Bill Text: NY A06382 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Creates the New York state school resource officer program for school districts outside of New York City; requires retired police officers be certified by the department of education to become school resource officers; allows retired police officers employed as school resource officers to carry a firearm on school grounds given an appropriate license; relates to the earnings limitations for retired police officers employed as a school resource officer.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-24 - print number 6382a [A06382 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A06382-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          6382

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      April 5, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of A. STIRPE, SEAWRIGHT, SAYEGH, DAVILA -- read once
          and referred to the Committee on Education

        AN ACT to amend the education law, the criminal procedure law,  and  the
          retirement and social security law, in relation to the creation of the
          Comprehensive  School  Resource  Officer  Training  and Implementation
          Program (SRO TIP)

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 2801-c
     2  to read as follows:
     3    §  2801-c.  New  York  state  school  resource officer program. 1. For
     4  purposes of this section, the term "school resource officer" shall  mean
     5  a  school resource officer, school safety officer, school security offi-
     6  cer, or any other substantially similar position or office whose purpose
     7  is to provide improved public safety and/or security on school grounds.
     8    2. Any boards of cooperative educational services, public or nonpublic
     9  school which is not in a city school district in a city having  a  popu-
    10  lation  of  one  million or more may employ, in either the classified or
    11  unclassified service, any school resource officer. Such school  resource
    12  officer shall be: (a) a retired police officer, a retired state trooper,
    13  a  retired  deputy sheriff, or a retired federal law enforcement officer
    14  and who, once a certification process is established, is certified as  a
    15  school resource officer under section twenty-eight hundred one-d of this
    16  article;  or  (b)  an  active  duty state trooper, police officer in the
    17  service of a town, city or village, or  deputy  sheriff  from  a  county
    18  sheriff's department.
    19    3. Any boards of cooperative educational services, public or nonpublic
    20  school  which  is not in a city school district in a city having a popu-
    21  lation of one million or more may contract with the state of  New  York,
    22  or  a county, city, town or village, for the provision of a state troop-
    23  er, police officer or deputy sheriff, to  serve  as  a  school  resource

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00232-03-3
        A. 6382                             2

     1  officer.  A board of cooperative educational services or school district
     2  which is not in a city school district in a city having a population  of
     3  one  million  or  more  shall be authorized to employ or contract for as
     4  many  school  resource officers as such board of cooperative educational
     5  services or district deems necessary.
     6    4. It shall be the primary role of  the  school  resource  officer  to
     7  provide improved public safety and/or security on school grounds through
     8  community  policing  techniques,  investigative  measures,  and tactical
     9  preparedness. In addition to such primary role, school resource officers
    10  also may serve additional roles, including but not limited to:
    11    (a) Proposing and enforcing  policies  and  administrative  procedures
    12  related to school safety;
    13    (b)  Utilizing  technology  in  the  implementation of a comprehensive
    14  safety program;
    15    (c) Serving as a liaison with other school officials and other  commu-
    16  nity agencies, including but not limited to, other law enforcement enti-
    17  ties, courts, health care entities, and mental health entities;
    18    (d)  Proposing  and  implementing  strategies  concerning  prevention,
    19  response and recovery efforts for incidents and/or emergency  situations
    20  occurring on school grounds and/or involving students, faculty, adminis-
    21  tration or visitors to the school;
    22    (e)  Proposing  and  assisting  in  the  execution of school emergency
    23  drills and proposing and assisting in  the  creation  of  school  safety
    24  plans;
    25    (f) Providing educational and mentoring services to students;
    26    (g)  Assisting  in  the  design, explanation and enforcement of school
    27  safety and security policies and procedures; and
    28    (h) Performing such other  and  further  roles,  responsibilities  and
    29  activities  as the school district may deem appropriate and proper for a
    30  law enforcement officer to perform, in order to  advance  the  security,
    31  safety  and well-being of students, faculty, administration and visitors
    32  to the school district's schools,  transportation  vehicles  and  school
    33  grounds.
    34    5.  Such school resource officer may carry and possess firearms during
    35  the course of their duties at such school district, but nothing in  this
    36  subdivision shall be deemed to authorize such school resource officer to
    37  carry,  possess,  repair  or dispose of a firearm unless the appropriate
    38  license therefor has been issued pursuant to section 400.00 of the penal
    39  law.
    40    § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new  section  2801-d  to
    41  read as follows:
    42    §  2801-d.  New  York  state  school  resource  officer  certification
    43  program. 1. For purposes of this  section,  the  term  "school  resource
    44  officer"  shall  mean  a school resource officer, school safety officer,
    45  school security officer, or any other substantially similar position  or
    46  office whose purpose is to provide improved public safety and/or securi-
    47  ty on school grounds.
    48    2.  The  department shall, utilizing boards of cooperative educational
    49  services, establish a school resource officer training program to certi-
    50  fy retired police  officers,  retired  deputy  sheriffs,  retired  state
    51  troopers and retired federal law enforcement officers as school resource
    52  officers as well as a school resource officer recertification program to
    53  recertify  school  resource  officers  who have previously completed and
    54  passed the department's school resource officer  certification  program.
    55  Such programs shall be designed by the department to include, but not be
    56  limited  to, counseling techniques, community policing practices, gender
        A. 6382                             3

     1  and racial sensitivity awareness, and field and  tactical  training  for
     2  prevention  and  response  to  incidents.  The  department shall utilize
     3  current or retired police officers, in order to  train  school  resource
     4  officers in any police related or tactical training provided for certif-
     5  ication.  The certifications granted from such programs shall expire one
     6  year after the program was completed and passed.
     7    3. The department shall separately offer the school  resource  officer
     8  training program and the school resource officer recertification program
     9  at least once per year per county.
    10    § 3. Section 2.10 of the criminal procedure law is amended by adding a
    11  new subdivision 86 to read as follows:
    12    86.  Retired  police  officers, retired state troopers, retired deputy
    13  sheriffs or retired federal law enforcement officers employed by  boards
    14  of  cooperative  educational  services  or a school district as a school
    15  resource officer; provided, however, that nothing  in  this  subdivision
    16  shall  be  deemed to authorize such officer to carry, possess, repair or
    17  dispose of a firearm unless the appropriate license  therefor  has  been
    18  issued pursuant to section 400.00 of the penal law.
    19    § 4. Subdivision 3 of section 212 of the retirement and social securi-
    20  ty  law,  as  added  by section 1 of part Y of chapter 55 of the laws of
    21  2013, is amended to read as follows:
    22    3. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions one and two of  this
    23  section,  the  commissioner  of  education  may  determine,  pursuant to
    24  section two hundred eleven of this article, that such  earnings  limita-
    25  tions shall not apply to a retired police officer, retired state trooper
    26  or  retired deputy sheriff employed by boards of cooperative educational
    27  services or a school district as a school  resource  officer;  or  to  a
    28  retired police officer, retired state trooper, or retired deputy sheriff
    29  who  is employed as a school resource officer by a county, city, town or
    30  village police department pursuant to a contract with a school  district
    31  to  provide such services.  The commissioner of education may include no
    32  more than thirty thousand dollars in addition to the earning limitations
    33  set forth in the table in  subdivision  two  of  this  section  to  such
    34  retired police officer, retired state trooper, or retired deputy sheriff
    35  who is employed as a school resource officer.
    36    § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          Insofar  as  it  would  affect the New York State and Local Retirement
        System (NYSLRS), this bill would allow, with the approval of the Commis-
        sioner of Education, retired police officers,  retired  state  troopers,
        and retired deputy sheriffs who are employed as school resource officers
        with  an  annual  salary of $65,000 or less to continue to receive their
        full retirement benefit, provided that such employment is by any of  (1)
        a  school  district, (2) a board of cooperative educational services, or
        (3) by a county, city, town or village police department pursuant  to  a
        contract  with  a  school  district to provide such services. Currently,
        only retired police officers employed as school resource officers  by  a
        school district are allowed enhanced post-retirement earning.
          Insofar  as  this bill affects the New York State and Local Employees'
        Retirement System (NYSLERS), pursuant to Section 25  of  the  Retirement
        and  Social Security Law, the increased costs would be borne entirely by
        the State of New York and would require an itemized appropriation suffi-
        cient to pay the cost of the  provision.  If  enacted  during  the  2023
        legislative session, the direct cost incurred would be a retiree's post-
        retirement  earnings more than $35,000 each calendar year, not to exceed
        the full pension benefit paid by the NYSLRS during that period.
        A. 6382                             4

          In the NYSLERS, this benefit improvement will be funded by including a
        separate itemized charge on the New York State annual invoice, equal  to
        the cost quoted above, plus interest.
          The  number  of  members  and  retirees  who could be affected by this
        legislation cannot be readily determined. For each retiree hired  pursu-
        ant to this proposal, an annual cost of $30,000 is expected.
          Summary of relevant resources:
          Membership  data as of March 31, 2022 was used in measuring the impact
        of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2022 actuari-
        al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the
        2022  Report  of the Actuary and the 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial
        Report.
          The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2020,
        2021,  and  2022  Annual  Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assump-
        tions, and the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State  of  New  York:
        Audit and Control.
          The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2022
        New  York  State  and  Local  Retirement System Financial Statements and
        Supplementary Information.
          I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
        fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
          This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the  viability
        of  the  proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for
        the professional judgment of an attorney.
          This estimate, dated March 30, 2023, and intended for use only  during
        the  2023  Legislative  Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2023-26, prepared by
        the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.