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

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

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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-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1987

                               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

        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 professional retaliation against  a  law  enforcement
    22  employee  who  intervenes  against police misconduct.  A law enforcement
    23  agency shall not take any retaliatory personnel action, as such term  is
    24  defined  in  paragraph  (e)  of subdivision one of section seven hundred

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03482-02-3
        S. 1987                             2

     1  forty of the labor law, against a law enforcement employee because  such
     2  employee  believes  that  he  or  she  had reasonable cause to intervene
     3  against police misconduct and intervened against such police misconduct.
     4    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.