids. When he met with a selected group of parents on Monday, Floyd focused on another aspect of the case; the defendants claim that he was a victim of bullying.
"When it comes to bullying, we want everyone to take bullying seriously," de Blasio said.
NYC Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina said the system is beefing up bullying training for all 75,000 teachers.
"To discuss the de-escalation of issues. That will be part of the professional development in all our schools for at least three weeks, and then there will also be reinforcement on how do we report issues of bullying, so that we will be reviewing our protocols," she announced.
While the mayor and the schools chancellor spent over an hour answering parents questioned, they remained mum on the need for more school safety officers and the suggestion from one parent for auxiliary cops to be assigned to schools.