Dozens of students and parents marched across the Brooklyn Bridge on Thursday to demand the city eliminate part of the city’s 2023 budget for school safety agents.

Those marching are asking for that money to instead be invested into mental health resources for the students.

“Police being the first thing you see once you enter the schools is not what we want and going through metal detectors is not what we want,” said Jocelyn Palafox, a high school senior. “We want a better school environment for students to go to.”

Palafox joined students, parents, and march organizers, marching all the way to City Hall to demand police-free schools.

The students say that the city’s budget includes funding or 4,000 school safety agents, which they say could instead go towards hiring more social workers and school counselors.

The mayor's office tells News 12 that the city’s Department of Education currently supports programs to respond to emotional crises, and that every school has a social worker, counselor, and if possible, a mental health center.

The NYPD currently employs over 4,400 civilian school safety agents citywide.