BILL NUMBER: S5448

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, uncons ciousness, 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) 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 enforce-
ment 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.' 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 transparency.
This bill provides the mechanism for creating much needed transparency
for structural change to be made in law enforcement.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2021-2022: S.7273 - Reported and Committed to Finance/A.9918 - Referred
to Governmental Operations

 
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-embarrassin
g/2015/10/07
/cOebaf7a-6d16-11e5-b31c-d80d62b53e28_story.html?itid-lk_int
erstitial_manual_5.
2 Tom Jackman, For a second year, most U.S. police departments decline
to share information on their use of force, The Washington Post, June 9,
2021, available at
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/09/police-u se-of-force-
data/.