Bill Text: NY A10257 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Creates the New York state civilian complaint review board to investigate alleged misconduct by police and peace officers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-03-27 - referred to governmental operations [A10257 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A10257-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          10257
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                     March 27, 2018
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  SEAWRIGHT  --  read once and referred to the
          Committee on Governmental Operations
        AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to creating the New  York
          state civilian complaint review board
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. The executive law is amended  by adding a new article 43 to
     2  read as follows:
     3                                 ARTICLE 43
     4                NEW YORK STATE CIVILIAN COMPLAINT REVIEW BOARD
     5  Section 930. New York state civilian complaint review board.
     6    § 930. New York state civilian complaint review board. 1.  Legislative
     7  intent. It is in the interest of the people of the state of New York and
     8  police  departments  and  peace  officers  throughout the state that the
     9  investigation of complaints concerning misconduct  by  officers  towards
    10  members  of  the  public  be  complete,  thorough  and  impartial. These
    11  inquiries must be conducted fairly and independently, and in a manner in
    12  which the public and the police have confidence. An independent civilian
    13  complaint review board is hereby established as a body comprised  solely
    14  of  members  of the public with the authority to investigate allegations
    15  of misconduct as provided in this section.
    16    2. Definitions. (a) As used in this section, the term "officer"  shall
    17  mean "police officers" as defined in paragraphs (a), (e), (f), (h), (j),
    18  (k),  (l),  (m),  (p),  (q),  (s), and (v) of subdivision thirty-four of
    19  section 1.20 of the criminal  procedure  law  and  "peace  officers"  as
    20  defined in subdivisions three, four, five, six, eight, twelve, thirteen,
    21  fifteen,  sixteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-
    22  four, twenty-five, twenty-six,  twenty-seven,  twenty-nine,  thirty-two,
    23  thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-eight, forty,
    24  forty-five,  forty-six,  forty-seven,  fifty-two, fifty-nine, sixty-one,
    25  sixty-two, sixty-eight, seventy-four, seventy-nine,  and  eighty-two  of
    26  section 2.10 of the criminal procedure law.
    27    (b)  As  used  in  this  section "board" shall mean the New York state
    28  civilian complaint review board.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08502-01-7
        A. 10257                            2
     1    (c) As used in this section, "investigator" shall mean an investigator
     2  as appointed in accordance with the provisions of subdivision  three  of
     3  this section.
     4    3.  Appointments.  (a) The board shall consist of nine members; three,
     5  including the chair, as selected by the governor; and six members to  be
     6  appointed by the governor upon the recommendations, respectively, of the
     7  attorney  general,  the  comptroller,  the  temporary  president  of the
     8  senate, the minority leader of the senate, the speaker of the  assembly,
     9  and  the minority leader of the assembly. Any vacancy in the board shall
    10  be filled for the unexpired term in the  same  manner  as  the  original
    11  appointment.
    12    (b)  No  member  of  the  board  shall hold any other public office or
    13  employment. No members shall have experience as law enforcement  profes-
    14  sionals.  For the purposes of this section, experience as a law enforce-
    15  ment professional shall include experience as a  peace  officer,  police
    16  officer, criminal investigator, special agent, or a managerial or super-
    17  visory  employee  who  exercised  substantial  policy  discretion on law
    18  enforcement matters, in a federal, state, or local law enforcement agen-
    19  cy, other than experience as an attorney in a prosecutorial agency.
    20    (c) The members of the board shall be appointed  for  terms  of  three
    21  years.
    22    (d)  Each  member  of the board shall be entitled to reimbursement for
    23  his or her actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance  of
    24  his or her official duties and a per diem allowance of one hundred fifty
    25  dollars  when rendering service as a member; provided that the aggregate
    26  of such per diem allowance to any one member in any one fiscal  year  of
    27  the board shall not exceed the sum of five thousand dollars.
    28    4.  Powers  and  duties  of  the board. (a) The board shall appoint an
    29  executive director who shall act in accordance with the policies of  the
    30  board.
    31    (b) The board is authorized, within appropriations available therefor,
    32  to  appoint  such  employees as are necessary to exercise its powers and
    33  fulfill its duties. The board shall appoint investigators to investigate
    34  civilian complaints. Such investigators shall have investigative experi-
    35  ence as a condition of their appointment by the board.
    36    (c) The board shall have the power to adopt, amend and  rescind  rules
    37  and  regulations  to  govern  procedures of the board in accordance with
    38  this section.
    39    (d) The board shall have the power to subpoena and require the attend-
    40  ance in this state of witnesses and the production of books  and  papers
    41  pertinent  to  the  investigation and inquiries hereby authorized and to
    42  examine them and such public records as it shall require relating to any
    43  such matter. A subpoena issued pursuant to this action  shall  be  regu-
    44  lated by the civil practice law and rules.
    45    (e)  The  board  may  also offer, but may not require, mediation by an
    46  experienced mediator between a complainant and a subject officer  as  an
    47  alternative  to investigation and discipline. The board shall set guide-
    48  lines to determine cases appropriate for mediation.
    49    5. Complaint review procedure. (a) Complaints may be initiated by  any
    50  person  whether  or  not that person is a victim of, or a witness to, an
    51  incident alleging the use of excessive force or abuse  of  authority.  A
    52  complaint may also be initiated by the board, upon a majority vote ther-
    53  eof,  if  the  board determines that there is a clear public interest in
    54  doing so.
    55    (b) The board must take reasonable measures to  ensure  the  confiden-
    56  tiality of all complainants.
        A. 10257                            3
     1    (c) All complaints, other than those in which both the complainant and
     2  the subject officer agree to mediation, shall be assigned to an investi-
     3  gator,  who  shall  take  such steps as are necessary to investigate the
     4  complaint, including obtaining a statement from the complainant, witness
     5  statements,  documentary evidence, and interviews with subject officers.
     6  When the investigation is complete, it shall be forwarded to the  board,
     7  or  a  panel  consisting  of  at least three members of the board, which
     8  shall read the case, review all of the evidence and vote on the disposi-
     9  tion of each allegation raised by the complaint.
    10    (d) The board's vote on each allegation brought before it shall result
    11  in one of the following dispositions:
    12    (i)  Substantiated;  a  finding  that  there  is  sufficient  credible
    13  evidence  to  believe that the subject officer committed the act charged
    14  in the allegation constituting misconduct;
    15    (ii) Exonerated; a finding that the subject officer was found to  have
    16  committed the act alleged, but the subject officer's actions were deter-
    17  mined to be lawful and proper;
    18    (iii)  Unfounded; a finding that there is sufficient credible evidence
    19  to believe that the subject officer did not commit the  alleged  act  of
    20  misconduct;
    21    (iv)  Unsubstantiated;  a  finding  that  the  weight of the available
    22  evidence is insufficient to substantiate, exonerate or unfound the alle-
    23  gation;
    24    (v) Officer or officers unidentified; a finding  that  the  board  was
    25  unable to identify the subject or subjects of the alleged misconduct; or
    26    (vi) Miscellaneous; a finding that the subject of the allegation is no
    27  longer an officer.
    28    (e)  If  any  of  the  allegations  are substantiated, the board shall
    29  forward the case to the subject officer's employer, and may recommend to
    30  the employer appropriate disciplinary action. If, within thirty days  of
    31  a  case  being forwarded for discipline, no disciplinary action is taken
    32  by an officer's employer with respect to the  substantiated  allegations
    33  of misconduct, the board shall forward the case to the district attorney
    34  for the jurisdiction in which the misconduct occurred.
    35    (f)  Except  in extenuating circumstances, all investigations shall be
    36  completed within six months of the date when the  complaint  was  initi-
    37  ated.
    38    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.