Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe NEW YORK, April 26 (UPI) -- New York City police officers toting metal detectors began a sweep of city middle and high schools Wednesday with orders to confiscate cell phones and iPods. While the real initiative is to search for weapons, the Department of Education asked officers to enforce a longstanding ban on such devices, the New York Post reported. Advertisement Headphones, glass containers and any head gear that could indicate gang affiliation are also on the forbidden list. However, at many schools without their own metal detectors, students and parents came to believe some things are alright -- especially cell phones. "That's our safety net for our kids," said Ilene Danuff, who has a 13-year-old son at NYC Lab School in Manhattan. "My kids have gotten on the wrong subway and come out where they don't know where they are." Items other than weapons confiscated are returned to students at the end of the school day, the newspaper said.
