The 52nd Precinct’s commanding officer pledged to maintain safety outside DeWitt Clinton Campus during dismissal time following the stabbing of a 16-year-old boy on Nov. 20 shortly after school, prompting a meeting between engaged parents, elected officials and their representatives, and officers two weeks following the incident.

The meeting was called by Sirio Guerino, the former PTA president for Bronx Collaborative High School, which is housed inside the campus along with DeWitt Clinton High School (DWCHS) and Worldview High School. The city Department of Education recently approved the opening of a D75 school to operate in the campus.

For Guerino, the issue of safety is personal. He has two sons who attend Bronx Collaborative High School.

“[M]y whole life revolves around my two sons. I’m not sending my two sons to DeWitt Clinton Campus to come home to me in a box,” said Guerino, his voice bellowing throughout the PTA conference room. “I am not waiting for a shooting to bring more officers here; I’m very upset with this.”

Councilman Andrew Cohen and 52nd Precinct commanding officer Thomas Alps were among those who gathered inside the campus on Dec. 5 to discuss the stabbing that hospitalized the student, who attends Bronx Collaborative High School, leaving him in stable condition. The meeting was also attended by Assemblyman Victor Pichardo, an alum of DWCHS currently serving the 86th Assembly District, which falls outside the school.

Alps, who recently marked one year since he was assigned to oversee the precinct, explained the logistical challenges in dispatching officers to the campus after school dismissal.

“Right around 3:15, 3:30 [p.m] the precinct is changing tours. I have to pull the people in while you guys are dismissing, and I have to get people out the door quick as possible, doing a quick turnover. So that’s been a bit of a struggle. I’m also pulling guys from other tours to supplement the coverage,” said Alps, flanked by his crime prevention officer along with the principal of DWCHS, Pierre Orbe.

Neighboring Walton High School in Kingsbridge Heights is currently a major concern for the precinct, much of it due to infighting between subsets of the notorious Trinitarios gang, where members are also students there. After school fights have resulted in retaliatory, bloody attacks that have prompted Alps to station more officers, some of whom are plainclothes officers, near the school.

“We have challenges; we have two schools that are experiencing violence at the same time. We’re throwing all the resources we have at it. We’re not ignoring it,” said Alps.

But DWCHS is just as notorious as Walton High School, given safety issues that go back years. In 2012 the school saw the most weapon seizures for the year, and in 2015 it had the highest number of student arrests, according to the New York Daily News. Fights are common after school, with disputes beginning inside the school and settled on Mosholu Parkway or Jerome Avenue, according to students who spoke to the Norwood News for a previous article. The Five-Two has been strategic in maintaining a visible presence, keeping its patrol vehicles within sight of students leaving school. The strategy is in line with a lower number of felony assaults across the campus. So far, there have been a total of three felony assaults.

The latest incident, a 16-year-old who was stabbed multiple time in the face and chest, came after his iPhone was stolen. This prompted a squad of the NYPD school safety officers to arrive at the school from neighboring schools. While Walton High School has Cure Violence interrupters, which help defuse disputes involving gangs, DWCHS does not.

In the last few years, DWCHS has made strides in turning its school around, much of it credited to Orbe. Newly released statistics from the New York City Department of Education show the four-year graduation rate at the Norwood school is now at 78 percent, surpassing the Bronx rate and lining up with New York City’s rate.

With a student body of about 2,200 (not counting the D75 school, which has no enrollment data available), and Alps conceding there’s not enough eyes to monitor the majority of the students during dismissal time, Cohen proposed an incremental dismissal where students from the different schools leave separately. Currently, DeWitt Clinton High School and Bronx Collaborative High School leave simultaneously first, and World View High School second.

“If we can stagger it, Assemblyman Pichardo and I will call the Chancellor now,” said Cohen, referring to Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza.

Alps saw that as a solution, despite some skepticism from staffers.

“When there’s less people and you’re scanning the crowd, you can pick out people that are more problematic,” said Alps, who recalled this method used at Columbus High School, which falls in Alps’ previous command at the 49th Precinct in Pelham Parkway. “If you see a rush of kids coming out, you’re just overwhelmed.”

Michael Turay contributed to this report. See the editorial on page 22 detailing the paper’s position.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.