Juniors and freshmen students packed the auditorium on Thursday October 17th. Detective Dave D’Amico was watching them. D’Amico told students after the rumble from the crowd settled down that he was watching how they walked in and listened into their conversations to hear what they were talking about. “I guarantee with certainty that there is no hate in this room,” D’Amico said “but I also would guarantee that there is prejudice.”
Detective D’Amico, who has been in law enforcement for twenty-four years and currently serves as a detective for the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, talked to students about the issue of hate and bias crimes. He defined a hate crime as being any crime made towards another person based on that person’s race, religion, perceived ethnicity or sexual orientation. D’Amico made it clear to students who the presentation was directed to, “It’s not about me, the teachers or the guidance counselors; it’s about you.”
D’Amico told students about a handful of hate crimes that he had responded to over his tenure in the MCPO. He reminisced back on cases including one on school vandalism in which swastikas were drawn on bathroom stalls in the unnamed Monmouth County high school. D’Amico also explained cases that he responded to from municipalities such as Red Bank and Asbury Park.
A video entitled “Hate Crimes in America” was shown to students. The video opened with news clips of planes crashing into the World Trade Center Towers during the September 11th attacks from 2001. The video then followed with images and videos from organizations such as the KKK, Nazi militias and Al-Qaeda. At the conclusion of the video, D’Amico asked the group of students if the 9/11 attacks was a hate crime. “It was an act of terror that was meant to kill many people; many who were from this community.” D’Amico followed up after the question. He then moved on to point out an infamous picture depicting a child dressed in a white robe participating in a KKK event. D’Amico then went on to tell students that the child in the picture was not born with hate but that it was a learned behavior. He then went on and asked the present students if any watched the TV animated show South Park. After students took their arms down, D’Amico said “I have no problem with you guys watching South Park so long that you don’t bring it in those halls,” D’Amico pointed to the hallway where the main entrance of the auditorium is located.
The detective called on the juniors to serve as good role models for underclassmen telling them “you set the tone.” In addition, he also told the members of the freshmen class to serve as good role models for younger siblings and family members. “You are a hero, leader, role model to somebody,” D’Amico told students.
D’Amico raised the issue of internet security and said that it was an important issue. “The internet is a very useful and resourceful tool, but there are a lot of people lying to you on it,” D’Amico said. He also informed students that he viewed many of the students’ facebook profiles under a false account where he posed as a sixteen year old boy. D’Amico told students to privatize as much information as possible, not to give out cell phone numbers and not to inform people of personal information such as high school names on the internet. He also informed students that there are fifty-one organized hate groups located in the state of New Jersey.
With a stern face, Detective D’Amico addressed the group, “the last place I ever want to see any of you is in trouble… but we will investigate these crimes until the very end. We work for the victim.” D’Amico told students the story of a Canadian high school student who committed suicide after being taunted by other students. He told students to be caution when using their words, “words are like bullets: once it’s out, you can’t take them back so you better be proficient… words can kill like bullets.”
At the end of the presentation, D’Amico told students of “The Three Rs” which consisted of recognition, responding and reporting what goes on around them in high school. He advised students to inform other people if they do not want to come forward but said that bystanders “are not part of the solution, but are part of the problem.” He asked students to be leaders and to “be members of the North team.” He concluded his presentation praising the students telling them “It has been such a please and opportunity to spend time with you… never in my history of me coming to this school as an audience been so respectful.”
After the presentation concluded, Principal Dr. Cartier praised the presentation and Detective D’Amico saying, “I like the three Rs a lot… that’s what we have to do here at North.” Dr. Cartier says that she wishes students paid attention to the presentation and respect the school campus from any sort of vandalism or hate actions. She encouraged students to be good leaders and role models. She also asked students for their help saying that for many staff members the building is like a “second home” and wants students to have a better perception of what is going on at MHSN. She commended the students who attended the presentation saying, “I was really proud of the respect the students shown… they were so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.”
The presentation fell in between the Week of Respect (October 7th-11th) and the upcoming School Violence Awareness Week (October 21st-25th). Dr. Cartier reports that more assembly programs will be taking place in the following week and that the School Safety Committee is continuing to work to increase school safety and security.
