BILL NUMBER:S7273

SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to requiring reporting to
the federal bureau of investigation's national use-of-force data
collection program

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this legislation is to require state and local law
enforcement departments to report use-of-force incidents to the national
use-of-force database administered by the Federal Bureau of Investi-
gation.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 adds a new subdivision 3 to Section 837-T of the Executive Law
that requires the chief of every police department, each county sheriff,
and the superintendent of the state police to report to the Federal
              

Bureau of Investigation's national use-of-force database any instance in
which a police officer or peace officer: (1) brandishes, uses or
discharges a firearm or non-lethal projection weapon, including, but not
limited to, the use of rubber bullets, at or in the direction of another
person; (2) uses a chokehold or similar restraint that applies pressure
to the throat or windpipe of a person in a manner that may hinder
breathing or reduce intake of air; (3) displays, uses or deploys a chem-
ical agent, including, but not limited to, oleoresin capsicum, pepper
spray or tear gas; (4) brandishes, uses or deploys an impact weapon,
including, but not limited to, a baton or billy; (5) brandishes, uses or
deploys an electronic control weapon, including, but not limited to, an
electronic stun gun, flash bomb or long range acoustic device; or (6)
engages in conduct which results in the death or serious bodily injury
of another person. Serious bodily injury is defined as bodily injury
that involves a substantial risk of death, unconsciousness, protracted
and obvious disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the func-
tion of a bodily member, organ or mental faculty. Every report shall
include, but not be limited to, detailed circumstances of every inci-
dent, the age, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or
expression, and ethnicity of all persons engaging in the use of force or
suffering such injury.  Any police department, sheriff's office, or
division of state police that fails to make such reporting shall have
10% of their state funding withheld until such reporting is submitted to
the national use-of-force database.

Section 2 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In 2015, then-FBI Director James Comey relayed frustration that it was
easier to get the latest box office data on popular movies than getting
data on law enforcement use-of-force incidents.(1) He even went so far
as to say it was an, "embarrassment and ridiculous." Six years later,
data on use-of-force incidents still remains largely unavailable. Even
after a presidential order and congressional demands instructing law
enforcement departments to report use-of-force incidents to the FBI,
only 27% of police departments nationwide have reported such incidents
to the national use-of-force database.(2) As the nation reflects on the
many deaths of black, indigenous, and people of color by the hands of
law enforcement officers, accountability and reform demands transparen-
cy. This bill provides the mechanism for creating much needed transpar-
ency for structural change to be made in law enforcement.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the 30th day after it shall have become a
law.  (1)Aaron C. Davis and Wesley Lowrey, FBI director calls lack of
data on police shootings 'ridiculous,' `embarrassing', The Washington
Post, Oct. 7, 2015, available at
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/fbi-director-calls-lack-of-
data-on-police-shootings-ridiculous-embarrassing/2015/10/07/
c0ebaf7a-6d16-11e5-b31c-d80d62b53e28_story.  html?itid=lk_int
erstitial_manualS.
(2) Tom Jackman, For a second year, most U.S. police departments decline
to share information on their use offorce,
The Washington Post, June 9, 2021, available at
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/09/police-use-of- force-
data/.