NY State Senate Bill 2015-S2526

Senate Bill S2526

2015-2016 Legislative Session

Requires the attorney general to prosecute New York city police officers charged with a criminal offense in violation of any of the laws of this state

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Local Government Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 06, 2016	referred to local government
Jan 26, 2015	referred to local government

co-Sponsors

2015-S2526 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Local Government
Law Section:: County Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §700, County L; amd §63, Exec L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2013-2014: S6140
2017-2018: S3433
2019-2020: S4550

2015-S2526 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires the attorney general to prosecute New York city police officers charged with a criminal offense in violation of any of the laws of this state.

2015-S2526 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S2526

TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the county law and the executive law, in relation to
requiring the attorney general to prosecute New York city police
officers charged with a criminal offense in violation of any of the
laws of this state

PURPOSE:

Provides for the State Attorney General to act as a special prosecutor
and prosecute crimes and offenses allegedly committed by polices
officers employed by a city having a population of one million or
more.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends the county law to provide for the prosecution by the
attorney general of crimes and offenses allegedly committed by police
officers employed by a city having a population of one million or
more.

Section 2: Amends the county law to create a new duty for every
district attorney to inform the attorney general of any crimes or
offenses allegedly committed by police officers employed by a city

having a population of one million or more, for further action
pursuant to subdivision ten-a of section sixty-three of the executive
law.

Section 3: Amends the executive law by creating a new subdivision
ten-a that creates a duty for the attorney general to prosecute police
officers employed by a city having a population of one million or more
charged with a criminal offense in violation of any of the laws of
this state.

Section 4: Provides that the act shall take effect on the first of
November next succeeding the date upon which it shall have become law.

JUSTIFICATION:

Over the past twenty years, a number of high profile cases of alleged
official misconduct by officer of the New York Police Department
(NYPD) have resulted in requests or the appointment of special
prosecutors to investigate such misconduct. The list of the objects of
such misconduct include Abner Louima in 1997,* Reginald Bannerman in
1999,** Sean Bell in 2006,*** Jateik Reed in 2012,**** Kimani Gray in
2013, ***** and the subjects of the large numbers of cases annually
sent to New York City's civilian complaint review Board (CCRB) that
were deemed "unsubstantiated" based on an internal investigation at
the NYPD (see also the case of Detective Scarcella in 2013******).

In the case of the 2008 acquittal of the three NYPD officers charged
with misconduct in the shooting death of Sean Bell, a broad coalition
of civil rights advocates and public interest attorneys called for
change in the handling of police misconduct and brutality charges, and
called for the creation of a permanent state-level special prosecutor


to investigate such cases.******* Norman Siegel of the New York Civil
Liberties Union (NYCLU) and Senator Eric Adams (a former NYPD
Captain), in particular, called for the reinstatement of the
state-level special prosecutor's office that was abolished by
gubernatorial action in 1993, and originally created in the aftermath
of the Knapp Commission.

In its 2010 report entitled "Revisiting Who's Guarding the Guardians,"
the United States Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) found that the
states' "prosecution of police misconduct has been criticized as being
infrequent and ineffective, in part, because local prosecutors are
reluctant to prosecute the officers upon whom they must rely for the
investigation and prosecution of criminal cases."******** Citing the
work of Professor Louis Schwartz, the USCCR concluded:

"the District Attorney's office has not been, and, in the nature of
things, could not be, an effective instrument for controlling police
violence. Local prosecutors' offices face "a hopeless
conflict-of-interest" in handling police violence complaints because,
in most cases, the district attorney's office must investigate the
defendant's allegations of brutality against the police while
simultaneously investigating the police charges against the defendant.
(Furthermore), the "symbiotic relationship" that the police share with
local prosecutors "virtually guarantees that no local district
attorney-in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, or elsewhere-will pursue police
brutality prosecutions vigorously."*********

The inescapable logic of the need for objective investigation into
police misconduct where it is alleged, and the corresponding value of
a truly objective special prosecutor's investigation for finding the
truth and confirming or vacating charges of police misconduct
necessitate the reinstatement of state-level special prosecutor's
function in New York State. The Office of the Attorney General, one of
the three independently elected state-level officers has the political
legitimacy, independence and historic reputation for objectivity to
undertake such a function and provide substantial justice. This bill
will allow a state-level officer to once again perform this vital
function.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

None. This is new legislation.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding
the date on which it shall have become law.

* See
http://ny-popculture-politics.blogspot.com/2013/08/Christine-Quinn-NYPD-
Abner-Louima-Brutality-Task-Force-Anniversary.html, last visited
October 11, 2013.


** See
http://www.villagevoice.com/1999-10-05/news/the-louima-case-is-not-dead/,
last visited October 11, 2013.

*** See
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/sean-bell-scene-probe-intentionally-
bothced-black-police-group-article1.290813, last visited July 1, 2013.

**** See
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/02/06/special-prosecutor-sought-in-
bronx-police-beating/, last visited July 1, 2013.

*****See
http://nlgnyc.org/2013/03/19/ngl-nyc-condemns-police-killing-of-sixteen-
year-old-kimani-gray/, last visited October 11, 2013.

******http://bayridgejournal.blogspot.com/2013/07/george-give-scarcel-la
-cases-to-special.htmp, last visited October 11, 2013.

*******See
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-04-27-1727642827x.htm,
last visited July 1, 2013.

******** See http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/guard/ch4.htm, last visited
October 11, 2013.

********* Ed.see also U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Police
Practices and Civil Rights in New York City, August 2000,
recommendation 4.13 p.84 (hereafter cited as USCCR, Police Practices
in New York City); USCCR, Los Angeles Report, recommendation 4.7,
p.219.

2015-S2526 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  2526

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 26, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government

AN ACT to amend the county law and the executive  law,  in  relation  to
  requiring the attorney general to prosecute New York city police offi-
  cers  charged  with a criminal offense in violation of any of the laws
  of this state

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1. Subdivision 1 of section 700 of the county law, as amended
by chapter 560 of the laws of 1991, is amended to read as follows:
  1. Except as provided in section seven hundred one of this chapter, it
shall be the duty of every district attorney to conduct all prosecutions
for crimes and offenses, EXCLUDING CRIMES AND OFFENSES ALLEGEDLY COMMIT-
TED BY POLICE OFFICERS EMPLOYED BY A CITY HAVING  A  POPULATION  OF  ONE
MILLION  OR MORE, cognizable by the courts of the county for which he or
she shall have been elected or appointed; except when the place of trial
of an indictment is changed from one county to another, it shall be  the
duty  of  the  district  attorney  of the county where the indictment is
found to conduct the trial of the indictment so removed, and it shall be
the duty of the district attorney of the county to which such  trial  is
changed  to assist in such trial upon the request of the district attor-
ney of the county where the  indictment  was  found.  He  or  she  shall
perform  such  additional and related duties as may be prescribed by law
and directed by the board of supervisors.
  S 2. Section 700 of the county law is amended by adding a new subdivi-
sion 1-a to read as follows:
  1-A. IT SHALL BE THE DUTY OF EVERY DISTRICT  ATTORNEY  TO  INFORM  THE
ATTORNEY-GENERAL  OF  ANY  CRIMES  AND  OFFENSES  ALLEGEDLY COMMITTED BY
POLICE OFFICERS EMPLOYED BY A CITY HAVING A POPULATION OF ONE MILLION OR
MORE FOR FURTHER ACTION BY THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL, PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION
TEN-A OF SECTION SIXTY-THREE OF THE EXECUTIVE LAW.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD06469-01-5

S. 2526                             2

  S 3. Section 63 of the executive law is amended by adding a new subdi-
vision 10-a to read as follows:
  10-A. PROSECUTE EVERY POLICE OFFICER EMPLOYED BY A CITY HAVING A POPU-
LATION  OF ONE MILLION OR MORE CHARGED WITH THE COMMISSION OF A CRIMINAL
OFFENSE IN VIOLATION OF ANY OF THE LAWS  OF  THIS  STATE.  IN  ALL  SUCH
PROCEEDINGS,  THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL MAY APPEAR IN PERSON OR BY HIS DEPUTY
OR ASSISTANT BEFORE ANY COURT OR ANY GRAND JURY  AND  EXERCISE  ALL  THE
POWERS  AND  PERFORM  ALL  THE  DUTIES  IN  RESPECT  OF  SUCH ACTIONS OR
PROCEEDINGS WHICH THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY WOULD OTHERWISE BE AUTHORIZED OR
REQUIRED TO EXERCISE OR PERFORM.
  S 4. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
ing the date on which it shall have become a law.

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Senate Bill S2526

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Sponsored By

Kevin S. Parker