Public Employee Press

Parent Coordinator is shot; Local 372 pushes for more police near schools

After 11-year veteran Parent Coordinator Judith Daniels was shot Oct. 2 near PS 81 in Brooklyn, Local 372 President Shaun D. Francois issued a public call for an increased police presence near public schools.

Late that afternoon, around the corner from the school, gunfire rang out and three stray bullets pierced her leg. Two other bystanders were also hit.

At first, "I didn't realize I was shot," Daniels said, speaking from a wheelchair at the local's Oct. 14 news conference outside the school on DeKalb Avenue. Then she collapsed and saw her blood.

"This dedicated member was shot for no reason," said Francois, "We need more police near our schools to deter violence and crime. These shootings traumatize students, teachers and parents as well as the victim. Schools should not be turned into killing fields."

The Police Dept. responded the day after the news conference, setting up and staffing a two-story Sky Watch patrol tower near the school to give officers a better view of the area.

"Judith Daniels goes way beyond what she's supposed to do for the kids and parents," said Khana Fraser, one of the many parents Daniels works with at the Bedford-Stuyvesant school. "She's the best."

"I love what I do," Daniels said, "It's a great job, but this violence needs to stop," she told reporters. "There's no guarantee it won't happen to any one of you or our children." The 81st Precinct reported 31 shootings in the neighborhood through Oct. 5, more than last year.