Metro

Inside NYC’s uneven pot policy for homeless kids

The city treats kids caught with marijuana in homeless shelters more harshly than those busted for pot in schools or elsewhere, shelter officers are complaining.

In city homeless shelters, children aged 7 to 15 who are caught with weed are handcuffed, taken to a police precinct and locked in a holding cell.

In city schools, kids under 16 found in possession of pot return to class after a juvenile report is prepared on the spot. Those 16 or older can skate with a summons for less than 25 grams.

And, under a Department of Education program to soften discipline in 71 high schools, the teens walk away with just a “warning card.”

“Children who commit the same infraction are treated differently,” said Gregory Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, which represents both school safety agents and shelter guards. “The mayor has two different policies for handling children.”

City Hall spokesmen confirmed the disparate treatment, explaining that a child on school grounds is in the principal’s custody, while a kid in public or a shelter is now “brought to the local precinct” until a guardian claims them.

But city policy has changed since the NYPD took over shelter security in January, officials told The Post.

Previously, with children aged 7 to 15, Department of Homeless Services police held kids at the shelter and gave their parents a criminal-court summons. No more.

“As of today, the precinct wants DHS police to escort the juvenile to the precinct, do a juvenile report, and stand by until the parent arrives” — which could take hours, said a Sept. 18 e-mail by DHS officers.

The officers said the PATH shelter on 151st Street in The Bronx had a 15-year-old with marijuana. Officers had to handcuff the teen en route to the precinct, where he was kept in a holding cell, sources said.

With “four other kids,” the teen’s parent had to find someone to watch the others or bring them to the police station.

NYPD spokesman Peter Donald confirmed the policy change.

But Andre Green, an ex-NYPD cop and deputy director of Local 237’s law-enforcement division, blasted the practice as heavy-handed

“You are stigmatized for being homeless and in a shelter,” Green said.

It also takes officers away from shelters, lessening security, he argued.