In “Police Strategy No. 2: Curbing Youth Violence In The Schools and On the Streets,” New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner William Bratton discuss the prevalence of violent crime in schools and nearby public spaces, particularly in light of the then-rising number of youth involved in firearms-related crime. Until that point, there had been a separation between schools and the NYPD, such that the police had no presence on Public School Safety Committees, crimes committed in schools were inconsistently reported, and student victims or witnesses were not required to speak with the police.
This document re-centers youth and school-related crime as an NYPD priority. As part of these reforms, officers would monitor and crack down on areas around schools for quality-of-life infractions, especially those involving minors. In particular, officers are made responsible for working with both schools and community members to report the common locations in which students gather when outside of school during school hours.