Bill Text: NY S01987 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Grants immunity from liability and professional retaliation against a law enforcement employee who intervenes against police misconduct committed by another member of law enforcement.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO CODES [S01987 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S01987-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         1987--A

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 18, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sens. JACKSON, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, RAMOS, RIVERA, SEPULVEDA --
          read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to  be  committed  to
          the  Committee on Codes -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to law enforcement inter-
          vention against police misconduct

          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 section 837-x
     2  to read as follows:
     3    § 837-x. Law enforcement intervention against police misconduct.    1.
     4  Definitions.  When used in this section, and unless the specific context
     5  indicates otherwise, the following terms shall have the following  mean-
     6  ings:
     7    (a)  "Police misconduct" means conduct by a law enforcement officer in
     8  the course of an arrest or otherwise in the official  capacity  of  such
     9  law enforcement officer that is:
    10    (i)  excessive,  forceful,  or violent and that is not justified under
    11  section 35.30 of the penal law;
    12    (ii) a false arrest;
    13    (iii) sexual misconduct; or
    14    (iv) witness tampering.
    15    (b) A "law enforcement employee" means:
    16    (i) any employee of the state police department, as defined in section
    17  two hundred twenty-three of this chapter;
    18    (ii) any employee of a county sheriff's department; or
    19    (iii) any employee of a city,  town,  village,  university,  park,  or
    20  public authority's police department.
    21    2.  Immunity from liability and professional retaliation against a law
    22  enforcement employee who intervenes against police misconduct.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03482-03-3
        S. 1987--A                          2

     1    (a) Any law enforcement employee who in good faith intervenes  against
     2  police  misconduct  in  compliance with this article shall have immunity
     3  from any liability, civil or criminal, that might  otherwise  result  by
     4  reason of such actions.
     5    (b)  A law enforcement agency shall not take any retaliatory personnel
     6  action, as such term is defined in paragraph (e) of subdivision  one  of
     7  section  seven hundred forty of the labor law, against a law enforcement
     8  employee because such employee believes that he or  she  had  reasonable
     9  cause to intervene against police misconduct and intervened against such
    10  police misconduct.
    11    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.