NY State Senate Bill 2019-S4550

Senate Bill S4550

2019-2020 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 08, 2020	referred to local government
Mar 14, 2019	referred to local government

co-Sponsors

2019-S4550 (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
2015-2016: S2526
2017-2018: S3433

2019-S4550 (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.

2019-S4550 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S4550

SPONSOR: PARKER
 
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 offi-
cers 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 popu-
lation of one million or more, for further action pursuant to subdivi-
sion 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 offi-
cers 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 "unsubstanti-
ated" 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 inves-
tigate such cases.******* Norman Siegel of the New York Civil Liberties
Union (NYCLU) and Senator Eric Adams (a former NYPD Captain), in partic-
ular, 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-inter-
est" 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 independent-
ly elected state-level officers has the political legitimacy, independ-
ence and historic reputation for objectivity to undertake such a func-
tion and provide substantial justice.  This bill will allow a
state-level officer to once again perform this vital function.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017-18: S3433 - REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT:
2015-16: S.2526 - Referred to Local Government

 
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-NYPDAbner-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://vvww.nydailynews.com/news/crime/sean-bell-scene-
probeintentionally-bothced-black-police-group-article1.290813, last
visited July 1, 2013.
* * * * See http://nevvyork.cbslocal.com/2012/02/06/ special-prosecutor-
sought- inbronx-police-beating/, last visited July 1, 2013.
***** See http://nlgnyc.org/2013/03/19/ngl-nyc- condemns-police-kill-
ing-of-sixteenyear-old-kimani-gray/, last visited October 11, 2013.
******http://bayridgejournal.blogspot.
comJ2013/07/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.

2019-S4550 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4550
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 14, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  PARKER, BAILEY -- 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.
   § 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.

                                                            LBD10746-01-9

 S. 4550                             2
 
   § 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.
   § 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 S4550

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Sponsored By

Kevin S. Parker