Senator Hoylman's Police STAT Act Goes Into Effect

NEW YORK -- Today, the Police Statistics and Transparency (STAT) Act (S.1830-C/A.10609) sponsored by State Senator Brad Hoylman (Manhattan-D/WFP) and Assemblymember Joe Lentol (Brooklyn-D/WFP) takes effect, almost six months after it was signed into law by Governor Cuomo. This legislation requires New York State to collect and report data on the race, ethnicity and sex of anyone arrested and charged with a misdemeanor or violation, as well as of anyone who dies while in police custody or an attempt to establish custody. The Police STAT Act passed the New York State Legislature and was signed into law in June amid nationwide protests against police brutality.

Senator Hoylman said: “The Police Statistics and Transparency (STAT) Act, a recommendation of President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, requires law enforcement to collect and publicly report demographic information ranging from low-level arrests to in-custody deaths. Starting today, we’ll finally have the data necessary to identify and root out the systemic and discriminatory policing practices that law enforcement uses to target Black and Brown New Yorkers. I’m thankful for the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Senate Codes Committee Chair Jamaal Bailey, and Assembly sponsor Joe Lentol for helping me usher this bill to passage, Governor Cuomo for signing it into law, and Communities United for Police Reform for advocating for this legislation for years. I am also grateful for every single New Yorker who took to the streets demanding action in the days following the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and through their voices made passage possible.”

The Police STAT Act creates new reporting requirements to shine a light on policing practices in New York. The legislation requires the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services to capture and publicly report on the race, ethnicity and sex of individuals who die in an arrest-related death, and require New York’s Office of Court Administration to publicly report the same demographic data for those charged with misdemeanors or violations.

With the implementation of the Police STAT Act, New York is now required to collect and report a broad range of data on policing, including:

• The total number of people who die during an interaction with police or in police custody
• The race, ethnicity, age and sex of anyone who dies during an interaction with police or in police custody
• The location of law enforcement activity and arrest-related deaths
• The total number of arrests and tickets for violations and misdemeanors
• The race, ethnicity, age and sex of anyone charged with a violation or misdemeanor

Data will be collected and published monthly on the public websites of the Division of Criminal Justice Services and Office of Court Administration. The Police STAT Act also includes safeguards to ensure personal identifying information, such as an individual’s name, date of birth or Social Security number, is not released.

In 2015, the White House released the findings of President Obama’s Task Force On 21st Century Policing, which identified data collection as a crucial tool in criminal justice reform. In 2017, Gwen Carr visited the New York State Capitol to advocate for the Police STAT Act, noting that “without transparency there’s no way we can begin to fix the problem of police brutality and misconduct.”