Golden: Governor Paterson Signs Law That Will Handcuff Police Officers and Jeopardize Public Safety in New York

Brooklyn- State Senator Martin J. Golden (R-C-I, Brooklyn), a former New York City Police Officer, issued the following statement in response to Governor Paterson’s signing into law legislation that will restrict the New York City Police Department’s Stop and Frisk policy:

“The legislation, advocated by Senator Eric Adams and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, signed by Governor David Paterson today, only adds to the decay of New York’s public safety policy. We first saw it with the Drug Dealer Protection Act and then with an increase in the release of violent felons. Now, they are asking the Police Department to fight crime with one arm tied behind their back.

This law is ill-conceived, shortsighted, and jeopardizes the lives and safety of all New Yorkers because it will handcuff police officers and prevent them from fully investigating and solving crimes. This policy has proven to be an effective crime fighting tool for law enforcement officials, one of which that has helped to bring crime down to record levels in New York City, and the elimination of this policy is a cause for alarm for residents of the Big Apple.

New York City did not earn the title of “safest large City in America” by accident. It has been through the leadership of Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly that New Yorkers and people from throughout the world feel safe here. Governor Paterson and the Democratic controlled New York State Legislature are threatening this progress by pushing this law through. Everyone should be equally protected by our police officers and this law denies thousands of families adequate public protection.

I guess they forgot the 1970’s and 1980’s, when no one wanted to come to New York, and when families were afraid to ride the subway, walk the streets and enjoy living in the greatest City in the world. I guess they want to revert back to the days when the policies that didn’t work govern our public safety and ask New Yorkers to again live in a crime-ridden City.”