Times Union: Cuomo Pocket-Vetos Police Discipline Bill

On Friday, the Times Union reported that Governor Cuomo vetoed a bill to make police disciplinary procedures subject to collective bargaining. The article quoted Senator Krueger, who opposed the bill, which would deny municipalities, counties, and the state the flexibility they need to protect the public by acting as they feel is necessary and appropriate in police disciplinary proceedings:

In the Senate, it passed with two opposing votes.

One of them came from Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan. “There are some circumstances in life where the boss — in this case the police commissioner — needs to have the power to remove someone when something terrible has happened, especially when that somebody has a gun,” she said earlier this month.

Those sentiments were echoed in a letter sent to Cuomo in late July, just after the chokehold death of Eric Garner on Staten Island, by a coalition of groups opposed to the bill, including the state Civil Liberties Union.

“Police have the power to arrest, jail and use force against New Yorkers,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman in a statement that accompanied the letter. “Their job responsibilities impact — and can even destroy — the lives of others. This power is simply too great to open up to negotiations.”

Read more at the Times Union website.