{
  "id": 19688742,
  "title": "Cops for a first grader?: Why NYC schools are still calling 911 on 6-year-olds",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/12/cops-for-a-first-grader-why-nyc-schools-are-still-calling-911-on-6",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-11-12T18:00:46.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Chalkbeat",
    "slug": "chalkbeat",
    "url": "https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2026/11/12/nyc-schools-call-911-on-students-in-mental-health-crisis/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Crystal Roach was shaken as she placed an Uber call for her 6-year-old son, Zai. Envisioning the young boy handcuffed, the fear in Roach's chest threatened to suffocate her. Zai, diagnosed with autism, was experiencing meltdowns at school, throwing items and even hitting classmates and teachers. The school had called his mother repeatedly to come and get him, at the brink of exhaustion as a single parent and nanny. One day in April 2026, the school reached beyond the norm, calling 911. A police car and ambulance arrived at P.S. 11, located in Brooklyn's Clinton Hill neighborhood. Roach's initial shock turned to disbelief upon seeing the police presence.\n\nNew York City schools are mandated to call 911 only in extreme cases, per city regulations. Schools must first try to de-escalate the situation, with police arriving to contain students in extreme cases. In 2023, the New York City Council passed a law requiring police to document if schools had attempted de-escalation measures before involving EMTs or police. However, progress has been slow. Child in crisis calls continue to occur well over 2,000 times annually in New York City schools.\n\nThese calls are disproportionately made to students with disabilities and Black students, and often involve young children. Since the city began tracking these incidents in 2016, over 5,000 child in crisis calls have been made on children aged under 10. Families and mental health providers argue that taking kids to hospitals is traumatic, humiliating, and often ineffective. Once at the hospital, students typically wait in crowded ERs for hours before being evaluated and sent home without treatment, according to advocates.\n\nNelson Mar, a senior attorney at Legal Services NYC, has been working with Roach to secure Zai's special education services. Mar led the 2013 lawsuit that initially prompted the city's first formal limits on schools' use of 911. The settlement led to gains, but failed to address the root causes of child in crisis incidents. In a March 2026 letter to the Mamdani administration, Mar and other advocates called for expanded behavioral interventions in city schools. They recommend staffing districts with specialists to help schools create individualized behavior plans, teacher training on understanding neurodivergent students, and expanding initiatives like the Path program to support students with emotional disabilities in general education classrooms.",
  "summary": "This is part two of a three-part series. Here’s the first story. And be sure to sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free email newsletter to be the first to know when our next stories publish. Crystal Roach felt her hands shake as she ordered an Uber. Her thoughts were racing, imagining her 6-year-old son, Zai, confused and afraid. She pictured his little wrists in handcuffs, and it felt hard to…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}