Bill Text: NY S03595 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Creates the law enforcement misconduct investigative office.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 15-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-06-16 - SIGNED CHAP.104 [S03595 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S03595-Amended.html
Bill Title: Creates the law enforcement misconduct investigative office.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 15-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-06-16 - SIGNED CHAP.104 [S03595 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S03595-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3595--A 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 11, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sens. PARKER, BRESLIN, BROOKS, HOYLMAN, JACKSON, KAVANAGH, LIU, SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance -- recommitted to the Committee on Finance in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing the office of the law enforcement inspector general 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 75 to 2 read as follows: 3 § 75. Office of the law enforcement inspector general. 1. Jurisdic- 4 tion. This section shall, subject to the limitations contained in this 5 section, confer upon the office of the law enforcement inspector general 6 jurisdiction over all covered agencies. For the purposes of this section 7 "covered agency" means a police agency or department of the state or any 8 political subdivision thereof, including authorities or agencies main- 9 taining a police force or police forces of individuals defined as police 10 officers in section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law. Wherever a 11 covered agency is a board, commission, a public authority or public 12 benefit corporation, the head of the agency is the chairperson thereof. 13 2. Establishment and organization. (a) There is hereby established the 14 office of the law enforcement inspector general in the department of 15 law. The head of the office shall be the law enforcement inspector 16 general who shall be appointed by the attorney general. 17 (b) The law enforcement inspector general shall serve for a five-year 18 term and shall not holdover pursuant to section five of the public offi- 19 cers law. Upon the expiration of a five-year term or a vacancy, the 20 attorney general shall reappoint the office holder or appoint a succes- 21 sor within sixty days. The attorney general may remove the law enforce- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD09532-03-0S. 3595--A 2 1 ment inspector general during his or her term only for good cause after 2 an opportunity to be heard. 3 (c) The law enforcement inspector general may appoint one or more 4 deputy inspectors general to serve at his or her pleasure. 5 (d) The salary of the law enforcement inspector general shall be 6 established within the limit of funds available therefore; provided, 7 however, such salary shall be no less than the salaries of certain state 8 officers holding the positions indicated in paragraph (a) of subdivision 9 one of section one hundred sixty-nine of this chapter. 10 (e) The mission of the office of the law enforcement inspector general 11 shall be to review, study, audit and make recommendations relating to 12 the operations, policies, programs and practices, including ongoing 13 partnerships with other law enforcement agencies, of state and local law 14 enforcement agencies with the goal of enhancing the effectiveness of law 15 enforcement, increasing public safety, protecting civil liberties and 16 civil rights, ensuring compliance with constitutional protections and 17 local, state and federal laws, and increasing the public's confidence in 18 law enforcement. 19 3. Functions and duties. The law enforcement inspector general shall 20 have the following duties and responsibilities: 21 (a) receive and investigate complaints from any source, or upon his or 22 her own initiative, concerning allegations of corruption, fraud, use of 23 excessive force, criminal activity, conflicts of interest or abuse in 24 any covered agency; 25 (b) inform the heads of covered agencies of such allegations and the 26 progress of investigations related thereto, unless special circumstances 27 require confidentiality; 28 (c) determine with respect to such allegations whether disciplinary 29 action, civil or criminal prosecution, or further investigation by an 30 appropriate federal, state or local agency is warranted, and to assist 31 in such investigations; 32 (d) prepare and release to the public written reports of investi- 33 gations, as appropriate and to the extent permitted by law, subject to 34 redaction to protect the confidentiality of witnesses and other informa- 35 tion that would be exempt from disclosure under article six of the 36 public officers law. The release of all or portions of such reports may 37 be temporarily deferred to protect the confidentiality of ongoing inves- 38 tigations; 39 (e) review and examine periodically the policies and procedures of 40 covered agencies with regard to the prevention and detection of 41 corruption, fraud, use of excessive force, criminal activity, conflicts 42 of interest and abuse; 43 (f) recommend remedial action to prevent or eliminate corruption, 44 fraud, use of excessive force, criminal activity, conflicts of interest 45 and abuse in covered agencies; and 46 (g) investigate patterns, practices, systemic issues, or trends iden- 47 tified by analyzing actions, claims, complaints, and investigations, 48 including, but not limited to, any patterns or trends regarding depart- 49 ments, precincts, and commands; and 50 (h) on an annual basis, submit to the governor, the attorney general, 51 the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the 52 minority leader of the senate and the minority leader of the assembly, 53 no later than December thirty-first, a report summarizing the activities 54 of the law enforcement inspector general and recommending specific 55 changes to state law to further the mission of the office of the law 56 enforcement inspector general.S. 3595--A 3 1 4. Powers. The law enforcement inspector general shall have the power 2 to: 3 (a) subpoena and enforce the attendance of witnesses; 4 (b) administer oaths or affirmations and examine witnesses under oath; 5 (c) require the production of any books and papers deemed relevant or 6 material to any investigation, examination or review; 7 (d) notwithstanding any law to the contrary, examine and copy or 8 remove documents or records of any kind prepared, maintained or held by 9 any covered agency; 10 (e) require any officer or employee in a covered agency to answer 11 questions concerning any matter related to the performance of his or her 12 official duties. No statement or other evidence derived therefrom may be 13 used against such officer or employee in any subsequent criminal prose- 14 cution other than for perjury or contempt arising from such testimony. 15 The refusal of any officer or employee to answer questions shall be 16 cause for removal from office or employment or other appropriate penal- 17 ty; 18 (f) monitor the implementation by covered agencies of any recommenda- 19 tions made by the law enforcement inspector general; and 20 (g) perform any other functions that are necessary or appropriate to 21 fulfill the duties and responsibilities of office. 22 5. Responsibilities of covered agencies, officers and employees. (a) 23 Every officer or employee in a covered agency shall report promptly to 24 the law enforcement inspector general any information concerning 25 corruption, fraud, use of excessive force, criminal activity, conflicts 26 of interest or abuse by another officer or employee relating to his or 27 her office or employment, or by a person having business dealings with a 28 covered agency relating to those dealings. The knowing failure of any 29 officer or employee to so report shall be cause for removal from office 30 or employment or other appropriate penalty. Any officer or employee who 31 acts pursuant to this subdivision by reporting to the law enforcement 32 inspector general shall not be subject to dismissal, discipline or other 33 adverse personnel action. 34 (b) Upon receiving at least five complaints from five or more individ- 35 uals relating to at least five separate incidents involving a certain 36 officer or employee within two years, the head of any covered agency 37 shall refer such complaints to the law enforcement inspector general for 38 review. The law enforcement inspector general shall investigate such 39 complaints to determine whether the subject officer or employee has 40 engaged in a pattern or practice of misconduct, use of excessive force, 41 or acts of dishonesty. The referral and investigation pursuant to this 42 subdivision shall be in addition to and shall not supersede any civil, 43 criminal, administrative or other action or proceeding relating to such 44 complaints or the subject officer or employee. 45 (c) The head of any covered agency shall advise the governor, the 46 temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the 47 minority leader of the senate and the minority leader of the assembly 48 within ninety days of the issuance of a report by the state inspector 49 general as to the remedial action that the agency has taken in response 50 to any recommendation for such action contained in such report. 51 (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to impede, infringe, or 52 diminish the rights, privileges, benefits or remedies that accrue to any 53 employee pursuant to any agreement entered into pursuant to article 54 fourteen of the civil service law. 55 § 2. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi- 56 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court ofS. 3595--A 4 1 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, 2 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in 3 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section 4 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg- 5 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of 6 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such 7 invalid provisions had not been included herein. 8 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of April next succeeding 9 the date on which it shall have become a law.