Senator Gallivan's Bill to Increase Penalty for Making a Terrorist Threat Against Police Passes Senate

Senator Patrick M. Gallivan (R-C-I, Elma) announces the Senate has passed legislation which he sponsored that would heighten the punishment for anyone convicted of making a terroristic threat against a police officer.  The bill (S-1984) would make it a class C felony to make such threats against a law enforcement officer.  Under current law, it is a class D felony to make terroristic threats against any individual.   

“By the very nature of their work, police officers are frequently targets of these types of threats,” Gallivan said.  “A police officer is a representative of the community which he or she serves and in order to deter these threats, a higher penalty for those who target law enforcement representatives is necessary.”

The legislation would amend the state’s penal law to create a new section establishing the crime of making a terroristic threat against a police officer.  The Senate passed similar legislation in 2015 and 2016, but it failed in the State Assembly.

The Senate approved the bill on a vote of 50-9.

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