Bill Text: NY A09728 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Enacts the "keep police radio public act"; ensures that, except for sensitive information, all radio communications are accessible to emergency services organizations and professional journalists.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-06-05 - print number 9728a [A09728 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A09728-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         9728--A

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      April 3, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of A. REYES, BICHOTTE HERMELYN, DARLING -- read once
          and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations --  committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to said committee

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the executive law, in relation to enacting the "keep
          police radio public act"

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

     1    Section  1.  This  act  shall  be  known and may be cited as the "keep
     2  police radio public act".
     3    § 2. The executive law is amended by adding a  new  section  222-a  to
     4  read as follows:
     5    §  222-a.  Law  enforcement communications public access.   1. For the
     6  purposes of this section, the following terms shall have  the  following
     7  meanings:
     8    (a)  "emergency services organization" means a public or private agen-
     9  cy, voluntary organization or group organized and  functioning  for  the
    10  purpose  of providing fire, medical, ambulance, rescue, housing, food or
    11  other services directed toward relieving human suffering, injury or loss
    12  of life or damage to property as a result  of  an  emergency,  including
    13  non-profit  and  governmentally-supported  organizations,  but excluding
    14  governmental agencies.
    15    (b) "encryption" means the  encoding  of  voice  communication  on  an
    16  analog  or digitally modulated radio carrier, which renders the communi-
    17  cation difficult or impossible to be monitored by commercially available
    18  radio receivers or scanners.
    19    (c) "law enforcement agency" means any agency  or  department  of  any
    20  municipality,  any  police  district, or any agency, department, commis-
    21  sion, authority or public benefit corporation of the state of  New  York
    22  employing a police officer or police officers as that term is defined in
    23  subdivision thirty-four of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law.
    24    (d) "radio communications" means verbal communications that are broad-
    25  cast  over  a  radio  frequency  either  from a dispatch center to field
    26  personnel, from field personnel to a dispatch center, or  between  field

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13622-03-4
        A. 9728--A                          2

     1  personnel,  and are accessible to all personnel monitoring that frequen-
     2  cy. "Radio  communications"  does  not  include  private  communications
     3  between two devices, such as a cellular telephone, or the transmittal of
     4  data  to  or from a mobile data terminal, tablet, text messaging device,
     5  or similar device.
     6    (e) "sensitive information" means any portion of a radio communication
     7  that, if disclosed, would:
     8    i. deprive a person of a right to a fair trial  or  impartial  adjudi-
     9  cation;
    10    ii.  identify  a confidential source or disclose confidential informa-
    11  tion relating to a criminal investigation; and
    12    iii. reveal criminal investigative techniques  or  procedures,  except
    13  routine techniques and procedures.
    14    2.  Any  law enforcement agency in the state that encrypts any portion
    15  of its radio communications shall ensure that all radio  communications,
    16  with  the  exception  of  sensitive information, are accessible, in real
    17  time, to emergency services organizations and  professional  journalists
    18  as  defined  in  section seventy-nine-h of the civil rights law.  In the
    19  event that a law enforcement agency does  encrypt  radio  communications
    20  pursuant  to  this  subdivision,  the department of state shall, for the
    21  purpose of verifying credentials, establish and administer a process for
    22  granting real-time access to radio communications to emergency  services
    23  organizations  and  to  professional  journalists.    Such a process for
    24  granting access shall take no more than five business days to complete.
    25    3. The department of state shall  promulgate  rules,  regulations  and
    26  standards deemed necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
    27    §  3.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
    28  have become a law.