BILL NUMBER: S2043

SPONSOR: TEDISCO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to elevating the severity of
the felony offense of killing a police work dog or police work horse and
establishing the class E felony offense of injuring a police work dog or
police work horse

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to increase penalties for the injury or
killing of a police work dog or police work horse.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends Subdivision section 195.06-a of the penal law to
elevate the existing crime of killing a police work dog or police work
horse from a class E felony to a class D felony.

              

Section 2 creates a new penal law section 195.06-b to create the specif-
ic offense of injuring a police work dog or a police work horse, punish-
able as a class E felony.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

On November 15, 2016, Jamestown Police Department K-9 Officer Mitchell,
a six year-old German Shepherd who has been a member of the Jamestown
Police Department since 2011, was grievously injured during a confronta-
tion with suspected murderer Keith Robbins following a six-hour stan-
doff. During the apprehension of Robbins, K-9 Officer Mitchell was
stabbed in the throat and under his jaw, causing the knife to penetrate
his tongue, resulting in emergency surgery for his injuries.

Currently, an individual who intentionally and seriously injures a
police animal in the performance of his duties can be charged pursuant
to Section 195.06 of the penal law and if found guilty would be subject
to a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to less than a year in pris-
on.

This bill would carve out a separate felony offense for those who seri-
ously and intentionally injure a police work dog or police work horse in
the performance of their duties while such animal is under the super-
vision of a police officer.

Police work animals, especially dogs, have been subject to numerous
hours of specialized training involving a significant investment of
police force time and financial resources. They, as well as police hors-
es are often used in highly dangerous situations and have been trained
to work at great risk to themselves. Over the years, state and federal
law enforcement agencies have become more and more reliant upon police
dogs like K-9 Officer Mitchell, which are, as a result of their height-
ened senses, vital to crime solving, rescue, and recovery efforts. With
the increase in homeland security threats, police dogs have become even
more critical in bomb sniffing, and risk detection situations. They are
also vital in illegal drug detection efforts.


Police work horses are critical to crowd control, filling in where
police alone and vehicles are insufficient. These animals have been
trained to ignore risk and to proceed into dangerous and life-threaten-
ing situations for the good of the public. They are truly acting as
"public servants" when fulfilling their duties and like police officers,
should enjoy an increased level of protection.  States including, Cali-
fornia, Indiana, Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon and Utah
have seen fit to elevate the offense of injury to police animals to
felony status. Those who intentionally and seriously injure these true
public servants should be deterred from violence toward them, be held to
a higher standard of accountability and be subject to appropriate
punishment.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

06/18/18: S.961 PASSED SENATE

01/10/19: S.1035 REFERRED TO CODES

03/19/19: S.1035 RECOMMIT, ENACTING CLAUSE STRICKEN

03/19/19: S.4659 REFERRED TO CODES

01/08/20: S.4659 REFERRED TO CODES

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
The first of November after having become a law.