Joint Legislative Public Hearing on 2017-2018 Executive Budget Proposal: Topic "Public Protection" - Testimonies

12 Senator Catharine M. Young
Chair, Senate Finance Committee
13
Assemblyman Herman D. Farrell, Jr.
14 Chair, Assembly Ways & Means Committee

15 PRESENT:

16 Senator Liz Krueger
Senate Finance Committee (RM)
17
Assemblyman Robert Oaks
18 Assembly Ways & Means Committee (RM)

19 Senator Diane Savino
Vice Chair, Senate Finance Committee
20 Vice Chair, Senate Codes Committee

21 Senator John J. Bonacic
Chair, Senate Committee on Judiciary
22
Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein
23 Chair, Assembly Committee on Judiciary

24

1 2017-2018 Executive Budget
Public Protection
2 1-31-17

3 PRESENT: (Continued)

4 Senator Patrick M. Gallivan
Chair, Senate Committee on Crime Victims,
5 Crime and Correction

6 Assemblyman Joseph Lentol
Chair, Assembly Committee on Codes
7
Senator Thomas D. Croci
8 Chair, Senate Committee on Veterans,
Homeland Security and Military Affairs
9
Assemblyman David I. Weprin
10 Chair, Assembly Committee on Correction

11 Assemblyman Michael Cusick

12 Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr.

13 Assemblyman Phil Steck

14 Assemblyman Michael Montesano

15 Senator James N. Tedisco

16 Assemblyman Al Graf

17 Senator Velmanette Montgomery

18 Assemblyman Joseph M. Giglio

19 Senator Martin Golden

20 Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes

21 Senator Brad Hoylman

22 Assemblywoman Earlene Hooper

23 Senator Jamaal Bailey

24 Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon

1 2017-2018 Executive Budget
Public Protection
2 1-31-17

3 PRESENT: (Continued)

4 Senator Daniel Squadron

5 Assemblyman John T. McDonald III

6 Senator Gustavo Rivera

7 Assemblywoman Diana C. Richardson

8 Senator Leroy Comrie

9 Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy

10 Senator John DeFrancisco

11 Assemblywoman Latrice M. Walker

12 Senator Todd Kaminsky

13 Assemblywoman David Buchwald

14 Assemblyman Billy Jones

15

16

17 LIST OF SPEAKERS

18 STATEMENT QUESTIONS

19 Honorable Lawrence K. Marks
Chief Administrative Judge
20 NYS Office of Court
Administration 10 18
21
John P. Melville
22 Commissioner
NYS Division of Homeland Security
23 and Emergency Services 109 116

24

1 2017-2018 Executive Budget
Public Protection
2 1-30-17

3 LIST OF SPEAKERS, Cont.

4 STATEMENT QUESTIONS

5 Michael C. Green
Executive Deputy Commissioner
6 NYS Division of Criminal
Justice Services 180 184
7
Anthony J. Annucci
8 Acting Commissioner
NYS Department of Corrections
9 and Community Supervision 277 284

10 George Beach
Superintendent
11 NYS Division of State Police 353 360

12 William J. Leahy
Director
13 New York State Office of
Indigent Legal Services 400 413
14
Margaret Miller
15 NYS Chief Information Officer
Director, NYS Office of
16 Information Technology Services 451 459

17 Robert H. Tembeckjian
Administrator and Counsel
18 New York State Commission on
Judicial Conduct 494 500
19
Thomas H. Mungeer
20 President
New York State Troopers PBA 508 512
21
Christopher M. Quick
22 President
NYS Police Investigators Assn. 524 531
23

24

1 2017-2018 Executive Budget
Public Protection
2 1-30-17

3 LIST OF SPEAKERS, Cont.

4 STATEMENT QUESTIONS

5 Patrick Cullen
President
6 NYS Supreme Court Officers Assn. 533 543

7 Billy Imandt
President
8 Court Officers Benevolent
Assn. of Nassau County 548 553
9
William Dobbins
10 President
Suffolk County Court
11 Employees Association 555

12 Michael B. Powers
President
13 NYS Correctional Officers &
Police Benevolent Assn. 563 568
14
Jonathan E. Gradess
15 Executive Director
Art Cody
16 Deputy Director, Veterans
Defense Program
17 NYS Defenders Association 589 599

18 Connie Neal
Executive Director
19 NYS Coalition Against
Domestic Violence 601
20

21

1 2017-2018 Executive Budget
Public Protection
2 1-30-17

3 LIST OF SPEAKERS, Cont.

4 STATEMENT QUESTIONS

5 Victor Antonio Perez
DOCCS
6 Penny Howanski
OITS
7 Steve Drake
Statewide Labor
8 Management Chair
Nikki Brate
9 Vice President
NYS Public Employees
10 Federation (PEF) 610 625

11 Grant Cowles
Senior Policy & Advocacy
12 Associate for Youth Justice
Citizens' Committee for
13 Children 634

14 Blair Horner
Executive Director
15 New York Public Interest
Research Group (NYPIRG) 640
16
Karen L. Murtagh
17 Executive Director
Thomas Curran
18 Board Member
Prisoners' Legal Services
19 of New York 646 654

20 Charlotte Carter
Executive Director
21 NYS Dispute Resolution Assn.
-and-
22 Sarah Rudgers-Tysz
Executive Director
23 Mediation Matters 661

24

1 2017-2018 Executive Budget
Public Protection
2 1-31-17

3 LIST OF SPEAKERS, Cont.

4 STATEMENT QUESTIONS

5 Terry O'Neill
Director
6 The Constantine Institute 667

7 Elena Sassower
Director
8 Center for Judicial
Accountability 671
9

10

1 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Good morning. I'm

2 Senator Catharine Young. I'm chair of the

3 Senate Finance Committee.

4 And I am joined today by several of my

5 colleagues. We have Vice Chair Senator Diane

6 Savino, Senator John Bonacic, Senator Patrick

7 Gallivan, Senator James Tedisco, Senator Joe

8 Addabbo, Senator Brad Hoylman, Senator

9 Gustavo Rivera, Senator Leroy Comrie. And

10 did I miss somebody? Senator Jamaal Bailey,

11 my apologies.

12 And we're also joined by the Assembly

13 today. Would you like to announce your

14 members?

15 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Yes, I would.

16 We are joined by Assemblyman Joe

17 Lentol, Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein,

18 Assemblyman Phil Steck, and Assemblyman

19 Michael Cusick.

20 ASSEMBLYMAN OAKS: And we're also

21 joined today by Assemblyman Joe Giglio,

22 Assemblyman Mike Montesano, and Assemblyman

23 Al Graf.

24 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you very

1 much.

2 Pursuant to the State Constitution and

3 Legislative Law, the fiscal committees of the

4 State Legislature are authorized to hold

5 hearings on the Executive Budget proposal.

6 Today's hearings will be limited to a

7 discussion of the Governor's recommendations

8 as they relate to public protection.

9 Following each presentation, there

10 will be some time allowed for questions from

11 the chairs of the fiscal committees and other

12 legislators.

13 So first up, I'd like to welcome the

14 Honorable Lawrence K. Marks, chief

15 administrative judge of the Office of Court

16 Administration. He will be followed by John

17 Melville, commissioner of the Division of

18 Homeland Security and Emergency Services;

19 Mr. Michael C. Green, executive deputy

20 commissioner of the Division of Criminal

21 Justice Services; Mr. Anthony Annucci, acting

22 commissioner of the Department of Corrections

23 and Community Supervision; Mr. George Beach,

24 superintendent of the Division of

1 State Police; Ms. Margaret Miller, chief

2 information officer of the New York State

3 Information Technology Services; and

4 Mr. William Leahy, director of the Office of

5 Indigent Legal Services. And then we look

6 forward to further testimony after that. It

7 is going to be a lengthy day.

8 So first, Chief Administrative Judge,

9 we are so happy to have you here today, and

10 we look forward to your testimony.

11 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: So

12 thank you. And good morning, Chairpersons

13 Young and Farrell, and good morning to the

14 other distinguished members of today's panel.

15 On behalf of Chief Judge Janet DiFiore

16 and the entire New York State court system,

17 thank you for the opportunity to speak with

18 you today about the Unified Court System's

19 budget request.

20 If I may, I'd like to offer some brief

21 remarks in support of our budget request, and

22 then of course I'd be happy to answer any

23 questions you may have.

24 I'd like to present my remarks in two

1 parts. First I will highlight for you the

2 key features of our budget request, and

3 second, I will briefly address the Chief

4 Judge's top priority, what we are calling the

5 Excellence Initiative, a comprehensive

6 statewide effort to achieve operational and

7 decisional excellence in everything we do in

8 the Judiciary.

9 By presenting my remarks in this

10 manner, I believe you will understand better

11 how the two are related, how our budget

12 request supports and promotes the goals of

13 the Excellence Initiative. So first, our

14 budget request.

15 Our proposed budget is fairly

16 straightforward. We are seeking a 2 percent

17 increase in our operating budget. That

18 represents a $42.7 million increase over our

19 current-year operating budget. The 2 percent

20 increase is consistent with the benchmark set

21 by the Governor, and although it is a modest

22 increase, it will allow us to continue to

23 replace employees when they leave the court

24 system. For the most part, we were not able

1 to do that in the years when our budget was

2 cut or kept flat. But as has been true for

3 the last several years, our budget will

4 enable us to replace employees when they

5 leave as well as fill a number of additional

6 vacancies.

7 Our goal, under this proposed budget,

8 is to increase our staffing by approximately

9 200 positions over the current level. The

10 focus of that hiring will be on courtroom

11 titles -- court clerks, court officers, court

12 reporters, court interpreters, and

13 back-office staff that support the work done

14 in the courtrooms.

15 The proposed budget will also allow us

16 to begin to restore support for a number of

17 programs that were cut five to six years ago.

18 For example, we will expand evening hours in

19 Small Claims Court in New York City, which

20 will reduce delays in calendaring those cases

21 and provide greater convenience for

22 litigants; we will increase funding across

23 the state for community dispute resolution

24 centers, which recruit, train and supervise

1 volunteers who provide low-cost mediation and

2 alternative dispute resolution services in

3 court matters, for people who are unable to

4 pay for these services; we will increase

5 funding for the CASA program, which operates

6 statewide to recruit, train and supervise

7 volunteers appointed by the Family Court to

8 advocate for abused, neglected or at-risk

9 children. And we will also increase funding

10 for the Justice Court Assistance program,

11 which has played an important role in

12 improving the operations of the more than

13 1,200 town and village courts across the

14 state.

15 In addition to the 2 percent increase

16 we are seeking in our operating budget, we

17 are seeking a modest capital appropriation of

18 $15 million. This money would be used to

19 support and build the court system's

20 infrastructure -- in particular, our

21 technology and our public safety

22 infrastructure, which have suffered in recent

23 years. The proposed capital appropriation

24 would be used for a number of important

1 projects, such as upgrading and modernizing

2 the court system's statewide computer

3 network, which connects every courthouse and

4 court office in the state and which, without

5 essential upgrading, will be reaching the end

6 of its expected life; for purchasing a case

7 management system for the state's town and

8 village courts -- and the privately owned

9 case management system, currently used by

10 over 95 percent of the justice courts, is

11 about to be sold, so purchase of the system

12 by the Judiciary will ensure continuity and

13 security for the justice Courts as well as

14 save local governments significant annual

15 licensing fees; for replacing outdated

16 courthouse metal detectors and other security

17 screening devices reaching the end of their

18 useful life; and for replacing bullet-proof

19 vests worn by our court officers, which are

20 also reaching the end of their effectiveness.

21 So those are the key features of our

22 budget request. Next I'd just like to offer

23 a few words about the Chief Judge's

24 Excellence Initiative.

1 The primary focus of this effort has

2 been on court fundamentals, the Judiciary's

3 core mission to fairly and promptly

4 adjudicate each of the millions of cases

5 filed in our courts every year. Over the

6 past year, and continuing this year, we have

7 been working closely with our administrative

8 judges and local court administrators across

9 the state, and with the bar, prosecutor's

10 offices, and other partners and stakeholders

11 in the justice community. We've undertaken

12 an extensive examination into the causes of

13 backlogs, bottlenecks and delays.

14 Based on this self-examination, we

15 have designed and implemented changes such as

16 restructuring how courts process cases,

17 redeploying judges and court personnel. And

18 increasing trial capacity -- all tailored to

19 the needs and circumstances of individual

20 courts and jurisdictions.

21 The Chief Judge will be addressing

22 this in greater detail in her State of the

23 Judiciary address later this month. But I

24 can report to you that we have made real

1 progress over the past year. Case backlogs

2 and delays have been reduced in courts

3 throughout the state at all levels. However,

4 we have a lot more work to do in trying to

5 change a culture in the justice community

6 that frankly has been far too tolerant than

7 it should be of delays and inefficiency.

8 And although there is much we can do

9 to address this problem that will not cost

10 additional money, there is no question that

11 approval of our budget request and the money

12 it will provide to hire additional people and

13 to bolster our infrastructure will enable us

14 to do more over the next year to build on the

15 progress we have made.

16 Finally, I want to briefly address

17 access to justice. Other than the Excellence

18 Initiative, if I had to identify a second top

19 priority in the court system right now, it

20 would be improving access to justice. We are

21 committed to continuing to expand access to

22 justice for the hundreds of thousands of

23 people who come into our courts each year

24 without the assistance of a lawyer. We are

1 addressing this enormous problem, which we

2 call the "justice gap," on multiple fronts.

3 We are encouraging the bar to perform more

4 pro bono work, we are urging law schools to

5 utilize law students to attack the problem,

6 we are even exploring how nonattorneys,

7 within the bounds of the law, can help. And

8 we have used our own funding in the Judiciary

9 Budget to award monetary grants to legal

10 service providers so they can hire additional

11 lawyers to represent people who can't afford

12 a lawyer.

13 Thanks to the support we've received

14 from the Legislature, funding for civil legal

15 services in our budget reached $100 million

16 in this fiscal year, a goal that was set a

17 number of years ago. We are continuing that

18 amount in this budget request. But because

19 the goal has now been met -- and by the way,

20 that's not nearly enough money to provide a

21 lawyer for everyone who can't afford one.

22 But because the goal has now been met, we are

23 not now seeking additional money in this

24 proposed budget for civil legal services.

1 So those are the key points I wanted

2 to emphasize for you this morning. Thank you

3 very much for listening, and I'd be happy to

4 answer any questions you may have.

5 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you very

6 much, Judge. And we appreciate you coming in

7 and giving that testimony.

8 I know that our chair of the Senate

9 Judiciary Committee, Senator John Bonacic,

10 has some questions, and then I'll follow up.

11 SENATOR BONACIC: Judge Marks, how are

12 you doing?

13 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: I'm

14 doing well, thank you.

15 SENATOR BONACIC: Okay, I just have a

16 few questions. But before I do, I've been

17 fortunate to have a good partner in Judiciary

18 in the Assembly with Helene Weinstein, and I

19 continue to look forward to work with her to

20 resolve the judicial issues that come before

21 us. Helene.

22 You know, I'm glad to see that, you

23 know, you're not putting more money into the

24 civil legal services and instead you're

1 making a priority of investing in the

2 efficiency of the courts throughout the state

3 and trying to improve your capital projects.

4 I think now you're getting your priorities a

5 little better.

6 So when I looked at your budget, you

7 talked of, number one, you would have more

8 money for community dispute resolutions, but

9 you don't say how much. Do you know now how

10 much you'd be investing in that program?

11 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

12 Well, what we want to do, if our budget is

13 approved, that will provide us extra money

14 for that program, the Community Dispute

15 Resolution Centers, along with some of the

16 other programs that I mentioned in my

17 remarks.

18 And before we decide how much

19 additional money we can spend on that, we

20 want to do an evaluation and see how the

21 additional money can best be spent so that it

22 will increase services -- in that particular

23 respect, with community dispute resolution,

24 how we can increase services with the CASA

1 program -- and do an evaluation, once our

2 budget is approved, and then decide, you

3 know, where to spend the additional money and

4 which individual programs would get the

5 additional money.

6 But, you know, roughly -- we hope to

7 have roughly a million dollars in this

8 proposed budget that we can set aside to

9 provide additional money to the CDRC, the

10 program you mentioned, as well as the CASA

11 program and some of the other programs where

12 we'd like to begin to restore the funding

13 that was cut five, six years ago.

14 SENATOR BONACIC: Okay. As you know,

15 both the dispute resolution program and CASA

16 I think are close to my heart, I think

17 they're important. They're important because

18 if you can resolve disputes without letting

19 the dispute continue into the court system,

20 that's a good thing. So I would encourage

21 you, when you look at that, to beef up those

22 two programs as much as you can.

23 Now, when you talk about -- and I

24 thought this was wonderful -- you're adding

1 200 more positions throughout the court

2 system, how are you going to allocate those?

3 Where are they going to go? Do you have a

4 formula? I assume it's tied into caseload,

5 probably, for those counties, but --

6 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

7 It's tied to caseload. It's tied to

8 backlogs. You know, security is obviously

9 always a top priority, and we can't

10 compromise on public safety in the

11 courthouses. But the focus -- I can't sit

12 here today and tell you exactly where we need

13 additional personnel. I mean frankly, we

14 need additional personnel pretty much

15 everywhere in the state.

16 But we will -- you know, if we're

17 fortunate enough to get this proposed budget

18 approved and signed into law, we'll do a very

19 quick analysis of where the needs are

20 greatest and allocate personnel to those

21 locations. But the focus will be, as I

22 mentioned before, on the courtroom needs, the

23 court clerks, court officers, interpreters,

24 court reporters and the like.

1 SENATOR BONACIC: I think that's all

2 good. But I would ask you to assume that

3 your Judiciary Budget would be approved,

4 since you're at the 2 percent cap, excluding

5 fringe benefits. I'd like to have -- if you

6 could get me a memo on how you're going to

7 allocate those resources throughout the

8 state. I think it's important for the

9 members to know that upstate is getting its

10 fair share proportionately to the

11 metropolitan area, always keeping in mind

12 where the heavy load is is where you have to

13 invest. Okay?

14 And I would make the same suggestion

15 for capital funding, if that's something you

16 could do.

17 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

18 We're happy to consult with you on this and,

19 you know, keep you abreast of where we feel

20 our personnel needs are the greatest and

21 where we would allocate additional personnel,

22 you know, at the point where we're able to do

23 that.

24 SENATOR BONACIC: Okay.

1 And last but not least -- this is just

2 more for my enlightenment -- when we put,

3 what is it, over $800 million in civil legal

4 services, that would include landlord-tenant,

5 it would include divorces, it would include

6 bankruptcy, it would include collection

7 items, the whole gamut of anything that's

8 deemed to be civil. Would I be correct?

9 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: It

10 pretty much runs the gamut, with the focus on

11 what we call the essentials of life, where

12 someone's home may be at risk, either in a

13 rental apartment or a home that's in

14 foreclosure. Victims of domestic violence

15 have benefited from this money, veterans have

16 benefited from the civil legal services money

17 that we distribute, senior citizens.

18 But the answer to your question is it

19 pretty much runs the gamut of all types of

20 civil cases where people come into our courts

21 without a lawyer because they can't afford

22 one.

23 SENATOR BONACIC: You mentioned

24 domestic violence. But wouldn't be that in

1 the criminal arena rather than the civil

2 arena?

3 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: It

4 would be more in the Family Court arena.

5 Critical criminal court, the -- as you

6 know, there's a -- defendants have a

7 constitutional right to a lawyer if they

8 can't afford one. There's no corollary right

9 on the civil side. So this is money that

10 goes to people who have cases in civil courts

11 and to some extent in the Family Court as

12 well.

13 SENATOR BONACIC: Okay. If you had a

14 bottomless pit of money, where would you like

15 that civil services budget to be to meet what

16 you perceive is the demand of people that are

17 not represented by an attorney in all of

18 these civil actions? Do you have a number or

19 a goal? I know you've been trying to bump it

20 up every year. And I'm not saying it's not a

21 worthy goal. I always thought it would be a

22 better priority to put it -- make the courts

23 more efficient.

24 So -- but do you have in your mind

1 what your goal would have been? I'm just

2 curious.

3 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

4 Well, let me just say it's not -- it's not --

5 whatever that number is, it's not a number

6 that we could ever reach in the court

7 system's budget.

8 For example, despite this additional

9 expenditure of money that, you know, we've

10 added to our budget over the last five, six

11 years -- and we're not adding, as you pointed

12 out, additional money in this proposed budget

13 for civil legal services. But we've studied

14 the difference that's made in the legal

15 representation of people with civil matters

16 who otherwise wouldn't have lawyers but for

17 this money.

18 And in 2011, if we go back to 2011,

19 that's when we started to issue grants to

20 legal services providers, giving them money

21 from the Judiciary Budget. Approximately

22 20 percent of people with civil matters in

23 the civil courts of the state, approximately

24 20 percent had attorneys statewide.

1 Today -- and it's not easy to measure

2 this, and these are rough estimates, but

3 today, six years later, with the expenditure

4 of the $100 million in our budget -- along

5 with other money that's available. The City

6 of New York has provided money for tenants

7 facing eviction, so there's been additional

8 money. There's been some federal money that

9 goes to civil legal service providers in

10 New York.

11 But the percentage of people, as best

12 we can measure it, who are represented by

13 lawyers in civil courts in the state is about

14 33 percent. So we've gone from 20 percent to

15 33 percent. That means two-thirds of the

16 people in the state are still unrepresented

17 by lawyers in civil cases.

18 On the other hand, it's a very

19 significant increase in hundreds of thousands

20 of additional people now have lawyers because

21 of the money that we've given out in our

22 budget.

23 So to answer your question how much

24 money would it require if it were -- like the

1 criminal courts were -- everyone charged with

2 a crime in the criminal courts has a lawyer,

3 how much money would that cost? It's hard to

4 say. But it would be hundreds of millions of

5 dollars, without question.

6 SENATOR BONACIC: And you would

7 provide this service whether it's an illegal

8 immigrant or a legal citizen, that you don't

9 distinguish in providing these civil services

10 to -- if there are illegals in the city who

11 want to take advantage -- you know, need a

12 defense, you don't make a distinction?

13 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: We

14 haven't made a distinction in that regard.

15 That's up to the legal service provider,

16 which people walk in -- which ones they

17 decide to represent and which ones they

18 don't.

19 SENATOR BONACIC: Okay. So basically

20 illegals also would be entitled to these

21 attorneys for civil matters.

22 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: In

23 the discretion of the legal service provider.

24 SENATOR BONACIC: And my last

1 question, do you have a sense of how many are

2 legal and how many illegal would be --

3 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: I

4 don't. I don't.

5 SENATOR BONACIC: Okay. Thank you,

6 Your Honor.

7 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

8 Thank you.

9 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you, Judge.

10 Thank you, Senator Bonacic.

11 I did -- oh, I'm sorry. It's the

12 Assembly's turn, isn't it?

13 (Laughter.)

14 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Yes, it is.

15 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: I'm sorry. I'm

16 champing at the bit here.

17 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Yes, I'll get you

18 there as quickly as possible.

19 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Chairman Farrell,

20 please go ahead.

21 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: We've been joined

22 by Assemblywoman Peoples-Stokes,

23 Assemblywoman Diana Richardson, and

24 Assemblyman McDonald.

1 And first to ask questions on our side

2 is Helene Weinstein.

3 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: Thank you,

4 Mr. Chairman.

5 And Judge Marks, I look forward to

6 this year working with you and my Senate

7 counterpart, John Bonacic, again this year as

8 we try and improve justice for all

9 New Yorkers.

10 Just following up a little bit on some

11 of the questions that the Senator was asking

12 about civil legal services, as you say in

13 your remarks, this year the request is flat

14 and that it's the continuation of last year's

15 request of the $100 million. Could you talk

16 a little bit about what happens to the court

17 system when there are unrepresented litigants

18 and how having representation in fact helps

19 both the court system and the resolution of

20 the litigants' issues?

21 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

22 Well, it does help the court system. It not

23 only helps people without lawyers, but it's

24 very beneficial to the court system. And I

1 can speak firsthand about this, because I sit

2 in the Supreme Court in New York City, and

3 when individuals are involved in cases and

4 they're unrepresented by a lawyer, it makes

5 it very difficult for the court -- remember,

6 the judge can't give legal advice to

7 litigants, that's not appropriate and raises

8 ethical issues for the judge.

9 So it's very difficult and burdensome

10 on the court, the judge, the court staff,

11 when people come into court unrepresented by

12 lawyers. And in Supreme Court, it's probably

13 less of a problem; you have a greater

14 percentage of people with lawyers who come

15 into Supreme Court. But in many of the other

16 courts -- Housing Court, lower civil court,

17 Family Court -- you have thousands and

18 thousands of litigants who don't have legal

19 representation.

20 And it makes it that much more

21 difficult for the court to adjudicate the

22 case. It can slow things down, it can lead

23 to backlogs. It's inconsistent with all the

24 things that we're trying to address and

1 improve on in the court system right now

2 under the Chief Judge's initiative.

3 So in our view it's not only a humane

4 exercise to provide lawyers to people who

5 can't afford them, but it's in the interest

6 of the court system, our own interest in

7 trying to alleviate backlogs and delays and

8 inefficiencies in how we adjudicate cases.

9 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: Thank you.

10 And over the past few years, there's been

11 increased interest in trying to assist

12 homeowners facing foreclosure. We've

13 instituted mandatory settlement conferences.

14 And do you have the numbers or a sense of how

15 many homeowners are represented in

16 foreclosure settlement conferences, and

17 specifically in that setting, the difference

18 of a lawyer versus an unrepresented

19 homeowner?

20 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

21 Yeah, it's -- foreclosures is an area where

22 we've made really great progress, maybe

23 better than in other areas. If you go back

24 to 2011, there were roughly a third -- 32,

1 33 percent -- of the homeowners were

2 represented by counsel in the settlement

3 conferences in foreclosure cases. And today

4 it's about 62 percent are represented by

5 counsel in the settlement conferences.

6 Now, in foreclosures you do have

7 people who come in with their own lawyers,

8 who can afford to hire lawyers. So the

9 62 percent who come in with lawyers, that's

10 not all people who have been provided a

11 lawyer free of charge through a legal service

12 provider. But there's no question that our

13 legal services program has very, very

14 significantly increased the number of people,

15 homeowners in foreclosure cases who now have

16 a lawyer to represent them.

17 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: And moving

18 away from the legal services provisions, do

19 you have any initial thoughts on how the

20 remote access temporary order of protection

21 project is going? I know I was there for the

22 launch in the fall. Has it been operating?

23 Are there any kinks? Has it been helping

24 victims of domestic violence?

1 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

2 Yeah, this is a program that -- pursuant to

3 legislation passed by the Legislature in the

4 past year or so -- allows for someone seeking

5 an order of protection in Family Court, who

6 may or most likely has been a victim of

7 domestic violence and is seeking an order of

8 protection from the court, to avoid the

9 necessity of going to court if going to court

10 would present a risk of danger to the victim

11 of domestic violence, or is inconvenient or

12 difficult logistically to get to court

13 physically.

14 So pursuant to the legislation, we've

15 set up -- we started a pilot project in

16 seven, eight counties in the state, in the

17 City and around the state, where a person

18 seeking an order of protection can go to a

19 social service center or a family justice

20 center and then file the petition for an

21 order of protection electronically, and then

22 appear by video through Skype and interact

23 with the judge and make the request for an

24 order of protection. And then the judge, in

1 the courtroom, can then issue and sign the

2 order of protection.

3 So it's a great idea. It addresses,

4 you know, what had been a problem of victims

5 of domestic violence of being fearful of

6 going to court to get an order of protection

7 or being incapable of getting there

8 physically. And as I said, we're piloting

9 this now in seven or eight counties around

10 the state, and so far so good. And, you

11 know, we're very optimistic that this will be

12 a successful program, at which point we'll

13 expand it everywhere in the state.

14 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: Thank you.

15 And could you just expand, lastly, on

16 how the purchase of the case management

17 system will -- for the town and village

18 courts will save those localities funds not

19 only this year but going forward?

20 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

21 Well, the town and village courts -- you

22 know, we have 1200 town and village courts

23 across the state. We have a lot of town and

24 village courts. And they're -- for those of

1 you not familiar with this, they're the only

2 courts in the state that are not

3 state-financed. They're locally financed.

4 And -- but the state court system,

5 where it can, we've tried to help the town

6 and village courts with resources as best we

7 can, and we have given them grants over the

8 years and tried to support them as best we

9 can, because they're not always adequately

10 financed by their local municipalities.

11 And every town and village court has a

12 case management system, an automated case

13 management system, which you need to run the

14 court. That's all the data is entered, the

15 calendars, the list of cases is generated by

16 the case management system. Orders can be

17 printed out. And it's sort of how courts in

18 modern times function, through automated case

19 management systems.

20 And the current case management system

21 that's used by over 95 percent of the state's

22 town and village courts is privately owned.

23 And it was created and it's owned by a guy

24 who's up in the Rochester area who was a

1 former town judge himself and worked in the

2 computer business and created this very

3 effective and useful case management system

4 that has now been picked up by, as I said,

5 over 95 percent of the town and village

6 courts.

7 But they have to pay for it. There's

8 an initial cost to purchase it, and there's

9 an annual subscription fee that every town

10 and village has to pay.

11 And that's been fine all along, but

12 he's now retiring and he's going to sell his

13 product. And so we, in this capital

14 appropriation that we're seeking in our

15 budget request, we would use a portion of

16 that to purchase this case management system

17 from this gentleman who's retiring, and we

18 would then provide it -- well, that would

19 serve several purposes. One, if it sold to

20 someone else, whoever sells it might not have

21 the best interests of the town and village

22 courts in mind and the system could become

23 less useful, less effective for the courts.

24 If we purchase it, that won't happen.

1 And secondly, we would purchase it and

2 we wouldn't charge, of course we wouldn't

3 charge the village and town courts a fee. So

4 the municipalities would get this product for

5 free.

6 So it's something we very much want to

7 do. Not surprisingly, the State Magistrates

8 Association is very supportive of this

9 effort. And if we get the money in our

10 budget to do that, you know, we fully plan to

11 go ahead and purchase the case management

12 system.

13 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: Great.

14 Thank you so much, Judge. Look forward to

15 continuing to work with you as the session

16 goes on.

17 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

18 Thank you.

19 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you. We've

20 been joined by Earlene Hooper and Jo Anne

21 Sayam -- Simone -- Simon -- I'll speak

22 English soon -- as Assemblypeople.

23 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: We've been joined

24 by Senator Tom Croci.

1 So, Judge, thank you so much for your

2 answers so far. And just following up on

3 what the Assemblywoman was asking about with

4 the local courts -- and we had a good

5 discussion yesterday about this issue. Just

6 one real quick question. Would there be an

7 ongoing cost to the state after the

8 $4.5 million was used to buy the system? Are

9 there other costs that we should anticipate

10 in the future?

11 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

12 It's really a one-time cost to purchase the

13 product. And over time, it may require

14 periodic upgrades, but we would do that

15 internally with our own technology people.

16 So essentially it's a one-time cost.

17 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

18 You talked about the cuts that were

19 sustained five or six years ago, and I agree

20 with you that those cuts need to be restored.

21 And one of the proposals that you're talking

22 about is increasing hours for Small Claims

23 Court. And that's strictly New York City;

24 correct?

1 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

2 It's strictly New York City where we've had

3 the biggest problem. Because of delays in

4 calendaring the cases, it can take months and

5 months when somebody files a small claim in

6 New York City. It can take -- because of the

7 enormous backlog, because we had to cut back

8 the evening hours during the week, a very

9 substantial backlog has grown.

10 So the point I mentioned, the focus is

11 just on New York City, but -- my

12 understanding is that the problem is most

13 acute in New York City, but we could look

14 elsewhere around the state if this is a --

15 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Do you know what --

16 yeah, Judge, do you know what the cost would

17 be to do what you're proposing? Do you know

18 how much more it would cost to have those

19 evening hours?

20 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: I'm

21 sorry, I should know that. I don't have that

22 number off the top of my head, but I can get

23 it for you.

24 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: It would be really

1 helpful. If you could get it to the

2 Legislature, that would be good.

3 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

4 Sure.

5 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: And are you looking

6 at any other courts to expand into evening

7 hours?

8 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: Not

9 at the moment. Evening hours are costly

10 because -- you know, since we do have

11 challenges with staffing and, you know, we do

12 have fewer personnel than ideally we would

13 like and that we had at one time, evening

14 operations are paid through overtime. And

15 overtime is expensive.

16 And, you know, we've tried to contain

17 overtime costs in recent years, and we've

18 been fairly successful in doing that. But

19 just, for example, the Small Claims Court

20 expansion in New York City, that would be

21 paid through overtime.

22 And by the way, it just occurred to

23 me -- I'm recalling now -- and I'll check

24 this -- but the cost is in the neighborhood

1 of $3 million, $3.5 million to partially

2 restore the evening hours of Small Claims

3 Court in New York City. I believe it's about

4 $3 million, $3.5 million. Which is all

5 overtime. You know, that's the problem and

6 that's the challenge, it's overtime costs.

7 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

8 The Governor has included the Raise

9 the Age proposal in his budget, and I was

10 wondering how that would impact the

11 judiciary.

12 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

13 Well, we -- I should say we're supportive of

14 the raising the age of criminal

15 responsibility. As I think everybody knows,

16 we're one of only two states in the country

17 that sets the age of criminal responsibility

18 at 16.

19 And we've been very involved in this.

20 The prior chief judge introduced legislation

21 a number of years ago to Raise the Age in

22 New York. The Governor, as I think you all

23 know, established a commission --

24 coincidentally I was a member of that

1 commission prior to my being chief

2 administrative judge, and the chief judge was

3 a member of that commission when she was the

4 Westchester County district attorney. So we

5 have a very keen interest in this proposal.

6 And in terms of the impact it would

7 have on the courts, basically the cases

8 involving 16- and 17-year-olds would be

9 handled in the Family Court, at least most of

10 the cases. The most violent felony cases

11 would remain in the adult courts, although it

12 would be treated in separate court parts in

13 the adult courts. But most of the cases, the

14 great percentage of the cases would be

15 handled in Family Court, just as cases are

16 for youth under 16 now and just as they are,

17 as I said, in 48 states around the country;

18 the 16- and 17-year-old cases, except for the

19 most violent, would be handled in Family

20 Court.

21 So that would create some additional

22 burdens on Family Court. But we -- I can

23 tell you this very confidently, that's a

24 problem that we're happy to take on. It

1 would not -- let me put it this way. It

2 wouldn't create an increased number of cases

3 in the court system. It's the same number of

4 cases, it's just moving cases from one part

5 of the court system to the other, from the

6 adult criminal courts to the Family Court.

7 So we could accommodate that. You

8 know, it would require some planning. And

9 every bill that I've seen would have like,

10 you know, a very advanced effective date, so

11 there would be full opportunity to plan for

12 this. But we can move resources from one

13 court to another court. We did get, thanks

14 to the Legislature, a couple of years ago we

15 did get 25 new Family Court judgeships, which

16 would be very helpful.

17 The arrests -- we followed this very

18 carefully. Arrests of 16- and 17-year-olds

19 over the last seven, eight years have

20 plummeted. They're a fraction of what they

21 used to be. And there are a variety of

22 reasons for that. But the caseload involving

23 16- and 17-year-olds is much less than it

24 once was.

1 And in Family Court, there are more

2 opportunities for diversion of cases, so that

3 the cases never actually end up in court. So

4 that also would reduce the number of cases

5 that would end up in Family Court that are

6 not there now.

7 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Right. And, you

8 know, Judge, I would say, though, there are

9 still some crimes on the list that I have

10 deep concerns about, things like criminally

11 negligent homicide, vehicular manslaughter,

12 aggravated sexual abuse. I think we need to

13 look at the list as to what would qualify

14 under Youth Court. Because if anybody is

15 violent, I don't think that they should

16 qualify for the Raise the Age proposal.

17 But you talk about the additional

18 Family Court judges, and we worked very hard

19 to get those in place. As you know,

20 Chautauqua County, for example, was able to

21 get one.

22 But do you see any money included in

23 your budget proposal that would be used

24 toward Raise the Age?

1 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: I

2 don't think we would be seeking additional

3 money for Raise the Age legislation.

4 But, you know, let me say it would

5 require, if it were -- for Raise the Age to

6 be successful, it would require additional

7 state money for programs and services.

8 Because, you know, Family Court relies

9 heavily on programs and services, more so

10 than the adult courts, for obvious reasons.

11 And Raise the Age would certainly have a

12 price tag, and that would primarily be for

13 programs and services.

14 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay. Do you

15 anticipate additional judges being needed?

16 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

17 Yes. Yeah.

18 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Do you have a

19 ballpark figure?

20 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: I

21 don't, because we'd have to know the issue

22 you raised -- you know, which crimes. And

23 that would need to be negotiated, which

24 crimes would go to Family Court, which would

1 stay in the adult courts. That would impact

2 the volume of cases. And we would need

3 additional judicial resources.

4 But remember, if cases are moving from

5 criminal court to Family Court, that reduces

6 the burden on the criminal courts, increases

7 the burden on the Family Courts, and we can

8 shift judges from court to court. So that's

9 one example of how we would accommodate a

10 change in the law.

11 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay. Thank you.

12 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

13 Assemblyman Joe Lentol.

14 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: Thank you,

15 Mr. Chairman.

16 Good morning, Judge.

17 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

18 Good morning.

19 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: And thank you for

20 coming before us today. And thank you for

21 the work that you've been doing since you've

22 been appointed. I'm really appreciative of

23 the hard work that you've put in as the chief

24 administrative judge.

1 Is this working, this microphone?

2 Okay.

3 So I was going to ask you a lot of

4 questions about Raise the Age, and I'm not,

5 because Senator Young asked you a lot of

6 questions. But I know that there's been a

7 great deal of talk around the Capitol in the

8 aftermath of last session about caseloads in

9 the criminal matters involving those counties

10 that are non-Hurrell-Harring counties. And

11 I'm not going to ask you about that either,

12 because I wanted to ask you about the impact

13 that civil legal service money provided by

14 the judiciary -- I guess it's about $100

15 million last year -- has done, or what impact

16 it's had on civil caseloads in the court

17 system.

18 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

19 Well, it's had a very positive impact. And

20 not to say that there still aren't, you know,

21 many, many people who come into the civil

22 courts without a lawyer. But the money that

23 the Legislature has authorized and that we've

24 given out in grants to some 70 to 75 civil

1 legal service providers across the state --

2 that's money that, by the way, goes to every

3 one of the state's 62 counties -- it's had an

4 enormous impact on people's lives. All kinds

5 of people -- poor people, working people who

6 can't afford a lawyer, veterans, senior

7 citizens, victims of domestic violence,

8 really across the board. It's had a dramatic

9 impact on the lives of thousands and

10 thousands of people.

11 But -- I can't sit here today and tell

12 you that it's solved the problem of the

13 justice gap in this state, but it's been a

14 major step forward, a major progress for the

15 state, and an achievement that everyone in

16 this room can take pride in and take credit

17 for.

18 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: Can you tell us

19 which cases are -- needs are unmet right now?

20 I mean, I know we've met a lot of needs in

21 the community out there for civil legal

22 services, but who has not been served?

23 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

24 There's still -- a majority of people in

1 eviction proceedings still don't have an

2 attorney. A substantial number of people

3 facing foreclosure don't have an attorney. A

4 very substantial number of people who are

5 being sued over consumer debt default don't

6 have an attorney. You know, and there are

7 other examples of that. Those are kind of

8 the three top examples that come to mind.

9 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: Thank you.

10 I was very interested in the questions

11 asked by Senator Young about Raise the Age.

12 And I know in my heart that there's little

13 appetite in some places in the Legislature

14 for violent felony offenders or people who

15 are not low-level nonviolent offenders, that

16 we ought to maybe do that first. And I

17 understand the reason for it. But isn't it

18 appropriate -- or do you think that it's

19 those offenders who are violent that need the

20 services of the Family Court more than those

21 who we are putting in the Family Court for

22 purposes of prosecution? We're putting in

23 the nonviolent offenders, who may not

24 necessarily need the services that the

1 Family Court -- probation services as well as

2 any technical services that could be provided

3 in the Family Court that are not provided

4 anywhere now.

5 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

6 Well, one could make that argument. And I

7 know there are political considerations that

8 impact this.

9 But I would say it depends on the

10 individual. I mean, you could have an

11 individual charged with a very serious crime

12 who could benefit greatly from more of a

13 Family Court approach to the case in programs

14 and services. And you could have someone

15 charged with a lesser offense who might not

16 be a good candidate for programs and

17 services.

18 So I guess it's somewhat arbitrary to

19 sort of draw the line and say, you know, this

20 category of offenses would go to Family Court

21 and this category of offenses would stay in

22 the criminal courts. But, you know, when

23 you're legislating, sometimes, you know, the

24 lines have to be drawn and sometimes they can

1 be arbitrary.

2 But my answer to your question would

3 be it depends on the individual and who the

4 individual is. And the problems and the

5 needs of the individual are probably more

6 important than the particular crime that's

7 being charged in the case.

8 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: I mean, I haven't

9 looked at all of the states and how they

10 treat violent felony offenders, the ones that

11 have raised the age of criminal

12 responsibility. But I'm pretty sure that

13 most of them take into account that these are

14 violent felons in some way, shape or form,

15 but want to provide them services and get

16 them those services in the Family Court. And

17 if they need punishment, there's also

18 punishment that's available in the juvenile

19 court as well.

20 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

21 Yeah, and let me just say, not to -- I don't

22 mean to denigrate the criminal courts in any

23 way, because there are programs available and

24 services available to judges and offenders in

1 criminal court cases as well. But the

2 orientation in the criminal courts is very

3 different from Family Court. Family Court is

4 all about addressing the needs of -- the best

5 needs and the best interests of the youth in

6 the case before the judge. And that's what

7 Family Court has been all about. That's

8 Family Court's orientation.

9 And there are programs available, you

10 know, for offenders in the criminal courts,

11 but it's not the primary focus. And it's a

12 different orientation in the criminal courts

13 than what you have in Family Court.

14 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: Thank you, Judge.

15 Next.

16 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you,

17 Assemblyman.

18 Our next speaker is -- oh, where did

19 he go? Okay. We'll go to Brad Hoylman.

20 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Thank you. Nice to

21 see you, Judge. Thank you for being here.

22 It's interesting to see another branch of

23 government have to go to another and seek

24 funding.

1 You mentioned the essentials of life

2 in terms of our civil litigation system, and

3 I find it kind of shocking that we have to

4 keep the essentials of life at a 2 percent

5 cap every budget.

6 But in terms of that $100 million --

7 and I think this question was asked maybe in

8 a different way -- and your statement that

9 it's not nearly enough to provide a lawyer

10 for everyone who can't afford one, what is

11 that figure, in your estimation?

12 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

13 Yeah, I think Senator Bonacic asked me that

14 question. And I don't have that number here

15 with me today. It's an enormous amount of

16 money, unfortunately.

17 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Don't you think,

18 sir -- and the reason I ask it again --

19 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

20 It's not an amount that I could ever see

21 being met through the Judiciary's budget.

22 And let me just say it's unusual -- I mean, I

23 go to conferences of my counterparts in

24 states around the country, and there's no

1 other state doing what we're doing here in

2 New York. That's why I think that everyone

3 here, you know, can take a lot of credit for

4 the fact that we have that much money in the

5 Judiciary Budget given to civil legal service

6 providers so they can hire attorneys to

7 represent people who can't afford an

8 attorney.

9 SENATOR HOYLMAN: At the same time, if

10 I can interject --

11 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: But

12 it's unusual that that money is in the

13 Judiciary Budget. You don't find that in

14 many other states in the country. You

15 certainly don't find the amount that we have

16 in our budget in any other state in the

17 country at this point.

18 So I don't -- whatever that number

19 is -- and I can't tell you what that number

20 is. I can tell you it's an enormous amount

21 of money. And it's not an amount that I

22 could envision ever being met in the

23 Judiciary Budget alone.

24 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Well, in New York

1 City Housing Court, 70 percent of low-income

2 tenants go without lawyers. Do you have any

3 understanding of what the outcomes are for

4 those litigants who go unrepresented in

5 Housing Court? Have you analyzed what the

6 outcomes are for those individuals who do not

7 have lawyers and have to face the bench

8 pro se without any knowledge of the law,

9 without any legal understanding, and without,

10 frankly, the wherewithal or resources to

11 defend themselves against a landlord who may

12 have multiple attorneys at his or her

13 disposal?

14 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

15 Well, it's daunting, to say the least. And

16 the playing field is far from level.

17 And it's self-evident that someone who

18 goes into court, in Housing court or

19 anywhere, for that matter, without a lawyer

20 is at an extraordinary disadvantage going up

21 against an adversary who's represented by a

22 lawyer. I mean, that's self-evident.

23 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Do you not think

24 it's part of your responsibility to put a

1 dollar figure on what it would be to provide

2 our fellow citizens legal representation, or

3 at the very least analyze those cases where

4 individuals, when it comes to the essentials

5 of life, are unrepresented and determine what

6 the outcomes of those cases were?

7 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

8 There has been some research done on that. I

9 can tell you, interestingly, there was a

10 recent study I saw that addressed the

11 efficacy of nonlawyers.

12 We have a program that we implemented

13 a couple of years ago where we use

14 nonlawyers -- community college students, for

15 example -- who assist unrepresented people in

16 housing court in the lower civil court in

17 New York City. These are nonlawyers. They

18 can't advise people on the law, but they can

19 help them fill out forms, they can try to

20 answer questions for them without crossing

21 the line of advising them in the law, which

22 they can't do. They provide moral support

23 for people who don't have lawyers.

24 And there was a recent study that

1 looked at the outcome of those cases where

2 these nonlawyers were being used, and the

3 results were more favorable. I can get you

4 that report.

5 SENATOR HOYLMAN: I'll just share with

6 you that in my Senate district there is a

7 crisis, and particularly housing cases, where

8 rapacious landlords are using the legal

9 system to harass tenants and attempt to evict

10 them -- and in many if not most instances,

11 they are successful.

12 Tenants call my office seeking

13 guidance. We try to send them to, you know,

14 the appropriate legal services agency. They

15 are more often than not unable to help them,

16 due to their caseload. And we're not seeking

17 any more funds to address this problem. Nor,

18 it seems to me, do we have a real

19 understanding of how deep of a problem it is.

20 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

21 Well, we know it's a deep problem. And --

22 SENATOR HOYLMAN: But we can't put a

23 figure on it. And we don't even know the

24 number of individuals who are going

1 unrepresented.

2 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

3 Well, we -- I can go back and try to get more

4 information for you on this. I don't know

5 that there's complete information on those

6 questions, but there's more information out

7 there, and I can try to get that for you.

8 But we know it's an enormous problem.

9 And I think what we've tried to do in the

10 New York State court system -- it is

11 unprecedented. I can tell you there's no

12 other court system in the country that's

13 taken the steps that we've taken in our own

14 budget with support from the Legislature.

15 It's unprecedented.

16 But as I said, I can't sit here today

17 and tell you that, you know, we've solved the

18 problem. We haven't. There's a long, long

19 way to go before that problem is solved.

20 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Well, I do

21 appreciate your service. I think you should

22 be asking more of us, candidly. And I look

23 forward to devising strategies to help you do

24 that.

1 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

2 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

3 Thank you.

4 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you, Senator.

5 We've been joined by Senator Todd

6 Kaminsky.

7 And Chairman?

8 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Assemblyman Graft

9 {sic}.

10 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Judge, how are you?

11 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

12 Good morning, how are you?

13 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: We had

14 conversations last year, and I know that you

15 left and that you made a lot of changes down

16 in the court as far as the backlog, because

17 as we talked about, there was a 3Ω-year time

18 period for us to get a hearing, and it took

19 me five years to get a trial on a

20 misdemeanor.

21 And I know you went to the judges and

22 you talked about standards and goals, but one

23 of the biggest problems we have is your lack

24 of staff and your lack of staffing. So, I

1 mean, we're talking about hiring more judges

2 here, all right? But we can hire judges --

3 if you don't have the staff to staff the

4 courtrooms, if you don't have the staff that

5 does the stuff in the back, the people that

6 keep the trains moving and everything else,

7 we're still stuck in neutral. It's kind of

8 like having a brand-new car but no engine.

9 So when we're looking at staffing, how

10 much are you down from five years ago, six

11 years ago, staffwise? You're telling me

12 you're going to hire 200. How many are we

13 down, 1,000?

14 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: No,

15 at the worst point in -- I believe it was

16 2013 -- to compare 2013 to 2009, when I think

17 our -- 2009-2010, when our employment level

18 hit its highest point probably ever, and

19 2013, where we hit our lowest point since the

20 budget challenges going back to 2011. In

21 2013, we were down approximately 2,000

22 employees. Today we are down approximately

23 1,700 employees from where we were in

24 2009-2010.

1 So if our budget is approved, then our

2 goal is to hire -- to be able to continue to

3 replace people when they leave and not suffer

4 any worse attrition. But also, in addition

5 to that, to add 200 more employees over the

6 next fiscal year. Then we would be down to

7 about 1,500 fewer employees statewide from

8 where we were in 2009-2010.

9 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: And you would agree

10 that's causing big delays, because if I go

11 into Nassau County or I go into Suffolk

12 County and I look at the logjam -- so for

13 instance, we have all of these houses that

14 are in foreclosure. They have a whole room

15 filled with cases that have been there three,

16 four, five years. But they don't have the

17 employees. All they're waiting for is a

18 summary judgement, and they don't have the

19 employees to process it.

20 So wouldn't you agree, by not hiring

21 these employees that we so badly need, we're

22 slowing down the processes in the court, and

23 we're actually costing ourselves money in the

24 long run?

1 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

2 Look, I think you're stating this as well as

3 I could. And I know you practice in the

4 courts, so you see this firsthand, and I

5 respect what you're saying.

6 But let me say we can do a lot even

7 without more money, and we have over the past

8 year. And the foreclosure backlog is down

9 significantly, but it's still a very

10 formidable backlog in Suffolk County --

11 which, by the way, has the most foreclosure

12 cases of any county in the state.

13 But having said that, we absolutely

14 could use more employees. We can use --

15 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Yeah, I'm not

16 beating you up here, Judge.

17 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: No,

18 no, no, we're in agreement on this.

19 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Yeah. I'm trying

20 to communicate with my colleagues.

21 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

22 Yeah.

23 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: I'm trying to

24 communicate with the Governor, okay? That

1 he's stepping over a dollar to pick up a

2 dime. Because it's actually costing us money

3 by not pushing these cases and not having the

4 employees to do these cases.

5 You know, there's an old saying,

6 justice delayed is justice denied, and I

7 think that is what we're doing. I have a

8 limited amount of time, but I think we have

9 to ask that they bring the staffing level up,

10 because we're at a point now where the courts

11 are struggling.

12 The last thing, because they're

13 limiting my time here, is the Raise the Age.

14 And I want to make one point perfectly clear.

15 We keep talking about the rights of the

16 defendant and how we want to help the

17 defendant and, you know, we want to coddle

18 them. Nobody's talking about the victim

19 here.

20 Nobody's talking about if I have a

21 4-year-old child that's molested by a kid one

22 day short of his 18th birthday, he can wind

23 up in Family Court, adjudicated in

24 Family Court, and he wouldn't have to submit

1 DNA, and he wouldn't have to turn around and

2 be on the sex offender registry list.

3 So some of these crimes are horrific.

4 And as I'm reading this bill, the way it's

5 written, if somebody was to go out and murder

6 a police officer, they would be able -- it

7 goes to the court, and there is a mechanism

8 to put it in Family Court. It may never

9 happen, but it's in the bill.

10 So I mean, I think the bill is

11 horrific. I think we don't take into

12 consideration the victim, right? And the

13 bottom line, it's a touchy-feely approach,

14 but it's -- there's a lot more to it. And I

15 think this bill is poorly drafted, poorly

16 written, and I think the Governor should back

17 off here a little bit. Because what they

18 call Raise the Age, I call the Gang

19 Recruitment Act.

20 So any comments on that?

21 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

22 Well, just the only comment -- obviously, I

23 don't agree with you completely in what you

24 said. But the case you cited, that horrific

1 case, I think under the Governor's bill I

2 believe it could go to Family Court. It

3 would start out in the criminal courts and

4 could go to Family Court, but the district

5 attorney would have to agree to that, I

6 believe, as the bill is drafted.

7 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Well, there's a

8 clause in the bill, later on, where it says

9 that the defendant can move for the court to

10 move it into Family Court. And the way it's

11 drafted, we're taking the DA's consent out of

12 it, okay? Where all of a sudden, if there's

13 a motion from the defendant, the court can

14 decide to move it to Family Court, which cuts

15 the DAs out of it.

16 There's nothing in there saying that

17 if the DA says no at that point, right, that

18 the motion has to be denied. But we give the

19 opportunity for the defendant to make a

20 motion to move it to Family Court.

21 Drafting is very important when you're

22 writing a bill. You know, you may have a

23 concept of what you want to do, all right,

24 but the language has got to be in there, and

1 it has got to be clear. And in this case,

2 it's anything but.

3 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

4 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you very

5 much.

6 Our next speaker is Senator Pat

7 Gallivan.

8 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Thank you,

9 Chairwoman.

10 Good morning, Judge.

11 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

12 Good morning.

13 SENATOR GALLIVAN: I'd like to ask a

14 couple of questions about the raise in the

15 age of criminal responsibility as well.

16 But going back to your earlier

17 testimony, I think you mentioned or testified

18 to the fact that the caseload of 16- and

19 17-year-olds entering the criminal courts is

20 significantly down. Do you know what those

21 numbers are? The numbers that typically we

22 have access to lag a little bit behind. So

23 I'm just curious what are those numbers.

24 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

1 Those numbers are available.

2 I know that in recent years the number

3 of arrests of 16- and 17-year-olds in this

4 state -- and this is a trend across the

5 country, not just New York -- are down

6 dramatically. And I'll have to get that for

7 you.

8 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Okay, if you could,

9 please.

10 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

11 Sure.

12 SENATOR GALLIVAN: And we can follow

13 up.

14 The other thing, right along those

15 lines, do you know, approximately, what is

16 the percentage of -- the 16- and 17-year-olds

17 in the criminal courts, what percentage is

18 that of the total caseload, approximately?

19 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

20 It's -- I don't know, I'll have to -- those

21 numbers are available as well. It's a fairly

22 low percentage, but I don't want to speak off

23 the top of my head. But we'll definitely get

24 you those numbers.

1 SENATOR GALLIVAN: All right, if you

2 could follow up on those, we would appreciate

3 that.

4 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

5 Sure.

6 SENATOR GALLIVAN: If I understand

7 correctly, that the Governor has not included

8 any additional funding regarding the

9 judiciary for this fiscal year for his Raise

10 the Age proposal. But what I'm interested

11 in -- the reason I'm interested in those

12 numbers is talking about -- if the proposal

13 was to go forward the way that it is, and you

14 have testified about -- it would be the same

15 number, approximate same number of cases,

16 just shifted to another case -- the local

17 criminal courts still have a caseload to

18 handle.

19 And what I'm trying to get at is,

20 without comment on agreeing or disagreeing

21 with the proposal, is how can we accurately

22 look at and determine what the cost might be?

23 Because if it's only a small percentage of

24 the caseload, those criminal court judges

1 have to stay behind to handle the rest of it.

2 But nonetheless, if you could get us

3 those numbers, we'd appreciate it.

4 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

5 Absolutely.

6 SENATOR GALLIVAN: We do have a

7 hearing on that issue next week. If you're

8 able to get it to us this week, it'd be

9 great, and we'd appreciate it.

10 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

11 Sure, yeah. We'll do that.

12 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Thank you.

13 Thank you, Chairwoman.

14 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you very

15 much.

16 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

17 We've been -- with us is Assemblyman

18 Weprin and Assemblyman Giglio.

19 Next to testify is Crystal

20 Peoples-Stokes.

21 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Thank

22 you, Mr. Chairman.

23 And thank you very much, I appreciate

24 all you shared with us today -- I've been

1 here for a minute.

2 I do want to ask for just a little

3 more clarification on how the statewide

4 implementation of Hurrell-Harring will impact

5 local counties, counties outside of New York

6 City, and outside of the ones that were

7 covered in the case.

8 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

9 Well, Hurrell-Harring -- in terms of

10 Hurrell-Harring, if expanded statewide, it

11 would be a very positive thing, in our view,

12 because it would set some of the caseloads of

13 public defenders in some places around the

14 state.

15 Not in New York City, by the way; we

16 have caseload limits on the number of cases

17 that individual public defenders can handle

18 in New York City.

19 But outside of New York City, there

20 are no such limits and there clearly -- there

21 are individual public defenders that are

22 handling way too many cases. That's bad for

23 their clients, it's bad for the court system

24 because it can lead to delays and too many

1 adjournments, and trials getting adjourned

2 indefinitely.

3 So if that -- that's one of the terms

4 of the Hurrell-Harring settlement. If that

5 were expanded statewide, that would be a very

6 positive thing, from our perspective, in the

7 court system.

8 Another term of the Hurrell-Harring

9 settlement was to ensure that defendants are

10 represented by counsel at arraignment, and

11 that's been a problem that's plagued the

12 court system, particularly in the town and

13 village courts, which arraign -- do the first

14 arraignment of anyone charged with a crime

15 outside of cities in our state.

16 So that's a lot of arraignments,

17 including not just misdemeanor arraignments

18 but felony arraignments. If the crime is

19 charged -- it's taking place outside of a

20 city, then the arraignment takes place in a

21 town or village court.

22 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: So is

23 that a part of the justice gap that you speak

24 of?

1 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

2 Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, and that

3 violates the Constitution. That's why the

4 case was settled, because people have a right

5 under the federal Constitution to a lawyer to

6 represent them, including at the first

7 appearance, which is the arraignment, which

8 can be a very important appearance in the

9 case. Bail decisions are being made.

10 And that was one of the terms of the

11 Hurrell-Harring settlement. So obviously

12 that would be advantageous to everyone if

13 that were applied throughout the state.

14 And along with the other terms of the

15 settlements, it would be a very positive

16 development if those improvements could be

17 made not just in the five counties that were

18 involved in the lawsuit, but in the remaining

19 counties of the state.

20 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: So

21 would you -- well, I agree, and I'm glad

22 that -- being from Erie County, it's clearly

23 something that we're very interested in

24 there.

1 But would you say that the Governor's

2 proposed budget around this topic closes the

3 justice gap, or does it get us closer to

4 closing it?

5 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: I'm

6 sorry, is it -- what about the justice gap?

7 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: The

8 justice gap. Does the proposed budget get us

9 closer to closing that gap, or does it close

10 it?

11 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: It

12 does not close it.

13 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Could

14 they?

15 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: It

16 hopefully gets us closer, but as I said

17 before, there's a long way to go.

18 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Okay.

19 Thank you, sir.

20 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

21 Senator Jamaal Bailey.

22 SENATOR BAILEY: Thank you, Madam

23 Chair.

24 Judge Marks, thank you for coming

1 today. My question is concerning -- also

2 along the lines of Member People-Stokes,

3 about the access to justice. And I truly

4 commend you for that and your commitment to

5 pro bono work. However, as a former student

6 at a public interest law school, sometimes

7 it's difficult for these law students to

8 appropriately attack these problems.

9 Does OCA have any consideration for

10 assisting students with bar preparation?

11 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

12 Actually, we do have a program, it's

13 interesting that you mention that. It's

14 called the Legal Education Opportunity

15 program. It's funded by the Legislature. I

16 don't know if you're aware of that. And

17 students who have been admitted to law

18 school, students from economically

19 disadvantaged backgrounds, can apply to

20 attend a program at our Judicial Institute,

21 the Court Assistance Judicial Institute in

22 Albany. And there are law professors and

23 instructors there who spend six weeks in the

24 summer before the students will start law

1 school to prepare them for law school.

2 And it's a terrific program. It's not

3 a large program; I think it's limited to

4 maybe 20-25 students. But it's funded by the

5 Legislature, and it's a very good program.

6 SENATOR BAILEY: Sure. And one

7 follow-up question. You mentioned that

8 you're urging law schools to utilize law

9 students to attack the problem. Is there any

10 support in funding for law school clinics?

11 Because law school clinics, especially

12 third-year clinics that have a good amount of

13 experience, practical experience, and they're

14 ready to assist clients -- I was going to say

15 constituents -- clients. Especially in this

16 day and age, you have immigration clinics who

17 may need extra assistance.

18 What exact financial considerations do

19 you have for this problem?

20 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

21 Well, yeah, law schools can be a great

22 resource in providing assistance to people

23 who don't have attorneys. You know, the law

24 students will do that and are authorized to

1 do that under practice orders issued by the

2 appellate divisions around the state. And

3 they're supervised by lawyers, law

4 professors, and we actually -- in the money

5 in our budget, we do fund a few law school

6 civil legal service programs around the

7 state, and they were not the sole source of

8 that funding. They get funding from

9 elsewhere. The law schools themselves

10 provide funding for these clinics. And

11 they're a great resource, and they've done a

12 lot to help the problem.

13 SENATOR BAILEY: All right. Thank

14 you, Judge Marks.

15 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

16 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

17 Assemblyman Montesano.

18 ASSEMBLYMAN MONTESANO: Thank you,

19 Mr. Chairman.

20 Judge, just a couple of points to

21 cover, and I'm sorry, I'm going to revisit

22 one of them again. You talk about asking for

23 about 200 positions in this budget, and they

24 would consist of court clerks, I believe,

1 court officers, you know, backroom

2 operations. Now -- and that's for the entire

3 state, am I correct?

4 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

5 Yes.

6 ASSEMBLYMAN MONTESANO: Okay. And not

7 to be greedy, but I would think on

8 Long Island and Nassau and Suffolk we could

9 absorb the 200 positions very quickly at this

10 juncture, considering the numbers that we

11 have a deficit in.

12 And I'm not suggesting that be the

13 case, but isn't it more realistic that OCA

14 would ask for more positions at this point?

15 I mean, we have such a dire reduction of

16 personnel due to promotions, and they leave

17 the county to take another position due in a

18 promotional exam, they leave for retirement

19 or illness, whatever the case, and those

20 positions haven't even been filled.

21 I mean, I know in our Surrogate's

22 Court we're 30-plus positions down as we sit

23 here today, and that's just one court in the

24 county. And Suffolk has the same issues

1 there too, because the cases have increased

2 dramatically and the nature of the cases in

3 the criminal courts have become so

4 substantial that it results in controversy in

5 the courtrooms between media and families

6 clashing and so on and so forth

7 So why is OCA so reluctant to ask for

8 more positions -- you know, for funding for

9 more positions when the need is so dire?

10 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

11 Well, because we're trying to be pragmatic

12 and realistic. But, you know, we could

13 benefit from even more money than we're

14 asking, but we're trying to -- we're being

15 very pragmatic and realistic in what we're

16 asking for.

17 I mean, we're limiting the request for

18 the increase in our operating budget to

19 2 percent, and we didn't just kind of pick

20 that percentage out of thin air. I mean, I

21 think we're all familiar with that benchmark

22 that's been set in this state for a number of

23 years now.

24 So we're really doing the best we can,

1 we're trying to be pragmatic and realistic in

2 our budget request. There is some additional

3 money we're seeking, which I described in

4 terms of a capital appropriation, so that

5 will be very helpful.

6 But look, I'm not suggesting that we

7 can get back to where we have to be

8 overnight. I think in the last years we've

9 made slow but steady progress, and if our

10 budget is approved, this coming fiscal year

11 will be another step in that direction. And

12 it's going to take us, I'm sure, a number of

13 years to get back to where we were.

14 And by the way, I don't think we ever

15 have to get back to the employment level that

16 I mentioned, where we were in 2009-2010. I

17 think we -- out of necessity, we've made

18 ourselves more efficient and kind of leaner

19 and meaner, if you will.

20 But we do need to hire back additional

21 people, you know, I agree with you completely

22 about that. And that's what we're trying to

23 do steadily -- not in one fell swoop, but

24 steadily each year.

1 ASSEMBLYMAN MONTESANO: Just -- so my

2 time is limited. I have a two-part question

3 for you.

4 Would the $100 million that's been

5 spent, you know, giving grants to these

6 not-for-profits to provide indigent civil

7 legal services -- is there any accountability

8 to these not-for-profits? Do they have to

9 account back to OCA as to how they're

10 spending this money, how they're allocating

11 the money?

12 Because I'm just getting feedback, at

13 least from Nassau County, especially over at

14 Family Court, that people are not being

15 provided services by some of these

16 organizations.

17 So is there any accountability, or is

18 this money just given out?

19 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: No,

20 no, absolutely --

21 ASSEMBLYMAN MONTESANO: And the second

22 part, just so you can incorporate it, is --

23 you indicated before that this is a landmark

24 type of situation, where in this state the

1 Court Administration budget provides for

2 this. Would you -- what would your opinion

3 be if the state took over this task and it

4 funded or gave grants to not-for-profit

5 organizations, instead of the Office of Court

6 Administration doing it?

7 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: Let

8 me answer the second question first, if I

9 may.

10 I think the state should add money and

11 do that in other areas, in other -- you know,

12 above and beyond the Judiciary Budget. I

13 would urge that the money that we have in our

14 budget -- and we've reached the goal that was

15 set five, six years ago -- that it remain in

16 our budget, because I can assure you and

17 everyone here that we will protect that money

18 if it's in our budget.

19 You know, we'll advocate for the

20 money, we're closer to this than maybe

21 anyone. I mean, we see this in our

22 courtrooms every day, the consequences of

23 hundreds of thousands of people coming into

24 courts without a lawyer and what that means

1 for the quality of justice in this state. So

2 I think we need more money for civil legal

3 services, and I think that's something the

4 Legislature should consider.

5 But I have to say, I would be opposed

6 to the money in our budget being transferred

7 to another budget, because I would be worried

8 that wherever it is transferred, it wouldn't

9 be as protected and as secure and watched as

10 carefully as we are with respect to the money

11 that we have in our budget.

12 And to answer your first question,

13 absolutely. We have very extensive oversight

14 of these grants that we give out. We have a

15 unit within the Office of Court

16 Administration that oversees these grants and

17 receives reports and audits programs and is

18 on top of and ensures that the money that

19 we're giving out -- which is real money, it's

20 a substantial amount of money, it's the

21 public's money, and we do carefully -- and we

22 expect accountability from the recipients of

23 these grants in terms of how they're spending

24 the money.

1 And just the example you raised where

2 people are saying they're being turned away,

3 unfortunately I'm not surprised to hear that.

4 Because, you know, it's not the amount of

5 money -- it's not -- as we talked about

6 before, it's not enough to solve the whole

7 problem. It's a substantial step in the

8 right direction. But unfortunately, even

9 with the money that we give out in grants to

10 legal service providers, the providers can't

11 represent everyone who walks in their doors.

12 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

13 ASSEMBLYMAN MONTESANO: Thank you,

14 Judge.

15 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

16 Thank you.

17 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

18 Senator Croci.

19 SENATOR CROCI: Thank you, Madam

20 Chair.

21 Thank you, Judge, for your appearance

22 here today.

23 A couple of questions. In your

24 testimony you mentioned that the caseloads

1 for 16- and 17-year-olds have decreased. Is

2 there a metric to suggest why that is, or is

3 there anecdotal evidence in your mind that

4 you've seen to suggest why that is?

5 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

6 Well, I think that crime, at least violent

7 crime, has gone down year after year in

8 New York. And I think that's a national

9 trend, although there are exceptions to that,

10 you know, which we read about in the papers.

11 And some jurisdictions in the country,

12 Chicago and elsewhere, I'm sure you've read

13 the stories about violent crime waves in some

14 other jurisdictions.

15 Fortunately, we haven't seen that in

16 New York. I mean, there's still crime,

17 obviously, there's still violent crime, but

18 in jurisdictions throughout the state, you

19 know, fortunately crime has dropped,

20 particularly violent crime.

21 And I think you see that in the

22 decline in arrests of 16- and 17-year-olds.

23 Is that a trend that will sustain itself over

24 the coming years? Let's hope so, but who

1 knows. You know, crime historically can ebb

2 and flow. So I think it's just -- that

3 reflects overall crime trends in this state,

4 in many parts of the state at least.

5 And in addition to that, I don't

6 know -- I mean, it would be a question for

7 police departments, for law enforcement. Are

8 they -- have policies changed with regard to

9 young people, 16- and 17-year-olds? Are they

10 consciously not arresting people, as many 16-

11 and 17-year-olds as they once did? Is that a

12 change in policy, or is that a subtle

13 transition within law enforcement agencies,

14 perhaps -- I mean, I can't tell you that for

15 sure. But that may explain part of that as

16 well.

17 SENATOR CROCI: Interesting. In your

18 testimony and as we discuss the Raise the Age

19 debate, there is a nexus now between this

20 part of the budget and, in my mind, the ELFA

21 bill in the Executive's Budget, that

22 beginning on 1 January, 2019, the

23 superintendent of a school would be required to

24 refer students under the age of 17, 16- and

1 17-year-olds who violate the Gun-Free Schools

2 Act -- that is bringing a weapon to campus --

3 refer them for a juvenile delinquency

4 proceeding rather than charging them as an

5 adult.

6 Does this suggest that -- does it in

7 your mind suggest that a 17-year-old who

8 brought a weapon to school, a gun, would not

9 be held criminally responsible?

10 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: I'm

11 not familiar with that proposed legislation,

12 but as you described it, it sounds like a

13 partial approach to raising the age of

14 criminal responsibility in New York, as you

15 described it.

16 But I haven't seen it, I would have to

17 take a look at it. You know --

18 SENATOR CROCI: Well, my --

19 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: You

20 know, there are other categories of offenses

21 that you could -- you might argue -- if it

22 were going to be done piecemeal, and I'm not

23 suggesting that it should, but if you were

24 raising the age of criminal responsibility

1 piecemeal, step by step, you could -- there's

2 a multitude of opinions on how to do that,

3 you know, which types of offenses you would

4 start with.

5 Personally, if it were up to me, would

6 I start with that group? Maybe not, but --

7 and I would have to know more about it.

8 SENATOR CROCI: Well, that's what's

9 being proposed in the budget.

10 So if there's no criminal charge, and

11 it's considered to be a juvenile delinquency

12 proceeding, then parents would never know in

13 that school district if there was someone who

14 came to school with a gun, because there'd be

15 no criminal charge.

16 And years later, if that individual

17 then went and applied for college, there

18 would be no way or no requirement for that

19 individual to indicate on their college

20 application that they were ever charged. So

21 there could be campuses that have individuals

22 who brought a gun to school in New York State

23 when they were 16 or 17, and that would never

24 be known to a graduate institution.

1 Is that an accurate reading, in your

2 opinion?

3 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

4 Again, I'd have to read the bill.

5 But, you know, that may be a potential

6 problem of that proposal that you pointed

7 out.

8 In terms of parent notification, if I

9 understand this, that the 17-year-old would

10 be charged as a juvenile delinquent in

11 Family Court --

12 SENATOR CROCI: Right.

13 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: --

14 rather than as a criminal defendant in an

15 adult criminal court, the parent or guardian

16 would absolutely know that.

17 SENATOR CROCI: Right. But the

18 school, the other parents in the school might

19 not know that.

20 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

21 Maybe not.

22 SENATOR CROCI: Because it's a

23 juvenile delinquency proceeding.

24 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

1 Yeah.

2 SENATOR CROCI: So this is a concern,

3 certainly, because I'm told that much of this

4 act -- and the SAFE Act, indeed, was designed

5 to protect our young people, our most

6 vulnerable population, students in schools,

7 and this seems to be the exact opposite of

8 that. And long term, I would think the

9 academic institutions, both public and

10 private, would like to know.

11 So this is something that's

12 concerning. I welcome any comments, you

13 know, in writing or otherwise as to your

14 opinion and the judiciary's opinion on this

15 matter, and I think we'll be raising it in

16 future sessions here.

17 Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank

18 you, Judge, for your appearance here today.

19 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

20 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

21 Thank you.

22 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you, Senator.

23 We also have Senator Comrie who had

24 some questions.

1 SENATOR COMRIE: Yes, thank you,

2 Madam Chair.

3 Thank you, Judge Marks, for being here

4 this morning.

5 In your testimony you spoke about a

6 lot of things, but you didn't mention

7 anything that the Office of Court

8 Administration is doing to deal with the

9 backlog of foreclosure cases.

10 I represent Southeast Queens, which

11 has one of the highest foreclosure issues in

12 the country, and I'm concerned about the

13 issues of foreclosure and the fact that we

14 have many cases that are still being stuck in

15 the courts.

16 And when the clients oftentimes go

17 back for the second or third hearing, which

18 takes a while -- the cases on the plaintiff's

19 side, or the bank's side, they continue to

20 lose the paperwork or change the attorney,

21 and the case gets stuck. And in the

22 meantime, these constituents are being

23 harassed and put into a situation where they

24 don't know where first base is anymore,

1 because they can't get the case heard, they

2 can't get the adjudication verified.

3 Can you give me some idea on what

4 OCA's doing to address that backlog?

5 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

6 Well, one of the problems is in the -- this

7 is the legislatively mandated settlement

8 conference phase that you have to have in

9 every homeowner foreclosure case. Which is a

10 good idea, by the way, to mandate a

11 settlement process before the case can

12 proceed further towards foreclosure.

13 And one of the problems at the outset

14 of the settlement conference process, which I

15 think was mandated by legislation going back

16 to -- starting in 2009, was that too many of

17 the homeowners were showing up without legal

18 assistance, without a lawyer. And we talked

19 about that earlier, what a great disadvantage

20 that is, the playing field is unlevel.

21 So thanks to money in the Judiciary

22 Budget for civil legal services and other

23 money available in other programs, close to

24 two-thirds of homeowners are now represented

1 by counsel in the settlement conference

2 process. And that can make all the

3 difference in the world. But that still

4 leaves a lot of cases where they're not

5 represented.

6 And look, the foreclosures have been

7 an enormous challenge for the court system

8 since the foreclosure crisis began. The

9 number of cases has been gargantuan, and we

10 have tried to devote as much resources as we

11 can to the foreclosure process, the

12 settlement conferences in the post-settlement

13 conference. And fortunately I can tell you

14 that foreclosures -- I think we're seeing the

15 light at the end of the tunnel, because

16 foreclosure filings last year declined by

17 20 percent. So I think we're seeing kind of

18 a -- finally a diminution in the foreclosure

19 crisis.

20 So it's never, unfortunately, going to

21 be a perfect system, particularly where you

22 still have many homeowners appearing in court

23 without a lawyer -- although, as I said,

24 many, many more are appearing with a lawyer.

1 But I think the combination of more

2 homeowners appearing with a lawyer in court

3 and a decline in the number of new

4 foreclosure cases, I think things are

5 improving and will continue to improve in the

6 coming year.

7 SENATOR COMRIE: I would hope so. I

8 would hope that there would also be some

9 focus on the fact that a lot of the banks are

10 still not meeting their obligations when they

11 come to the hearings, so the cases die or the

12 cases get pushed back.

13 And they have a lot of homeowners, as

14 I said, that are stuck in the beginning

15 because they can't get to first base.

16 So I would hope that the court system

17 would work to, you know, follow through and

18 punish these banks that are deliberately

19 playing games with the system and

20 deliberately not moving the cases forward so

21 that they can harass the homeowners on the

22 back end. And I hope we can work together to

23 resolve that as well.

24 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

1 Your point is well taken.

2 SENATOR COMRIE: Thank you. And

3 this -- on the $15 million for capital, is

4 there any of that capital going to fix the

5 courts in Queens that are pretty old and need

6 some rehab and some TLC?

7 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

8 Well, the capital appropriation is for

9 technology, not for the buildings themselves.

10 I think you may know that it's a

11 state-financed court system in New York, but

12 when the state took over the financing of the

13 court system -- it used to be locally

14 financed, but in the mid-'70s the state took

15 over the financing of the court system but

16 didn't take over the financing of everything.

17 The town and village courts upstate

18 were left to be financed by local governments

19 and courthouses around the state.

20 Courthouses where state court proceedings

21 take place, those courthouses are not owned

22 by the state, they're owned and maintained by

23 local governments.

24 So in Queens, the courthouses in

1 Queens are New York City buildings, they're

2 not state-owned and -maintained buildings.

3 And I have to say, over the years it's been a

4 constant struggle to get localities -- and

5 there's been a lot of progress, and we've had

6 good relationships with the City of New York,

7 and there have been new courthouses built

8 over the years, there have been courthouses

9 renovated.

10 But there's still problems in some of

11 the buildings. They're deficient in many

12 ways. They're not large enough, they're

13 not -- they haven't been modernized to meet

14 the needs of a modern court system, and

15 sometimes they're not always maintained at

16 the level they should be maintained in. It

17 is a constant struggle. And, you know, it's

18 something that we devote a lot of time and

19 attention to. And for the most part I think

20 we succeed, but not always.

21 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you, Judge.

22 SENATOR COMRIE: Thank you. I know my

23 time is up, but if you could just detail us

24 those issues so maybe we can work together

1 with the city and look at it as a statewide

2 project to upgrade the facilities, because

3 not having modern facilities inhibits the

4 speed of the court to get things done.

5 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: I

6 agree with you completely.

7 SENATOR COMRIE: Thank you.

8 Thank you, Madam Chair.

9 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you, Senator.

10 Senator Savino.

11 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you, Senator

12 Young.

13 Thank you, Judge Marks. I'm actually

14 going to pick up where Senator Comrie left

15 off. And while I definitely understand the

16 challenges that OCA has with dealing with the

17 local government, particularly New York

18 City -- and DCAS controls the properties --

19 access to justice, as you know, begins with

20 the doorway that you walk through.

21 In Staten Island we finally, after

22 several years, were able to open up a

23 brand-new courthouse and, as you know, five

24 minutes after the door opened, we had

1 outgrown that courthouse. Part of the plan

2 for the replacement of the Staten Island

3 courts was to consolidate the Family Court

4 into the Supreme Court at 18 Richmond

5 Terrace, and in the Criminal Court, which was

6 at Targee Street, there was a desire on the

7 part of most of the elected officials to keep

8 that building open and operational.

9 Unfortunately, that building is

10 closed, and moving everything now to the new

11 courthouse is creating some backlogs there.

12 But now we're even told that the plan that

13 was to move our Family Court, which is -- we

14 are the only borough that has not gotten a

15 new Family Court, out of all of the five

16 boroughs -- but that dilapidated building,

17 which essentially consists of two

18 courthouses, you know --

19 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

20 Yeah.

21 SENATOR SAVINO: -- you know the

22 conditions that litigants and families and

23 attorneys and -- it's just awful.

24 That plan to move them to 18 Richmond

1 Terrace is now not going to happen. So we

2 have a real concern. And while, again, you

3 don't build the buildings and you don't

4 control the properties, it would be very

5 helpful to us if OCA would make the case that

6 you're not able to administer justice

7 appropriately to the citizens of

8 Richmond County because of the City of

9 New York's failure to recognize that the

10 property that they own, they are not

11 maintaining correctly, and they're not

12 planning for it. To allow a sitting

13 courthouse to just close the doors and rot,

14 in my opinion, is negligent to the people of

15 the City of New York, and we need you and OCA

16 to step up and say that that's just the wrong

17 way to go about it.

18 So we're hoping that you will join us

19 in our demand that the city revisit this

20 decision to close Targee Street and shut off

21 what should be a viable courthouse for the

22 delivery of justice to the people of

23 Richmond County. So I'm hoping I can count

24 on you for that.

1 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: You

2 can count on us.

3 You could make the argument that the

4 Family Court situation in Staten Island is

5 the number-one facilities priority that we

6 have in the court system in the city today.

7 There's a city architect, an architect

8 that the city has retained. We're expecting

9 to see some proposals coming from this

10 architect very shortly, and the community

11 will absolutely be involved in the decision

12 making process. I promise you that I will

13 work closely with you and will be a strong

14 advocate for coming up with a plan that makes

15 the most sense for Staten Island.

16 SENATOR SAVINO: And I'm not going to

17 belabor too much the Raise the Age issue,

18 because we are going to have a hearing on it

19 next week, so it will be totally examined by

20 the Senate.

21 But one of the questions that comes up

22 from time to time is if we transfer these

23 cases to Family Court, that Family Court

24 judges are not equipped to handle cases

100

1 around that. And I try and remind people

2 that Family Court judges now deal with, you

3 know, young people who are juvenile

4 delinquents, who would be prosecuted for some

5 of these things if they were just over the

6 age of 16.

7 Can you talk about some of the types

8 of cases that Family Court judges do deal

9 with, with juvenile delinquent cases?

10 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

11 Well, Family Court deals with a whole range

12 of crime, from the least significant

13 misdemeanor to in some instances the most

14 serious violent felony. And there's

15 concurrent jurisdiction with the criminal

16 courts, the adult courts, with the most

17 serious homicide and the most serious felony

18 cases, but they handle some of those cases

19 themselves.

20 Family Court judges are equipped to

21 handle the whole gamut of crimes and the

22 range of criminal offenses that we have in

23 our penal laws in New York.

24 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you for that.

101

1 And finally, in 2015 and in 2016, the

2 Senate and the Assembly passed unanimously a

3 piece of legislation that would extend

4 three-quarter disability benefits to court

5 officers if they were injured on the job in

6 defense of a judge or lawyers in the

7 courtroom.

8 Currently, as you know, if they are

9 injured on the job -- if a chandelier falls

10 on their head, right -- they're entitled to a

11 three-quarter disability benefit. But they

12 weren't if they were defending, you know, a

13 judge or an attorney or a litigant in the

14 court. So we felt we should extend that

15 benefit to them, passing it unanimously in

16 both houses two years in a row.

17 The Governor vetoed it twice, and his

18 reasoning was that being injured on the job

19 in protection of a judge or an attorney or a

20 litigant is an inherent risk of their job and

21 therefore they shouldn't be extended this

22 protection. Obviously, the Legislature

23 disagrees, we're prepared to take it up

24 again.

102

1 And I'm just curious -- do you think,

2 you know, as the chief administrative judge,

3 if this is something that we should correct

4 for these officers?

5 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

6 Well, we --

7 SENATOR SAVINO: The same way we do

8 for corrections officers or police officers

9 or anyone else.

10 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

11 Personally --

12 SENATOR SAVINO: And I understand the

13 position you're in, but what do you think?

14 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

15 Personally, I can see the argument for that.

16 Institutionally, we have not opposed

17 that. We've -- formally, in a letter to the

18 Governor's counsel, we have taken no

19 objection to the signing of the bill.

20 So as I said, personally you could

21 probably convince me there's great merit to

22 that proposal. Institutionally, we've taken

23 no position and -- we've expressed no

24 objection, which is actually a little bit

103

1 stronger than taking no position.

2 SENATOR SAVINO: Right.

3 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: In

4 the end, I don't know. If we had

5 affirmatively supported it, would that have

6 made a difference? I don't know. That's

7 something we can think about, though.

8 SENATOR SAVINO: I think there was a

9 concern that it might be a very costly

10 benefit. But the truth is it happens so

11 rarely, it might be two or three cases in a

12 10-year period of time. It just seems like

13 it's the right and just thing to do.

14 And, you know, this Legislature rarely

15 acts unanimously, so to have done so two

16 years in a row sends a signal. So we would

17 appreciate if we can get your support on this

18 effort as we move it again.

19 So thank you, Judge Marks.

20 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

21 You're welcome.

22 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you, Senator.

23 ASSEMBLYMAN OAKS: Assemblyman Steck.

24 ASSEMBLYMAN STECK: Thank you.

104

1 Judge, I apologize, I had to leave --

2 ASSEMBLYMAN OAKS: Mic?

3 ASSEMBLYMAN STECK: Oh, the mic.

4 Okay. So I have three topics that I'd

5 like to address. I've been listening to your

6 testimony, and there are obviously quite a

7 lot of needs in the court system, but I was

8 wondering whether there's a maldistribution

9 of existing resources within the court

10 system.

11 One of the judges in the Third

12 Judicial District gave me some statistics

13 which show that, on average, there are about

14 650 new filings per year in Supreme Court in

15 the Third Judicial District -- this is

16 statistics from OCA -- and 15 trials per

17 year, on average. So clearly, at least in

18 our judicial district, it's not like the

19 system is overwhelmed with trial-type work.

20 So what do those statistics say to you

21 about where the resources should be going?

22 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

23 Well, it's very difficult to answer that

24 question out of context and in isolation.

105

1 There may well be areas of the state that

2 are -- well, I would say most areas of the

3 state could use more resources, and some

4 could use more resources more than other

5 parts of the state could use more resources.

6 But pretty much everywhere, we could use more

7 resources.

8 But the numbers you mentioned --

9 ASSEMBLYMAN STECK: I think we could

10 use more resources too, I think. That's kind

11 of beside the point.

12 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS: No,

13 no. If the pie is what it is, you want to be

14 able to slice it up fairly and equitably. So

15 I agree with you on that.

16 And it's not a simple thing. It's

17 hard to take judges in Buffalo and put them

18 in the Bronx. And actually, we've done that

19 on occasion, but it's not an easy thing to

20 do. It's actually costly, because you have

21 to then put them up in a hotel and pay for

22 their travel expenses and so on. And, you

23 know --

24 ASSEMBLYMAN STECK: Of course, we have

106

1 judges of the Court of Claims who are sitting

2 down -- whose chambers are down in the

3 New York City metropolitan area who are

4 coming up to Albany to decide cases in the

5 Third Judicial District. It would not appear

6 that the emergency that created that system

7 would still exist, based on the statistics I

8 just cited.

9 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

10 Well, the number of trials -- and I'd have to

11 take a look at that, it sounds -- that sounds

12 off.

13 But let's assume, for the sake of

14 argument, that's accurate. Trials aren't

15 necessarily the most valid indicator of the

16 workload of a court, a judicial jurisdiction.

17 What judges that handle civil cases in

18 Supreme Courts spend most of their time doing

19 is deciding motions. It's a very

20 motion-intensive court. I can speak to that

21 firsthand, from my experience sitting on

22 civil cases in the Supreme Court.

23 But trials -- there are fewer trials

24 than there used to be. I mean, that's a

107

1 phenomenon we see in New York in both civil

2 and criminal cases, and it's a phenomenon

3 that you see in courts around the country,

4 and there are a lot of reasons for that, one

5 of which is inadequate court system

6 resources, no question. That's a problem

7 we've had here in New York, and it's a

8 problem that I know that court systems around

9 the country have struggled with.

10 But there are other reasons why trials

11 have dropped, the number of trials have

12 dropped. Dispositions haven't dropped, but

13 we've seen a trend in recent years where the

14 percentage, the breakdown between cases being

15 resolved by settlement and cases being

16 resolved by trial has changed, with more

17 cases being resolved by settlement and fewer

18 cases being resolved by trial.

19 And it's a complicated question as to

20 why that's happening. A lot of that has to

21 do with the dynamics and the economics of law

22 practice today, where in certain types of

23 cases it's very difficult for the lawyers to

24 take a case to trial. It's expensive and

108

1 difficult for lawyers and their clients to

2 take a case to trial. That's had a lot to do

3 with it.

4 But the bottom line is there's no

5 question, and I could not sit here and tell

6 you today that there is a perfect

7 distribution of judges and nonjudicial

8 personnel and other resources, that there's a

9 perfect distribution of those resources

10 everywhere in the state. But I can tell you

11 it's something that we look at, we spend a

12 lot of time looking at, we work with

13 administrative judges around the state and we

14 try as best we can to distribute judges and

15 nonjudicial resources as fairly as we can to

16 meet the needs of individual courts and

17 jurisdictions.

18 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay. Thank you.

19 Thank you very much.

20 I think that concludes, Judge, all of

21 the speakers today. So again, sincerely,

22 thank you so much for your patience, for your

23 thorough answers, and we look forward to

24 working with you in the future.

109

1 CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MARKS:

2 Okay. Thank you very much.

3 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you, Judge.

4 Our next speaker is Commissioner John

5 P. Melville from the New York State Division

6 of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

7 We'd like to keep things moving along.

8 Could I have some order in the house, please?

9 We have a very lengthy agenda today, a lot of

10 speakers, a lot of interest in the topics at

11 hand.

12 So welcome, Commissioner. We're glad

13 to have you here.

14 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Thank you,

15 Senator.

16 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: But could everyone

17 please take their seats? Okay, thank you.

18 Please proceed.

19 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Thank you,

20 Senator.

21 Good morning. Thank you, Chairwoman

22 Young, Chairwoman Savino -- who I see stepped

23 out, Chairman Farrell stepped out -- and

24 distinguished members of the Joint Committee.

110

1 I am John Melville, commissioner of the

2 Division of Homeland Security and Emergency

3 Services. I appreciate the opportunity to

4 discuss with you today some of the great work

5 of the agency over the past year as well as a

6 few of the highlights of Governor Cuomo's

7 public safety budget.

8 The division is charged with an

9 enormous responsibility which includes an

10 all-hazards prevention, preparedness,

11 response and recovery mission. The

12 Governor's budget provides the resources

13 needed to accomplish our mission and protect

14 public safety. Total appropriations are

15 $1.6 billion, up $58 million over last year.

16 The increases include $1.3 million to support

17 a new Cyber Incident Response Team,

18 $3 million to provide transportation security

19 training to civilian employees at airports;

20 $500,000 to support swift-water training at

21 the State Preparedness Training Center, and

22 $3 million in capital financing for health

23 and safety improvements and preservation of

24 Montour Falls and the State Preparedness

111

1 Training Center. Taken together, these

2 proposals will strengthen our all-hazards

3 approach to prevention, preparedness,

4 response and recovery.

5 A key recommendation in the Governor's

6 fiscal year 2018 budget is the proposed

7 Cyber Incident Response Team, which will

8 serve as a resource to local governments,

9 public authorities and non-executive agencies

10 in better protecting their information

11 technology assets, critical operating

12 systems, and data from cyberattacks, malware

13 and ransomware. The team will conduct

14 vulnerability assessments, network scans, and

15 reviews of cybersecurity policies to ensure

16 local governments and state entities have the

17 appropriate plans, procedures, and

18 cyber infrastructure in place.

19 This initiative will include a single

20 number to call to report cyber incidents,

21 streamlining response efforts. The team will

22 be supported by members including the

23 National Guard, the State Police, and the

24 Office of Information Technology Services.

112

1 The division's focus on preparedness

2 and response training will be greatly

3 enhanced through the proposed transportation

4 security and swift-water training initiatives

5 in the Governor's Executive Budget.

6 The response to mistaken reports of

7 active shooters in several terminals at John

8 F. Kennedy Airport this past summer resulted

9 in panic and the self-evacuation of thousands

10 of travelers and employees. The Governor, as

11 a result of recommendations outlined by a

12 joint state and federal multi-agency team

13 reviewing the incident, ordered the division

14 to develop a new mandatory training to

15 civilian airport workers to provide them with

16 the skills necessary to assist passengers

17 during emergencies and with the skills for

18 increased awareness and the identification of

19 and reporting of suspicious activities

20 related to terrorism. As proposed in the

21 Governor's Executive Budget, the division

22 will provide this critical, full-day training

23 to civilian airport workers across the State.

24 The State Preparedness Training

113

1 Center, or SPTC, is a state-of-the-art

2 multidisciplinary facility in Oneida County

3 that supports training to over 16,000 state,

4 local, and federal emergency first responders

5 on an annual basis. The swift-water rescue

6 simulator is slated to be completed by spring

7 of 2018, and the Executive Budget includes

8 resources to support this one-of-a-kind

9 training for swift-water rescue missions.

10 Staff will be brought on in the fourth

11 quarter of the 2018 fiscal year, enabling

12 training to first responders as soon as the

13 facility is complete.

14 In the upcoming budget year, the

15 division will provide regionally focused

16 active-shooter scenario courses at the SPTC.

17 The key objective of this course is to

18 integrate emergency medical services into

19 law enforcement's response to an active

20 shooter situation. The new regional model

21 requires the law enforcement and EMS

22 participants to be from the same city or

23 county departments, so the techniques and the

24 concepts learned can be better leveraged in

114

1 emergencies.

2 Finally, at the Governor's direction,

3 the division will work with the New York

4 State Emergency Management Association to

5 develop an accreditation program for local

6 emergency management offices in the upcoming

7 budget year. It will be the first state-led

8 initiative in the nation designed

9 specifically for local emergency management

10 offices, leading advancements in emergency

11 management and the protection of the people

12 of this state.

13 These Executive Budget recommendations

14 build upon the work of the division over the

15 past year.

16 In 2016, the Governor directed the

17 division to increase the number of Red Team

18 exercises across the state to determine if

19 businesses detected and promptly reported

20 unannounced suspicious activity. This past

21 year, the division significantly increased

22 the number of Red Team exercises, evaluating

23 and enhancing the state's overall

24 counter-terrorism posture. Through the end

115

1 of December, Red Team exercises had been

2 conducted in all of the 16 counterterrorism

3 zones, across over 600 locations and

4 businesses, in conjunction with over 100

5 law enforcement agencies.

6 As a target-rich state, New York

7 continues to rely on federal Homeland

8 Security funding. In 2016, New York State

9 received over $262 million from the Homeland

10 Security Grant Program, which has been used

11 in communities throughout the state to

12 prevent, protect and prepare for terrorism

13 and other catastrophic events.

14 I'd like to quickly touch upon a few

15 ongoing initiatives.

16 Launched in 2015, NY Responds is a

17 single, unified online electronic

18 comprehensive incident management system.

19 This transformative approach to disaster

20 management connects every county across

21 New York State with the State Emergency

22 Operations Center.

23 The Governor's vision related to

24 public safety and emergency preparedness

116

1 education is rapidly becoming a reality

2 through the College of Emergency

3 Preparedness, Homeland Security, and

4 Cybersecurity at UAlbany. I am happy to

5 report that the college's major, which began

6 being offered in the fall semester, now has

7 300 declared students. Another 350 students

8 have declared the minor. The enthusiasm for

9 the program has far exceeded expectations.

10 With respect to citizen preparedness

11 training, in conjunction with the National

12 Guard, the Red Cross, and our partners in the

13 Legislature, we have been able to train over

14 140,000 residents.

15 I appreciate the opportunity to appear

16 before you today, and am pleased to answer

17 any questions you may have.

18 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you,

19 Commissioner Melville. And certainly you

20 have one of the most important duties in the

21 state, and that's to keep our citizens safe.

22 So I appreciate everything that you do.

23 We'll start out with questions from

24 Senator Tom Croci, who is chair of the

117

1 Homeland Security Committee in the State

2 Senate.

3 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Thank you,

4 Senator.

5 SENATOR CROCI: Thank you, Chairwoman.

6 Commissioner Melville, thank you again

7 for your appearance here today.

8 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Thanks.

9 SENATOR CROCI: I want to start off by

10 saying what a pleasure it's been to work with

11 you in the last few years, getting to know

12 you and getting an opportunity to see the

13 kind of talent that you have on your staff.

14 I know that many of them are here today. So

15 it's been a great pleasure, and I appreciate

16 the increasing openness with information.

17 And I also want to thank you for your

18 continued service to the state. It's not a

19 time for the faint of heart in the law

20 enforcement, intelligence, or emergency

21 management professions, and your willingness

22 to remain in public service at this time is

23 certainly something that the people of

24 New York should be very grateful for. So

118

1 thank you for your service.

2 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Thank you,

3 Senator.

4 SENATOR CROCI: With that said, some

5 of the questions I'll be asking today are

6 directed at the budget, specifically, and at

7 the Executive. So I don't want you to

8 misinterpret our concerns as something that

9 you're not executing well, because from my

10 estimation, you and your team are doing a

11 tremendous job.

12 I've looked at this several times now,

13 and to me this a political document. I've

14 done three budgets in this Senate, and I can

15 tell you that it's decreasingly a process by

16 which we are determining what's best for the

17 various regions in the state, and it becomes

18 more of a political document. And the way it

19 was rolled out this year is evidence of that.

20 So I'm increasingly skeptical of some

21 of the different -- some of the language that

22 we see in the current budget. Hopefully this

23 process, the legislative process which we do

24 in the light of day, is going to be something

119

1 that creates a budget where the Assembly and

2 the Senate and the Executive can come

3 together and create a truly governmental

4 document.

5 I'm looking at certain sections, and

6 I'm noticing that the budget calls for

7 $475 million in funding for county public

8 interoperability efforts. This is something

9 that those of us who have seen the effects of

10 both September 11th, Superstorm Sandy, and

11 the problems that they had in the 2015 prison

12 break at Clinton Correctional Facility are

13 very familiar with -- the hampered

14 communications, the interoperability

15 problems.

16 Can you provide just an update on the

17 progress that the department's made in the

18 interoperability of communications between

19 state and local authorities?

20 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Sure, Senator.

21 I'd be happy to.

22 Interoperability is a hard process in

23 New York State. I think we've made great

24 strides in the last six years through the

120

1 appropriation. Through the Office of

2 Emergency Communications, we have provided

3 over $440 million to the counties to become

4 interoperable. Interoperable doesn't really

5 mean that someone in Long Island can talk to

6 someone in Buffalo, it means that a fire

7 chief from Long Island who happens to go to

8 Buffalo can talk with the police in Buffalo

9 and the EMS from Syracuse, all together in

10 the same spot.

11 We are close. This year's budget

12 provides for another $75 million into

13 interoperability. Ten million of that is for

14 a PSAT program, 45 million of that is a

15 targeted -- excuse me, a formula grant, which

16 all counties receive based on their volume of

17 911 calls, their area, and their population.

18 And an important distinction, I think,

19 this year is that $20 million of that 75 is

20 going to be targeted at the areas around the

21 state that still do not have

22 interoperability. In the past it had been a

23 competitive grant that we put out and

24 counties competed for and won, rightfully so,

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1 but we have chosen this year to try and close

2 the loop on this interoperability by using

3 this $20 million to target those areas of the

4 state that still need help. I may be

5 optimistic, but I am hoping by the end of

6 2017 we can declare New York State to be

7 interoperable.

8 SENATOR CROCI: Thank you. And we

9 look forward to supporting you in any way.

10 Do I still have additional questions?

11 Very good.

12 So, Commissioner, two years ago the

13 Governor transferred out, much to the

14 disappointment and objection of the

15 Legislature -- or, anyway, our committee and

16 the majority in the Senate -- transferred

17 responsibility of cybersecurity out of your

18 department and all over to the Office of

19 Information Technology. I regret that

20 decision; I think at the time I said that

21 that would probably have to be revisited

22 because it didn't fit with the best practices

23 federally.

24 And I didn't think we'd be back again

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1 talking about it so soon, but the Governor

2 wants to propose a new Cyber Incident

3 Response Team, now back in your department as

4 opposed to the Office of Information

5 Technology. What would be the benefits of

6 this consolidation?

7 And if it's being proposed now back in

8 your department, why isn't this going to go

9 to the Office of Information Technology

10 Services? Why is he reversing course at this

11 point?

12 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: There is

13 $1.3 million in the budget to fund this

14 Cyber Incident Response Team. It is

15 conceptual at this point. We plan on hiring

16 eight people to work underneath the Office of

17 Counterterrorism within the Division of

18 Homeland Security Emergency Services.

19 I see the Cyber Incident Response Team

20 targeting a different audience in New York

21 State. Its main mission will be to assist

22 local governments, public authorities, and

23 the hospital that gets struck by ransomware.

24 The ITS function with respect to

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1 cybersecurity is really designed to protect

2 the state's infrastructure in the executive

3 agencies of the state.

4 So the Cyber Incident Response Team

5 will be another resource to New Yorkers, to

6 local governments, to villages, towns, and

7 small cities that don't have the benefit of

8 ITS response. I think conceptually it's a

9 really good idea. There's certainly a niche

10 for it. And I think it will be successful

11 and very busy.

12 SENATOR CROCI: Well, I would concur.

13 I'm just wondering why it wasn't proposed

14 three years ago, as opposed to this year, and

15 why now we're retransferring these

16 responsibilities, at least partially, back to

17 your department, if the Governor's initial

18 thought to move it to OITS, to Technology

19 Services, was the right move.

20 So I'm skeptical that you shouldn't

21 have the responsibility of cybersecurity for

22 the state under one hat and one rubric,

23 because it makes the most sense and it's in,

24 I believe, alignment with best federal

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1 practices. But I'm just concerned that right

2 now we -- you know, it's like a little kids'

3 soccer game, we're just kicking the ball all

4 over and trying to figure out -- no strategy,

5 no vision.

6 And hopefully we can work together in

7 this budget cycle to ensure that we know in

8 the State of New York who has overall

9 responsibility for cybersecurity -- and, if

10 it's going to be broken out into pieces, that

11 that is also evident within the budget.

12 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Another part

13 of the cyber that DHSES has, Senator, and I

14 know that you're aware of this, is that we

15 have critical infrastructure assessment teams

16 that go throughout the state and assess our

17 critical infrastructure. And we have added

18 also a six-member cyber component to those

19 teams, so --

20 SENATOR CROCI: Under DHSES?

21 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Under DHSES,

22 under the Office of Counterterrorism. ITS

23 used to assist our critical infrastructure

24 team with that. We thought it was

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1 appropriate that we handle those duties

2 ourselves, and we have six very-well-

3 qualified cybersecurity experts that work

4 within our critical infrastructure assessment

5 team now and accompany them and make that

6 cyber a part of their assessment.

7 SENATOR CROCI: One additional

8 question, Madam Chair.

9 Commissioner, last year the Governor

10 also transferred the intelligence and

11 analysis unit out of your department to the

12 State Police. Can you describe to me what if

13 any effect the transfers had on intelligence

14 reports in the state, and your reporting

15 responsibilities?

16 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Essentially,

17 it's had no impact. The analysts that were

18 transferred, for the most part, that were

19 members of the Division of Homeland Security

20 and Emergency Services are sitting in the

21 same exact seats that they sat in when they

22 were in our agency. They're located at the

23 NYSEOC with the State Police.

24 The information flow has been

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1 seamless. We have set up liaisons that work

2 with the NYSEOC and report to us through our

3 office of the director of the Office of

4 Counterterrorism.

5 They were wonderful employees, I was

6 sorry to see them go to the State Police, but

7 in actuality I thought it was the right move,

8 because they need the information first. We

9 get it almost simultaneously.

10 I still am the Homeland Security

11 advisor, I still report and brief you,

12 Senator, and the other committees. So I

13 don't really see that it's made any

14 difference to us. And in fact, it's an

15 improvement, in the sense that the responders

16 who need that information most rapidly get it

17 first.

18 SENATOR CROCI: And is the Governor

19 receiving this intelligence on a regular

20 basis?

21 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Yes, he is.

22 SENATOR CROCI: Okay. And is he

23 requesting this information on a regular

24 basis?

127

1 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Yes. I'm in

2 constant contact with his office and the

3 chamber with respect to any significant

4 incidents that occur in the state and,

5 realistically, worldwide.

6 SENATOR CROCI: Including threat

7 reporting?

8 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I'm sorry,

9 Senator?

10 SENATOR CROCI: Including threat

11 reporting?

12 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Yes.

13 SENATOR CROCI: The Executive is being

14 made aware of that?

15 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Yes, he is.

16 SENATOR CROCI: And the last question

17 I had was overall, now we've been doing this

18 for -- sitting across from each other for

19 three years, I have seen the steady

20 progression of intelligence flow to the

21 Legislature, including Senator Addabbo and I

22 both receiving the briefing.

23 Are we -- going back over three years

24 now, are we better prepared, are we as

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1 prepared, or are we less prepared to prevent

2 and then be prepared to deal with a potential

3 terrorist attack in the State of New York?

4 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I would

5 absolutely say that we are better prepared.

6 We constantly evaluate the threat picture,

7 posture, landscape, throughout the state and

8 the world. We adjust our priorities

9 accordingly. I think we direct our

10 Homeland Security funds in the right

11 direction. I see how they're used, I see the

12 results.

13 The world is a changing place and a

14 dangerous place, and we can never say we can

15 certainly guarantee that we can prevent

16 another terrorist attack. I would almost say

17 that there's a guarantee that we can't. But

18 as far as preparation goes, there's really

19 not a lot more that I can see, from my

20 perspective, that we could be doing.

21 SENATOR CROCI: Well, I appreciate

22 that. Coming from you, that should make

23 New Yorkers feel comfortable.

24 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

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1 SENATOR CROCI: And I want to thank

2 the chairwoman for the time.

3 Thank you, Commissioner.

4 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Thank you,

5 Senator.

6 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

7 We've been joined by Senator John

8 DeFrancisco and Senator Velmanette

9 Montgomery.

10 Chairman?

11 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Yes. Next, Crystal

12 People-Stokes, chair of the Government

13 Operations Committee, to question.

14 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Thank

15 you, Mr. Chairman.

16 And thank you, Commissioner. It's

17 nice to see you again so soon.

18 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Same here,

19 Assemblywoman.

20 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: I --

21 just in response to the Senator's last

22 question, I feel completely confident that we

23 are more safe in New York State than we've

24 been in a very long time. So I want to thank

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1 you and your entire team for making that

2 possible.

3 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Thank you.

4 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: I think

5 my first question is going to be around your

6 comments and your testimony regarding the

7 amount of dollars that we have received from

8 the federal government for the purposes of

9 homeland security. And you said that was

10 $262 million.

11 And I don't know if that's been

12 announced yet or not, how much we will

13 receive for the 2017 year, but I wonder if

14 there will be any negative impacts to the

15 most recent executive order from the

16 President regarding immigration and

17 immigrants.

18 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Well, it has

19 not been announced yet. We are hoping that,

20 at worst, our funding remains the same.

21 With respect to the executive orders

22 that the President has recently issued, we

23 are studying them. Smarter people than me

24 are trying to figure out how that may affect

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1 our funding. I am hopeful that it has no

2 impact on us.

3 There is a clause within the executive

4 order that calls for law enforcement to be

5 excluded from any effect that the executive

6 order might have, but at this point it's

7 really too soon to tell. Too soon to tell,

8 really, in both ways. There's a continuing

9 resolution, I guess, in Congress, so funds

10 had not been appropriated for this coming

11 budget year anyway. And then the executive

12 order came out. So on both fronts, I'm

13 optimistic that our funds will not be

14 affected in a negative way.

15 I'm certainly confident that we use

16 the money wisely. New York is a target-rich

17 state, as we all know, and I think it would

18 be -- personally, I think it would be

19 irresponsible to affect the funding.

20 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Thank

21 you. We certainly are a target-rich state,

22 and as such, I'm really just glad to hear

23 that you're at least doing some preliminary

24 look at how you could, you know, make sure

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1 that we speak to the new administration in a

2 way that they understand that we can't afford

3 to have cuts in an area like homeland

4 security. So thank you very much for that.

5 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Thank you.

6 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: On the

7 issue of cybersecurity, I mean, there are

8 many people I think across this country and

9 in the state as well, particularly in the

10 business community, who are really kind of

11 looking at spyware and all those sorts of

12 things as a new white-collar crime. And that

13 there are literally people sitting in offices

14 not far from folks who they're stealing their

15 whole server opportunities and asking them

16 for money, and they're getting it.

17 What sort of strategies do you -- are

18 we going to have to deal with that issue?

19 Because it's real, and it's not only

20 impacting, you know, businesses and banks but

21 schools and hospitals, et cetera. And, you

22 know, I think that there's a responsibility

23 for us as government to figure out a way, how

24 do we protect our citizens who want to use

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1 the internet to do their business?

2 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I couldn't

3 agree with you more, Assemblywoman. I think

4 that's what this Cyber Incident Response Team

5 that we've proposed in the budget will be

6 targeting. It will be targeting local

7 government and it will be targeting schools,

8 it will be targeting hospitals. And there is

9 an outreach component to it that we envision,

10 that they will go and talk about best

11 practices, talk about cyberhygiene, talk about

12 things that those institutions and local

13 governments can do to protect themselves from

14 attacks, cyberattacks.

15 Another component of that team will be

16 to respond and to assess what the issue is.

17 I don't know if we will have people that will

18 actually fix those types of problems once

19 they occur, but I think we'll be able to

20 direct those entities to the resources that

21 they need to help themselves.

22 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: So I

23 did have a chance to meet some of your

24 cybersecurity experts. They're very well

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1 informed gentlemen. So I'm wondering if they

2 would develop a strategy that -- one that

3 works for schools, one that works for banks,

4 one that works for a private business? Or

5 would there be strategy that everybody would

6 necessarily follow?

7 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I think it

8 would be more across the board, a

9 best-practices type of strategy. The

10 simplest things: Don't leave your computer

11 on, have two-factor authentication, don't

12 give out certain information, don't open

13 certain emails if you don't know -- that's

14 the kind of outreach effort that's kind of

15 basic, but believe it or not, there's a lot

16 of people out there that really don't follow

17 them. So I think there's certainly a niche

18 for this type of training for the general

19 public.

20 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Okay,

21 thank you on that.

22 On the whole issue of providing

23 security around airports, can you talk a

24 little bit more about how that will be

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1 provided? And would it just be for airports

2 in New York City, or would it be for

3 airports, say, near the Canadian border, like

4 Buffalo?

5 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Sure. We've

6 piloted this security training now -- I think

7 we've given it three times. It has been at

8 JFK so far. But the proposal is to train all

9 civilian airport workers throughout the state

10 at every airport. Our best guesstimate --

11 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: So that

12 TSA workers --

13 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Excuse me?

14 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: TSA

15 workers?

16 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Not TSA --

17 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Not

18 TSA.

19 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: -- but your --

20 the person who works at the baggage check,

21 the person who works in Cinnabon, at Hudson

22 News, at -- anybody who works in an airport,

23 any civilian employee, will get this training

24 so they know what to do in a situation, or

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1 they know what they should do in a situation

2 where, like what happened at JFK, when panic

3 results from an incident that, really, it

4 shouldn't.

5 Our best guesstimate is that there's

6 probably 50,000 of these civilian workers

7 throughout the state that we would have to

8 train. The course is an eight-hour course

9 given by the proposal members of our staff.

10 And we would start out slow, I think 275

11 trainings the first year and gradually

12 increase to maybe 32,000 the second year and

13 hopefully 50,000 by the third year.

14 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Okay,

15 and that's not including the other

16 preparedness training. The preparedness

17 training is just for citizens, is that right?

18 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Yes. Totally

19 different training. That preparedness

20 training is given in partnership with the

21 National Guard, it's given all over the state

22 to civilians who sign up for it, and it's

23 really how to prepare yourself and respond

24 and be ready for any type of an emergency.

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1 Not related to an airport.

2 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Okay.

3 Well, I do appreciate your response to the

4 questions, and I thank you for your diligence

5 in keeping us safe.

6 And I have to tell you I'm very

7 excited about the number of students who are

8 accessing the opportunity to be trained in

9 cybersecurity at UAlbany. And I don't know

10 how many of those students are necessarily

11 veterans, but I do think that it would be a

12 great idea if we would do a special outreach

13 to veterans to encourage them to participate

14 in these sorts of services, because I think

15 often they don't necessarily find their niche

16 when they get home, and this could very well

17 be their niche. It works well in Florida,

18 and I believe it could work well in New York

19 State as well.

20 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I agree.

21 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: So

22 thank you again, Commissioner.

23 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Thank you,

24 Assemblywoman.

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1 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

2 Senator?

3 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

4 Commissioner, I'm glad to hear you

5 talk about interoperable communications. And

6 could you tell us where the areas are that

7 you would focus on this year to finally get

8 the communications system in place?

9 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I wish I

10 could, Senator. There are certain pockets

11 throughout the state that still are not

12 interoperable. There's a lot of consortiums

13 throughout the state that are. I personally

14 don't know where those areas are; I think

15 they're out west, and I think they're in the

16 North Country.

17 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Probably west of my

18 area.

19 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Yeah. And I

20 just don't want to misinform you, but I

21 certainly have people that know that

22 information, and I can get that right to you.

23 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: If you could get

24 that to the Legislature, I think we all would

139

1 be very interested in taking a look at it

2 just so we fully understand. And then, when

3 we come back here again next year, we'll be

4 able to hopefully celebrate the fact that all

5 of those areas are covered. So I appreciate

6 that.

7 I'm so happy to hear that the Governor

8 is proposing cybersecurity additional

9 measures, and I think that's sorely needed.

10 Unfortunately, in my estimation, the answers

11 that we got last year from the IT department

12 were unsatisfactory and raised a lot of

13 concerns among our colleagues, because there

14 didn't seem to be a basic understanding of

15 certain security issues. So I'm very happy

16 to actually see that in the Governor's

17 proposal.

18 You talked about the proposal, but

19 could you expand on it a little bit more as

20 to how this will work? Because I think you

21 talk about interagency cooperation and the

22 fact that you're going to get everybody on

23 the same page; I think that needs to happen.

24 But how high is the cybersecurity threat to

140

1 New Yorkers?

2 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I think it's

3 high. You know, it's the days we live in. I

4 mean, it can be anything from your home

5 personal computer to the ransomware that

6 certain entities throughout the state have

7 received and paid, because their systems

8 become locked up and they don't have access

9 to their information and their only way to

10 get it is to pay the ransom.

11 The Cyber Incident Response Team, as

12 it is envisioned, will start locally in terms

13 of best practices from anywhere, from

14 households -- but I really see it targeted at

15 local governments, public authorities,

16 agencies that are in dire need of that type

17 of education and a number to call when they

18 have an issue.

19 If a village in upstate New York has

20 an issue with some type of cybersecurity,

21 they really don't get a lot of response from

22 the FBI if they call as to how to fix it. It

23 might not be a crime, even.

24 But those are the types of things, and

141

1 if we get that, if this team gets it and it

2 is a crime -- you know, we're not the police,

3 we're not the FBI, we're not DHS, we're not

4 going to do those investigations, but we will

5 steer those people in the right direction.

6 So I think it's really, the way I envision

7 it, a resource to help those who really don't

8 have that type of support now. Whether

9 that's --

10 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: What about private

11 entities? For example, we have a big problem

12 in the state where a major health insurance

13 plan had its records breached over the past

14 year or two, and everyone's information was

15 exposed because of that fact.

16 So would this be a resource not only

17 for local governments and citizens but also

18 for companies and that sort of thing?

19 Because when a company's security is

20 breached, it impacts so many residents across

21 the state and it can have very, very

22 consequential and devastating impacts.

23 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I agree. And

24 we have discussed that, Senator. But this

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1 team is proposed to be eight people to start,

2 and I don't think we can be everything to

3 everyone. So those private entities and

4 corporations or even local governments, it's

5 really incumbent upon them to secure their

6 own systems. But a lot of them don't.

7 There's a lot of private institutions

8 that have wonderful cybersecurity, much

9 better than we could probably talk to them

10 about. But at least initially, I would say

11 that private entities would not be included

12 in this. It's eight people, and I wouldn't

13 want to take on more than we were able to

14 handle. I'd like to be able to get this team

15 up and running and do things right and not be

16 overwhelmed at the start.

17 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you very

18 much, Commissioner.

19 Now I want to switch to

20 counterterrorism. And obviously there's a

21 proposal by the Governor regarding the

22 Red Teams and so on, but what's the breakdown

23 of activity by the Red Teams of upstate

24 versus downstate now? You gave some helpful

143

1 information in your presentation about, I

2 believe, 600 locations had exercises over the

3 past year, is that correct?

4 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Yes.

5 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay. So what is

6 the breakdown, though?

7 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: The state is

8 broken up into 16 counterterrorism zones

9 geographically. Some zones might be three or

10 four counties, some might be two.

11 What our office did was go to the

12 leadership in every one of those

13 counterterrorism zones, meet with them,

14 discuss what their threat posture was in

15 their particular area, and come up with a

16 plan to decide what to target.

17 So maybe out in Western New York we

18 targeted colleges, mass gatherings, Walmarts,

19 stores like that. And when I say "targeted,"

20 we would go in and we'd go into a Walmart and

21 try to buy five pressure cookers and some

22 ball bearings and duct tape and see if people

23 would get raised up about that and call their

24 police. And then we would see what the

144

1 police response was to the call from Walmart.

2 So as far as a breakdown, we have all

3 that information. It's pretty equal across

4 the state. Some counterterrorism zone

5 leadership may have been more welcoming than

6 others, but they all like the idea, they all

7 participated. But I would say it's pretty

8 equal across the state where we conducted and

9 how many exercises.

10 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Commissioner, you

11 raised some very interesting scenarios. When

12 you went into Walmart, for example, are you

13 seeing that people did raise a red flag? Or

14 is there more work to do as far as ensuring

15 that people are up to speed, they have that

16 education and that thought in mind that this

17 may be a suspicious activity? So I'm just

18 curious about what results you actually

19 found.

20 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: They were

21 mixed, and I'll preface -- just say that

22 before we went into that Walmart or any

23 facility that we went to, we did outreach

24 prior to -- talked about what to look for,

145

1 what suspicious activity is, how do you

2 report it, who do you report it to -- and

3 then we let it lay for a while.

4 So any of these places that we went to

5 had been visited before, and many of them

6 reported very well, some did not. The end

7 result was we got some very favorable

8 feedback, but there's more work to do and

9 more places to look into.

10 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you. With

11 the Cyber Incident Response Team, how do you

12 see that coordination going forward with the

13 Red Teams? Is there going to be some

14 communication?

15 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I don't see

16 that really connecting with the Red Teams,

17 Senator. I mean, they're both going to come

18 under our Office of Counterterrorism. We

19 have the cyber component attached to our

20 critical infrastructure assessment teams that

21 could cross maybe a little bit more with the

22 Red Teams, but I don't really see the

23 Cyber Incident Response -- it's an outreach,

24 first, to educate and then to respond to see

146

1 what problems are and then to see if we can

2 help people recover, but not really along the

3 same lines as our Red Teams operate.

4 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: I'm glad to see

5 that you're taking action in regards to the

6 Transportation Security Training program and

7 the false-alarm incident that occurred at JFK

8 last August. But we're looking at more

9 training, we're looking at more resources.

10 But basically, what did you learn from that

11 day?

12 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Personally, I

13 learned that people are on edge in a lot of

14 situations, especially around transportation

15 facilities at times. I don't --

16 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Justifiably so,

17 correct?

18 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I don't think

19 it has been absolutely confirmed, but what

20 really triggered that incident was the --

21 Usain Bolt had won the gold medal, and there

22 were a lot of people watching, and a big

23 commotion ensued after he won. And people

24 thought somehow that that -- there was an

147

1 active shooter, and that's what started it.

2 And people panicked, and people started

3 running.

4 So this team that was put together to

5 review the incident, they came up with a

6 number of different recommendations as a

7 result of what happened at JFK that day. And

8 I think the bottom line is we need to better

9 communicate with people faster in these types

10 of facilities. We need to have a more

11 cohesive public safety entity.

12 In JFK, every terminal is like a

13 separate airport, so even though the

14 Port Authority police really are the police

15 on -- each terminal has their own security.

16 One terminal can't talk to the other

17 terminal, one terminal doesn't really know

18 what the other -- in the worst-case scenario.

19 So we learned a lot of lessons from

20 that. And JFK may be an aberration just

21 because of its size, but -- so we're working

22 on it. We've had a lot of meetings with the

23 Port Authority, with TSA, with our partners

24 in public safety, and I think we're moving

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1 towards better reaction to an incident like

2 that.

3 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: And finally, I'd

4 like to ask, how would you characterize the

5 communication between the federal, the state,

6 and the local authorities in regards to

7 counterterrorism and all the issues that you

8 work on?

9 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I would have

10 to say it's excellent. I've been in public

11 safety for a long time, and I've seen the

12 trends, and I don't think it's ever been

13 better. I can pick up the phone and call the

14 head of the JTTF in New York City, and he

15 doesn't hesitate to talk to me and give me

16 information.

17 It's gotten so much better, Senator,

18 and I think we're all on the same page. And

19 we realize we have to be if we're going to

20 succeed.

21 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you. Thank

22 you for that.

23 We've been joined by Senator Marty

24 Golden.

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1 Chairman Farrell?

2 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

3 Assemblyman Montesano. We'll try

4 again. Assemblyman Buchwald.

5 ASSEMBLYMAN BUCHWALD: Thank you very

6 much, Mr. Chairman.

7 And thank you, Commissioner, for your

8 service and for the work you and your

9 division do.

10 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Thanks.

11 ASSEMBLYMAN BUCHWALD: My question is

12 simply about one particular project that your

13 division oversees, which is the Spectra AIM

14 Pipeline risk assessment, which as I

15 understand it is being done by an outside

16 architectural engineering firm. The cost is

17 approximately $250,000, and their assessment

18 was at least set to be completed by

19 December 31st of this past year.

20 I'm wondering if you could enlighten

21 us as to the state of completion of that

22 assessment, and whether either us as

23 legislators or members of the public should

24 expect access to that assessment in the

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1 not-too-distant future, since obviously it

2 concerns public safety.

3 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: The report I'm

4 familiar with, the report -- it has not been

5 finalized. I have not read it.

6 I know there were some delays in

7 starting the report only because we had to

8 find a firm that didn't have some type of a

9 conflict of interest. OGS did that, went to

10 contract with them. I think the report is in

11 its final stages, Assemblyman, but I have not

12 seen it yet. I look forward to seeing it

13 also.

14 ASSEMBLYMAN BUCHWALD: Do you have a

15 sense as to what the process will be when it

16 is completed? The contract, which -- it was

17 originally set for, I believe, an August or

18 September date, was then modified and

19 expanded with a December 31, 2016, completion

20 date.

21 But in any case, when the assessment

22 is complete and obviously you and your

23 division have had a chance to review it, what

24 would be the process for being able to inform

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1 members of the public who want to understand

2 what this new pipeline will mean in their

3 neighborhoods?

4 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: The honest

5 answer to that question, Assemblyman, is I

6 don't know. I don't know what the process

7 will be with respect to when the public gets

8 to see that report or how it's released. I

9 don't.

10 ASSEMBLYMAN BUCHWALD: Are you in a

11 position to be able to commit to the

12 Legislature that once that report is received

13 that, first of all, you'll be able to tell us

14 of the report, that it has been completed,

15 and at that time be able to inform us as to

16 what process you think might be appropriate?

17 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I don't think

18 I'm in that position to give that information

19 at this point. I certainly will check into

20 it, Assemblyman. I just really don't know.

21 ASSEMBLYMAN BUCHWALD: Thank you very

22 much, Commissioner.

23 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Okay, sir.

24 ASSEMBLYMAN BUCHWALD: Thank you,

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1 Mr. Chair.

2 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

3 Senator Kaminsky.

4 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Hi. Good

5 afternoon, Commissioner. How are you?

6 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I'm fine,

7 thank you, Senator.

8 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Good.

9 One of the communities I'm proud to

10 represent is Island Park, and as you know,

11 your agency is overseeing a multi-million-

12 dollar FEMA project to deal with flooding

13 after Hurricane Sandy.

14 What I'd like to let you know is that

15 after -- now we're four years gone, the

16 flooding in Island Park is still pretty

17 atrocious, and what I'd like to do is show

18 you a photograph of a school -- I don't have

19 long enough arms to do this -- of a school

20 that has persistent flooding where parents

21 have literally handed their children -- this

22 is right-side up, right? -- where parents

23 have handed their children through the car

24 window to the school educators there because

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1 there's no way to pass through.

2 And this was not after a hurricane.

3 This happens in nor'easters, of course, but

4 also heavy rains and tidal flooding. And

5 it's gotten to a point where people are just

6 exasperated and don't think anyone is going

7 to come and help them.

8 So in light of what we're seeing

9 there, I would just love to hear from you

10 about the progress that you're making on

11 this, and urge you to please devote all

12 resources necessary towards accomplishing it,

13 because frankly, when you drive down the

14 street in Island Park, some wouldn't be crazy

15 to confuse it with, you know, flooding that

16 happens in much less developed countries, and

17 it's a shame that we have to have this in

18 Long Island.

19 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I understand,

20 Senator, and I sympathize. There were

21 probably almost 5,000 public assistance

22 projects that came as a result of Hurricane

23 Sandy, Island Park being one of them.

24 I know a little about most of them.

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1 What I do know about Island Park -- I think

2 it's a $40 million project, and $1.8 million,

3 I think, has been released for the design and

4 the study. March is the deadline for that to

5 be submitted to FEMA, and in March FEMA will

6 decide if that project is worthy of the

7 release of the rest of the $40 million.

8 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Okay.

9 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: So it's close,

10 we've got a couple of months, and I'm not

11 sure how long -- but I think it has to be to

12 FEMA in March, and they will decide shortly

13 thereafter.

14 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Okay. You know,

15 your agency is also one of a number that have

16 concurrent but overlapping, to an extent,

17 projects in Island Park dealing with

18 flooding. And frankly, your local agency

19 representatives have been very open in

20 working with us, and I appreciate that. I

21 would love to have your commitment to work

22 and help get GOSR and some of the other

23 agencies involved to come to the community

24 and just let people know what's going on.

155

1 You know, they saw last week more

2 flooding; obviously, I showed you the picture

3 of this school. They would just like to know

4 what's happening. And I think more

5 information is certainly better than less,

6 and I would love for you to work with us on

7 that.

8 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Thank you,

9 Senator. I appreciate it.

10 Our recovery staff, they take a

11 beating sometimes because things take so

12 long. And a big reason for that is that in a

13 lot of these projects, the work has to be

14 done before FEMA will reimburse. But our

15 people in our recovery section, they work

16 hard, they advocate for their constituents,

17 they can be right there with FEMA every day,

18 day in and day out, fighting for New Yorkers.

19 We've actually thought enough of that

20 program to remove it -- it used to come under

21 the Office of Emergency Management, but when

22 we redesigned the Division of Homeland

23 Security and Emergency Services, we made

24 Recovery its own entity. We have a deputy

156

1 commissioner who runs it, and it's really a

2 complicated process.

3 I knew nothing about it before I came

4 to this agency. I've learned a little bit;

5 I'm certainly no expert. But what I do know

6 is they work hard and they do a good job and

7 they advocate for New Yorkers.

8 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Okay, well, thank

9 you for your responsiveness, and I agree with

10 you. Let's just please keep Island Park on

11 the front burner, and let's please work to

12 educate and inform the residents of Island

13 Park as to the work you're doing and what's

14 to come.

15 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Thank you,

16 Senator.

17 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Thank you all.

18 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you, Senator.

19 Chairman Farrell.

20 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

21 Helene Weinstein, chair.

22 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: Thanks,

23 Mr. Chairman.

24 A quick question, Commissioner. I

157

1 wanted to know if you could give me some

2 status about the Cybersecurity Advisory

3 Board. I'm not sure if it's within Homeland

4 Security, I know it was -- I assume there's

5 some participation.

6 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I have

7 attended a number of meetings with the

8 Cybersecurity Advisory Board.

9 It is not within the Division of

10 Homeland Security and Emergency Services. We

11 consider it an important partner in the

12 cybersecurity mission. Them, the Multistate

13 ISAC, the Center for Internet Security, the

14 State Police, ITS kind of work together as

15 one to try and deal with the cyber issue in

16 New York State. But the advisory board,

17 although a wonderful partner, does not fall

18 within DHSES.

19 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: And it

20 actively -- it's a board that actively meets?

21 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Yes.

22 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: Since it was

23 established --

24 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Yes.

158

1 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: -- in 2013.

2 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Yes, because I

3 go to the meetings, and I'm in awe at the

4 knowledge that they provide, and the

5 experience. The Cybersecurity Advisory Board

6 has been good to us.

7 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: Thank you.

8 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Senator?

9 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Senator Addabbo.

10 SENATOR ADDABBO: Thank you. Thank

11 you, Madam Chair.

12 And thank you, Commissioner, for your

13 time and testimony today. And I too want to

14 also express my appreciation for your role in

15 the efforts in protecting our residents

16 throughout this state.

17 Before I get to a question on

18 infrastructure, I just want to expand the

19 conversation a little bit about the

20 active-shooter allocation. You mentioned in

21 your testimony the August event that happened

22 at JFK. We saw how actually fatal and

23 chaotic the situation can be January 6th in

24 Fort Lauderdale, in Florida, in that

159

1 active-shooter situation.

2 And I'm happy to see the broad

3 definition of what an airport worker would

4 be. But can you envision that during the

5 course of this training, what would happen if

6 a structural deficiency in the airport would

7 be revealed -- you know, an exit problem or

8 some other passageway problem?

9 If your training results in finding

10 out shortcomings in the structural layout of

11 an airport, what would happen? Do you think

12 that the training, the information gathered

13 there will then result in some other change,

14 maybe structurally, to any of the airports?

15 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I'm not sure,

16 Senator. I mean, this training is going to

17 be targeted, it's going to be classroom

18 training, eight hours going through scenarios

19 of how to react in an emergency situation,

20 how to assist passengers and travellers in

21 that situation, and also how to detect

22 suspicious activity in an airport.

23 I really don't think it's going to be

24 designed at the structural components -- it

160

1 won't be in the airport, it'll be in a

2 classroom. But I'm not sure if I'm answering

3 your question.

4 SENATOR ADDABBO: But if an employee,

5 while in that class, reveals that they in the

6 past have had a problem with an exit or some

7 other situation at the airport, I'm sure the

8 training, although giving information to the

9 airport employee, can also be receptive to

10 any common problem the employees would have

11 in terms of safety and active-shooter

12 situations. True?

13 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Absolutely.

14 SENATOR ADDABBO: Okay.

15 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: And the same

16 in probably any classroom. You know, the

17 teacher can learn a lot from their students.

18 SENATOR ADDABBO: Excellent.

19 And lastly, my main question was about

20 protecting the infrastructure. The budget

21 allocation for protecting bridges and tunnels

22 and the resources that the state would use --

23 troopers, State Police -- could you just

24 briefly go into that a little bit?

161

1 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Sure.

2 I know of it just because I know of

3 it. It really doesn't involve the Division

4 of Homeland Security and Emergency Services

5 from a budget perspective or a personnel

6 perspective, but I know of it because of our

7 partners in the Bridge and Tunnel Authority

8 and the State Police and the DMNA who will be

9 staffing that.

10 I think Superintendent Beach will be

11 testifying later today; he'll be able to give

12 you a much better perspective as far as what

13 resources and how they're being deployed

14 and -- I'm aware of it, but not intimately

15 involved in it.

16 SENATOR ADDABBO: Thank you,

17 Commissioner.

18 Thank you, Madam Chair.

19 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Thank you,

20 Senator.

21 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you, Senator.

22 I think that the Assembly is done, but

23 we are not on the Senate side. So Senator

24 Comrie has some questions.

162

1 SENATOR COMRIE: Yes. Commissioner,

2 good morning.

3 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Good morning,

4 Senator.

5 SENATOR COMRIE: I just wanted to ask

6 a question about your training. You talked

7 about the JFK situation and the preparedness

8 that would be necessary to train --

9 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Can you get the

10 microphone a little closer to you?

11 SENATOR COMRIE: Sorry.

12 I just wanted to know who are you

13 training in that situation, and what kind of

14 training are you giving them, for the

15 personnel. Because my understanding of the

16 situation was that there was a rapid response

17 and they responded as quickly as possible,

18 but because of the overwhelming people that

19 were just running, there was a confusion in

20 the terminal about what actually happened.

21 And so I was getting -- inquiring as

22 to who you're training for that situation,

23 how do you see that situation evolving any

24 differently if there's a general panic that's

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1 happening, and how you could detail that?

2 Because if I was an unarmed person, I'd be

3 running too.

4 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: No, and I get

5 it. And I know how it unfolds and how it can

6 happen and how it can snowball.

7 To answer your question -- and let me

8 just preface my answer with this training is

9 by no means any indication that the police

10 response was inadequate, or the emergency

11 services personnel that were at the airport

12 that day -- I think they did what they were

13 supposed to do when they were supposed to do

14 it.

15 This training is targeted at civilian

16 employees who work in businesses within the

17 airport, who work as ticket agents, who work

18 in the Budget Rent-A-Car, whatever, so they

19 know or they can better respond if in fact

20 one of these panic-type situations occurs.

21 The police can't be everywhere.

22 They're not everywhere. The people who work

23 there are, and at least they would be able to

24 be told what to do in the best-case scenario

164

1 in terms of how to deal with a situation like

2 this.

3 So it's really not targeted at

4 emergency personnel at all, Senator. It's

5 targeted at civilian employees who really get

6 no training with respect to emergency

7 situations in airports. Some people do that

8 are on the other side of security. They get

9 the SITA training, whatever -- it's a

10 two-hour block. But this is just to

11 reinforce best practices and how to deal with

12 a situation and how not to exacerbate it.

13 SENATOR COMRIE: Well, thank you for

14 your response.

15 Has that training started? And have

16 you worked on a collaboration with the other

17 entities out at the airport, both airports,

18 to make sure that that happens, and in light

19 of all the construction that's going on in

20 both JFK and LaGuardia? Is that being

21 considered as well?

22 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: We have worked

23 with the TSA, the FBI, our partners at the

24 Port Authority, and the State Police. We

165

1 have -- and it was designed, this training

2 was designed in conjunction with the College

3 of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security

4 and Cybersecurity, so it was a team effort.

5 Everybody's aware of it, people have had

6 input into how it's delivered and what the

7 actual training is, so it -- I'm sure it will

8 modify as we go along, but we have rolled it

9 out initially and expect to continue.

10 SENATOR COMRIE: Thank you.

11 Thank you, Madam Chair.

12 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Thank you,

13 Senator.

14 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

15 Senator Krueger.

16 SENATOR KRUEGER: Good morning,

17 Commissioner, or afternoon. I'm not sure

18 without a clock.

19 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Good afternoon.

20 SENATOR KRUEGER: Good afternoon,

21 Commissioner.

22 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Good

23 afternoon, Senator.

24 SENATOR KRUEGER: So your budget is

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1 about $1.57 billion, but there's no

2 breakdown. Can you tell me a little bit

3 about how you spend the money? What

4 percentage of it is personnel, how many

5 personnel?

6 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Sure. About

7 $70 million of it is for state operations.

8 The bulk of my budget, $1.45 billion, is Aid

9 to Localities. That's all our funding from

10 the federal government, it's really what we

11 give out. And we have a small capital budget

12 that I believe is $58 million -- $3 million

13 for the airport training, $1.3 million for

14 the cyber response, we have the $3 million

15 capital that's for Montour Falls and the

16 SPTC, just for safety improvements and health

17 and preservation, and there's a $50 million

18 amount that is really -- it's for capital,

19 it's for funds that had been appropriated in

20 the interop for previous years that's just

21 getting moved over to capital.

22 SENATOR KRUEGER: So the vast majority

23 is federal pass-through money. And is there

24 a master list of how that money goes out to

167

1 whom?

2 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I don't know

3 about a master list. I mean, we certainly

4 account for every dollar of who gets what and

5 why.

6 SENATOR KRUEGER: But it's not lined

7 out in the budget somewhere, it's --

8 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: No, because a

9 lot of that -- for example, Oneida County

10 this year might get X number of dollars and

11 next year no, depending on what their project

12 is, depending on what funding we get. So we

13 really can't do that, we can't line it out

14 until we know what we're going to get and we

15 know what awards we give.

16 SENATOR KRUEGER: But it doesn't -- it

17 does or it doesn't include those FEMA funds

18 as was just being discussed by my colleague

19 around the Island Park issue? Those are

20 separate?

21 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: It includes

22 that as allocations that we can -- you know,

23 we have the authority to allocate that money

24 if and when we receive it.

168

1 SENATOR KRUEGER: So when you talked

2 about there being 5,000 projects based on

3 Hurricane Sandy, monies being paid out if

4 FEMA approves them is actually part of that

5 $1.57 billion?

6 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Yes. It's the

7 authority to appropriate that money.

8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Okay. So can you

9 tell me -- so we heard of the frustrations of

10 Island Park. Of the 5,000 projects, how many

11 of them have been completed, or what

12 percentage?

13 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: You know, I

14 can't give you a percentage of the number

15 that have been completed. Many have been.

16 We have passed out over $5 billion in the

17 public assistance grants to localities. I

18 believe the allocation, or at least what FEMA

19 originally told us, was about $14 billion.

20 So five of 14.

21 SENATOR KRUEGER: So we still have a

22 lot -- we have a long way to go.

23 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: We have a long

24 way to go.

169

1 That's why when I mentioned that

2 recovery section being cordoned off into its

3 own entity, it's -- there's a lot of work

4 there.

5 SENATOR KRUEGER: Do you have any

6 concern that for so many years away from the

7 actual storm that the federal government

8 could say to us "You can't really need it any

9 more, it's been so many years"?

10 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: No. I have no

11 concern --

12 SENATOR KRUEGER: You don't think that

13 that's a concern.

14 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: No.

15 SENATOR KRUEGER: Good. I'm glad.

16 And I know that you do an enormous

17 amount of work with many different agencies,

18 both state agencies and local and county --

19 including much around counterterrorism, as

20 there's been discussion by many of my

21 colleagues. How do you interact with

22 New York's -- I'm from New York City -- from

23 New York City's various counterterrorism

24 efforts, and how do you interact with them

170

1 and the State Police? Because they also get

2 assigned, quote, unquote, counterterrorism --

3 I'm always a little confused about who's

4 doing what when and what the chain of command

5 is.

6 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I have an

7 office in New York City, I spend a lot of

8 time there. I interact with the PD, the

9 NYPD, a lot, mostly with the chief of the

10 Office of Counterterrorism.

11 And there are people that handle the

12 money that the Office of Management and

13 Budget -- we talk about priorities, we talk

14 about funding.

15 The New York area gets a lot of money

16 through the UASI program, and they spend it

17 well and wisely, and they need it. So most

18 of my interaction with the NYPD comes around

19 funding issues and how we can assist them.

20 I certainly speak with Superintendent

21 Beach and other members of the PD with

22 respect to counterterrorism efforts, but the

23 agency that I'm involved with, we really have

24 no boots on the ground. I don't have police

171

1 officers on the street doing counterterrorism

2 work. We try to funnel the money to where it

3 needs to go and do the -- try to allocate

4 it --

5 SENATOR KRUEGER: You talked in your

6 testimony about the importance of police and

7 EMS being from the same municipality or

8 counties and training together, and that

9 makes total sense to me.

10 You weren't referencing New York City.

11 That already happens for us in New York City,

12 is that correct?

13 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: That happens,

14 and we train people from New York City at the

15 SPTC. What I was really getting to in a

16 nutshell, Senator, is we have these courses,

17 one is called the A2S2 course, it's really --

18 it's our premier course. It's about

19 active-shooter scenarios, prolonged

20 active-shooter scenarios where, for example,

21 back in Mumbai in 2008 you did -- it could go

22 for a long time. And previously in those

23 types of situations, EMS was pretty much held

24 off on the side: You can't come in until

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1 this thing is over with and the police have

2 resolved it.

3 What we're trying to do is change that

4 model with this course where, if we have

5 those types of prolonged active-shooter

6 situations, which unfortunately they happen,

7 we can integrate EMS into what they call

8 "warm zones," where the police will control

9 the situation to a certain extent, but we can

10 bring EMS in to get wounded out and

11 eventually save lives.

12 The part that I was referring to in

13 the testimony about from the same county --

14 we've run this course, and there's 60 people

15 at a time that take the course. In the past,

16 we could have, between fire, EMS, and

17 police -- in the past they could have been

18 from 60 different agencies, the way we were

19 running them.

20 We think that it's a better design to

21 have them from the same agency or the same

22 county, because if you have one of these

23 incidents in your area, you're not getting

24 one person from six counties away to come.

173

1 We need to train together to respond to it.

2 So even if, say, a police department in a

3 town can't send 30 people, we're going to

4 take people from the surrounding towns and

5 the sheriff's department and the State Police

6 in that area that will likely respond to an

7 incident like that and train them in this

8 scenario of, you know, active shooter.

9 SENATOR KRUEGER: And a final quick

10 question, I see the clock is out.

11 It's actually in the State Police

12 budget, not in your budget, but it's for

13 counterterrorism and it's to put State Police

14 into New York City. Why?

15 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I believe that

16 the State Police are already in New York City

17 in the transportation facilities at Penn

18 Station and Grand Central. The Governor has

19 put them on bridges and tunnels. He's trying

20 to beef up the counterterrorism efforts in

21 New York City and is using the State Police

22 to do so. I think his thought process is

23 they're the State Police, and New York City

24 is part of New York State.

174

1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Well, I certainly

2 know New York City is part of New York State.

3 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I don't mean

4 it that way. It's just --

5 SENATOR KRUEGER: I know, I know.

6 And, you know, it's $50 million out of

7 the budget, and I suspect my colleagues from

8 some of the other -- I believe you described

9 16 counterterrorism zones, so I'm assuming

10 New York City is one zone?

11 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Yes.

12 SENATOR KRUEGER: So I would assume

13 that people from the other 15 zones might

14 think more State Police support in their

15 zones would be important.

16 And I keep asking this question at

17 home, and nobody gives me an answer about why

18 we think it actually is valuable to us in

19 New York City to have this additional police

20 presence which are then not a coordinated

21 part of NYPD, FDNY, EMS, and Office of

22 Emergency Management.

23 From an efficiency perspective,

24 personally I would like to see the

175

1 State Police and that money go to other areas

2 that I think are begging for them, and I

3 don't think my city is. So it's more a -- my

4 opinion, not asking you necessarily for

5 yours.

6 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Yeah, I get

7 it. And I appreciate the comments. And

8 again, I don't want to speak for

9 Superintendent Beach, but that's my

10 understanding of it. I really don't -- you

11 know, our agency has not been involved,

12 although I am aware of it.

13 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.

14 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you, Senator.

15 Senator Squadron.

16 SENATOR SQUADRON: Thank you very

17 much.

18 Thank you, Commissioner, nice to see

19 you.

20 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Hi, Senator.

21 How are you?

22 SENATOR SQUADRON: Good.

23 Briefly, very briefly, with your

24 predecessor and FDNY we had worked on trying

176

1 to better coordinate state buildings in

2 New York City not under the New York City

3 building code, including with an actual embed

4 in FDNY, to make it easier to make sure that

5 firefighters are fully safe and have all the

6 information they need when they go into state

7 buildings or buildings under state oversight.

8 Does that program continue?

9 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I couldn't

10 hear the --

11 SENATOR SQUADRON: Does that program

12 continue? Is there -- how does that

13 coordination look, briefly?

14 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: The

15 coordination level is excellent. I mean, we

16 have some outstanding issues that are still

17 being litigated, I believe, between who's

18 responsible for state-owned buildings in the

19 city, whether -- is it FDNY or is it our

20 OFPC?

21 The boots on the ground get along just

22 fine. They talk, they invite each other to

23 any inspection, they share information. But

24 I think that that whole issue is still being

177

1 litigated.

2 SENATOR SQUADRON: Are there any state

3 officials at FDNY headquarters to help

4 coordinate when there are major events, (A)?

5 And (B), have all the building plans of state

6 buildings been shared with FDNY?

7 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: I believe so,

8 yes.

9 SENATOR SQUADRON: Great. It would be

10 great to confirm that, because that was an

11 initiative we started three and a half, four

12 years ago.

13 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Yeah, we spoke

14 about it last year --

15 SENATOR SQUADRON: Yeah.

16 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: -- we did, and

17 I checked. I was unaware of it last year,

18 and you educated me. I went back and looked,

19 and as far as I know, we've handled

20 everything except the litigation.

21 SENATOR SQUADRON: Great. Good.

22 That's great news. And that makes our first

23 responders a whole lot more safe, which I

24 know is a priority for both of us.

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1 The other issue is you've heard about

2 a small community in Long Island; I represent

3 a small community at the southern tip of

4 another island, Manhattan, off Lower

5 Manhattan. And I've been working very

6 closely with your team and the Governor's

7 office and GOSR and HCR on this. So I want

8 to say thank you for this and just make sure

9 that it continues to be a top priority that

10 the state also participates, either through

11 federal funds, like the hazard mitigation

12 funds, or otherwise, in securing lower

13 Manhattan from the next Sandy or flood event.

14 It is in many ways the economic engine

15 of the entire state. It's also a place where

16 50,000 to 75,000 people live. And today we

17 are no more protected on the coast of Lower

18 Manhattan than we were the day before Sandy

19 hit.

20 I really appreciated the partnership

21 with folks, and transparency from folks at

22 your agency. I just want to thank you for

23 that, retrospectively and prospectively, and

24 make sure that your commitment to make sure

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1 we do have state participation in building

2 that flood barrier continues.

3 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: You can be

4 assured of that, Senator. I know that we

5 have spoken to you about the seawall project,

6 and we might even be meeting soon about it

7 again. It's a priority. The people that

8 really need to know about it and know the

9 ins-and-outs of that are on it, and as well

10 as you are, I know. So you can rest assured

11 that we will be cooperating with you all the

12 way.

13 SENATOR SQUADRON: Great. And I do

14 want to thank your team for your partnership

15 on that. Thank you as well, Commissioner.

16 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you,

17 Commissioner.

18 That concludes our speakers for the

19 day, so we want to let you off the hook. And

20 thank you very much again for joining us, and

21 looking forward to working with you in the

22 future.

23 COMMISSIONER MELVILLE: Thank you,

24 Senator. Thank you, Senator. I didn't mean

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1 anything by that.

2 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Our next speaker is

3 Executive Deputy Commissioner Michael C.

4 Green, New York State Division of Criminal

5 Justice Services.

6 Welcome, Deputy Commissioner Green.

7 It's great to see you again.

8 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Good to

9 see you. Thank you.

10 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Can I have some

11 order in the house, please.

12 Okay, let's begin.

13 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Good

14 afternoon, Chairwoman Young, members of the

15 panel. I'm Mike Green, head of the State

16 Division of Criminal Justice Services. Thank

17 you for inviting me to appear before you

18 today.

19 Governor Cuomo's proposed budget for

20 fiscal year 2017-2018 will allow DCJS to

21 continue to support the criminal justice

22 system in communities across the state,

23 support evidence-based programs proven to be

24 effective and cost-efficient, and develop

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1 innovative programs that position New York as

2 a national leader in effective public safety

3 policy.

4 New York continues to experience

5 reductions in crime and the prison

6 population. Reported crime reached an

7 all-time low in 2015, and we maintain our

8 standing as the safest large state in the

9 nation. New York also has the lowest

10 imprisonment rate of any large state.

11 In addition to reintroducing

12 legislation to raise the age of criminal

13 responsibility, Governor Cuomo has proposed a

14 wide range of other reforms to enhance the

15 fairness and effectiveness of our criminal

16 justice system and build trust between law

17 enforcement agencies and communities.

18 The Governor is committed to reforming

19 New York's bail statute. New York is one of

20 only four states prohibiting judges from

21 considering risk to public safety as a factor

22 when setting bail. A commonsense amendment

23 will allow judges to consider that risk when

24 setting bail or allowing release, and permit

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1 them to use proven risk assessments to aid in

2 pre-trial release decisions. This will not

3 only enhance public safety but also minimize

4 the impact of financial status in making

5 detention and release decisions.

6 All citizens accused of a crime are

7 guaranteed the right to a speedy trial.

8 Despite legal and constitutional protections,

9 many defendants are currently held in custody

10 for long periods or, when not in custody,

11 cases often languish for months or years

12 before disposition, causing disruption to

13 defendants and victims alike.

14 This year, the Governor will advance

15 legislation to reduce unnecessary delays and

16 adjournments in criminal court proceedings.

17 Governor Cuomo has advanced

18 legislation to reform identification

19 procedures and requiring video recording of

20 interrogations in serious cases. The

21 evidence-based reforms to identification

22 procedures will bring New York in line with

23 49 other states that allow properly conducted

24 photo array identifications to be brought

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1 into evidence at trial. Law enforcement

2 agencies across the state have embraced video

3 recording of interrogations, and DCJS has

4 provided more than $3.5 million to local

5 agencies to purchase and install the

6 recording technology. The Innocence Project,

7 the New York State Bar Association, and the

8 District Attorneys' Association support these

9 concepts; it's time they became law.

10 The Governor has introduced a

11 sentencing reform proposal to modernize

12 sentencing laws by eliminating indeterminate

13 sentences for nonviolent felonies in favor of

14 determinate sentences, as we have done for

15 violent felonies, sex felonies and drug

16 felonies. It also calls for the elimination

17 of mandatory prison sentences for second D

18 and E felons where a judge finds a prison

19 sentence would be unduly harsh.

20 DCJS currently funds and administers

21 11 street outreach, or SNUG, programs across

22 the state. The Governor's budget proposal

23 increases funding for street outreach work to

24 nearly $5 million, an increase of

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1 $1.5 million when compared to last year.

2 Street outreach work is an evidence-based

3 strategy proven to be an important part of a

4 comprehensive effort to address shootings and

5 homicides.

6 This 2017-2018 budget proposal will

7 allow DCJS to continue supporting our local

8 partners. Our evidence-based initiatives are

9 designed to promote fairness, respect and

10 transparency in the state's criminal justice

11 system. But our highest priority is public

12 safety. We are confident that with your

13 continued support, we will continue the

14 historic reductions in crime we have

15 achieved, while continuing to reduce the

16 number of individuals who enter the criminal

17 justice system.

18 Thank you for the opportunity to speak

19 with you today. I'm prepared to take your

20 questions.

21 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you, Deputy

22 Commissioner.

23 Our first speaker would be Senator

24 Patrick Gallivan, who chairs the Crime and

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1 Corrections Committee in the Senate.

2 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Thank you, Madam

3 Chair.

4 Good afternoon now, Commissioner.

5 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Good

6 afternoon, Senator.

7 SENATOR GALLIVAN: I'd like to briefly

8 touch on three areas of your testimony, and

9 I'll take them right in the order that you

10 had testified to.

11 You had testified about reforming the

12 bail and reducing pretrial detention. But

13 specifically, there's a proposal to establish

14 a bail reform risk assessment tool. Can you

15 talk about that?

16 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Part of

17 the bail reform that the Governor has

18 discussed is the fact that we are one of four

19 states that do not allow judges to consider

20 the concept of the risk that someone proposes

21 when they stand in front of the judge and the

22 judge is supposed to make a release decision.

23 So 46 other states and the federal

24 government allow the judges to consider that.

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1 We don't.

2 In connection with that consideration,

3 many states -- and the Arnold Foundation has

4 done some very good work here -- use risk

5 assessment tools that give judges objective

6 feedback when they're making those decisions.

7 The Arnold tool in particular -- which has

8 been used, I think, very effectively, some of

9 the initial studies indicate -- looks at the

10 risk that someone will commit a crime if

11 they're released, looks at the likelihood

12 that that person will return to court, and

13 also looks at the risk that that person will

14 commit a violent felony.

15 The most effective risk-assessment

16 tools in terms of use are ones that are

17 generated automatically. If you think about

18 it, we have about 500,000 arraignments a

19 year, criminal court arraignments that take

20 place across the state. You know, to have a

21 risk assessment in the hands of every judge

22 prior to the time they do arraignment, that's

23 the only practical way to do it.

24 So the idea would be to use the good

187

1 work that the Arnold Foundation has done, to

2 work with the partners that would be involved

3 in this process across the state, and develop

4 a New York-specific instrument. You know, at

5 least in my mind, the instrument would be

6 one -- all the data points in the Arnold

7 instrument are information contained within a

8 criminal history database. And so the

9 concept would be right now we get a

10 fingerprint in, that fingerprint triggers us

11 sending a criminal history back to the

12 arraigning court. There's no reason we

13 couldn't use that fingerprint to trigger a

14 risk assessment instrument to be created with

15 the information from the database, have that

16 sent back at the same time.

17 So the budget appropriation is to work

18 with, you know, whether it's the Arnold

19 Foundation or others, work with the

20 stakeholders in the state, develop a risk

21 assessment instrument so that if we get the

22 reform we need to the bail statute and we

23 allow our judges to consider, among other

24 things, the risk that someone poses, they'll

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1 have a validated risk-assessment instrument

2 to use in connection with that.

3 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Would the

4 Governor's proposal require its use or simply

5 provide it as an additional tool?

6 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: The

7 existing budget contains an appropriation for

8 DCJS to develop that risk-assessment tool.

9 The language of the proposal has not been put

10 forward yet. And certainly I would

11 anticipate that's something that we'd want to

12 work with all of you on.

13 In my mind, you know, you at least --

14 you know, I don't think you would ever want

15 to have the result driven strictly off of

16 that. Judges always need to be able to use

17 their experience and their expertise.

18 On the other hand, I think it makes

19 sense to at least require a judge to review

20 and consider the information in the risk

21 assessment.

22 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Thank you.

23 We'll move on to the next part of your

24 testimony. You talked about ensuring the

189

1 right to a speedy trial. I know that the

2 Governor has called to do something about

3 this. We've seen some news accounts. But I

4 haven't seen any data that points to this

5 being a problem.

6 Now, we do have anecdotal information

7 out there about some specific cases that

8 clearly went on too long. My question is, do

9 you have data that's available to support the

10 proposal --

11 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I don't

12 have it in front of me, but just yesterday I

13 was reviewing data that was published in news

14 reports looking at the average length of time

15 it takes to get a felony case to disposition

16 in New York City. And again, I don't have it

17 at my fingertips, but it was bordering on I

18 believe two years -- this is average time --

19 two years in the Bronx, I think it was 15

20 months in Manhattan, and the others were some

21 time in between there.

22 But if you think about the average

23 time is two years, in some cases they're

24 being resolved quickly by pleas. That means

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1 the cases on the other hand are going from

2 three to five years before people get their

3 cases disposed. And this data was in

4 connection with a newspaper article about a

5 young man who at 17 years old was arrested,

6 bail was set, he couldn't afford the bail, he

7 sat in Rikers. He sat in Rikers for five

8 years --

9 SENATOR GALLIVAN: I am familiar with

10 that case.

11 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: -- until

12 his case was dismissed.

13 So to me, whether you have one person

14 or a thousand people, if that one person was

15 my son, one case, for me, is too many. We

16 shouldn't have people sitting for five years

17 waiting for their case to go to trial, being

18 held on bail.

19 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Understood. Let's

20 just move just a touch past that.

21 The data that you have, where you have

22 that two-year wait, does that indicate what

23 caused the wait? I mean, was it -- was the

24 delay on the part of the people of the State

191

1 of New York, or was it because of defense

2 motions? All I'm asking, can you provide

3 that data to us, what you have? I know

4 you're not going to able to recite all of

5 it --

6 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Sure.

7 DCJS puts out felony case processing reports.

8 They're published as part of our open data.

9 But I can certainly get you that information.

10 But you're right, it doesn't -- you

11 know, that's data that just looks at how much

12 time. It doesn't drill into each case. And

13 I think we both know from our experience that

14 all of those things you listed in various

15 cases cause delay. And I think the idea

16 here, at least from our perspective, is not

17 to point the finger at anyone and say it's

18 your fault, but to say how can we bring

19 everybody together and come up with a

20 solution. Whoever's fault it is, whatever

21 the reasons are, you know, we've got to be

22 better than this.

23 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Well, my reason to

24 want the data to look at it is to see is

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1 there a problem and try to identify what the

2 problem is.

3 Certainly there's some individual

4 cases that you can highlight that are

5 problematic. But is it systemic. And that's

6 why I'm asking for the data. So if you can

7 provide it --

8 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: We'll

9 get you the data.

10 SENATOR GALLIVAN: -- appreciate that.

11 The final area has to do with your

12 testimony regarding the video recording of

13 interrogations and identification procedures.

14 You testified about the Innocence Project,

15 State Bar Association, DAs Association

16 supporting the concept of making some of

17 these changes. And I am familiar with some

18 of those discussions that went on.

19 My understanding, if I recall

20 correctly, they were close and agreed -- all

21 parties had agreed to some legislation. And

22 I think some of the police groups as well --

23 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: You

24 passed that, the Senate passed the

193

1 legislation I believe two years ago.

2 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Yeah. My

3 understanding now is -- you make mention of

4 the Innocence Project, and I've been told

5 that they essentially backed away from an

6 agreement. Do you know if that's true or not

7 true?

8 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: In

9 conversations that my office has had with

10 them in the last month or two, I do not

11 believe they backed away from it. I believe

12 they still support it. I've talked to the

13 chiefs, who supported it. I've talked to the

14 sheriffs, who supported it, the DAs, who

15 supported it. So I think there's agreement

16 on these concepts.

17 SENATOR GALLIVAN: And finally, along

18 the same topic lines, with the notion that

19 DCJS will create a protocol for the police

20 departments to administrator the blind

21 identification, it's potentially cumbersome

22 for the smaller departments. Have you taken

23 that into consideration? And how will you

24 deal with that?

194

1 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN:

2 Actually, we worked with the Municipal Police

3 Training Council. And Sheriff Spike from

4 Yates County is the chair of that, so I think

5 certainly he clearly brings that smaller

6 department perspective to the discussion.

7 And the Municipal Police Training

8 Council about a year ago actually came out

9 with a model policy that I think -- you know,

10 and we got input from the Innocence Project

11 in developing that model policy, we tried to

12 bring all the stakeholders together. So I

13 think the blueprint for that protocol is

14 already there.

15 And I actually think that this

16 proposal will help the smaller departments,

17 because right now they do a photo array and

18 that cannot get into evidence at trial. If

19 they want something that can get into

20 evidence at trial, they actually have to do a

21 lineup. And for a small department to try

22 and pull together a lineup, as you know, is

23 almost impossible.

24 This legislation will give them a way

195

1 to conduct a photo-array identification

2 procedure, which they have the ability to do,

3 in a way that will allow the results of that

4 to be admissible at trial.

5 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Thank you,

6 Commissioner.

7 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Thank

8 you, Senator, and appreciate the assistance.

9 SENATOR GALLIVAN: And we will of

10 course follow up.

11 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Thank

12 you.

13 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

14 Chairman Lentol.

15 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: Thank you,

16 Senator.

17 Thank you, Commissioner Green. I'm

18 sorry I stepped out and missed your comments,

19 but I read them, and I'm glad you presented

20 short remarks.

21 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: It's

22 good to see you again too.

23 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: The microphone is

24 on. Can you hear me now?

196

1 In any event, Commissioner, as you

2 know, New York ranks second in the nation in

3 the number of persons exonerated of crimes

4 for which they have been wrongfully

5 convicted. And studies have shown that false

6 confessions and eyewitness misidentifications

7 are among the leading cause of that.

8 So two reforms that really have proven

9 effective are recording of interrogations,

10 which I'm glad that you've put in the budget,

11 that the Governor has put in the budget, and

12 the modernization of eyewitness

13 identification procedures that incorporate

14 advances in eyewitness memory science.

15 So in any event, as you may know, the

16 Innocence Project -- although the Innocence

17 Project is in support of this proposal, we

18 have received strong opposition from certain

19 aspects of the language in the bill from many

20 in the defense community. Therefore, my

21 question really is simply this. Is the

22 Executive willing to be flexible in

23 discussing this proposal with us, the details

24 of this proposal, in order to address those

197

1 concerns that we and others have expressed?

2 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I

3 believe that the Executive would always be

4 willing to listen and certainly welcome any

5 input or feedback as to these proposals.

6 I think the thing to keep in mind,

7 though, you know, my experience is anytime

8 you put a proposal out, there's such a broad

9 spectrum of constituencies that -- you know,

10 I've heard a lot of feedback from one end,

11 you know, indicating it goes too far. I hear

12 feedback from the other end indicating it

13 doesn't go far enough.

14 And for me, the reality is we need to

15 do something here. We can't continue to be

16 the only state in the country that doesn't

17 allow what the science says is the best

18 identification to be heard by a jury. But

19 instead we let someone walk into court a year

20 and a half, two, three, four years later and

21 pick out the person at the defense table and

22 say that's the person who did it.

23 You know, so I hear what you're

24 saying. And yes, I think it's great that we

198

1 talk about it. But at the end of the day, I

2 think this is the year that we really need to

3 get something done.

4 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: And I agree. And

5 the people want us to do something, and I

6 understand that. And I've been around long

7 enough that what happens is we don't know

8 whether or not if we do something that really

9 doesn't go far enough, whether that's the end

10 or whether it's good to take it and hope that

11 you got your foot in the door and you can get

12 more later. And so you always have to

13 wrestle with that proposition when it comes

14 to legislation.

15 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: You

16 know, I know these are issues that you've

17 been focused on for some time and certainly

18 appreciate your concern.

19 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: Thank you.

20 And I'm a little concerned about the

21 pretrial detention and reform proposal,

22 simply because I've read a lot about these

23 risk-assessment certificates or whatever we

24 call them. I remember when we went to the

199

1 Sentencing Commission together, we talked a

2 lot about risk assessments. And I saw

3 articles that said that these were racially

4 problematic, that they were discriminatory,

5 and I wondered if you could comment on that.

6 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I guess

7 two things -- well, three. One, I think it's

8 a very valid concern.

9 Secondly, I think if you are going to

10 use any risk-assessment instrument, it would

11 need to be validated, and part of that

12 validation would have to be taking that

13 instrument and running it against a

14 historical segment of cases from the DCJS

15 criminal history database and the OCA

16 information with regard to bail, to look at

17 what impact that instrument would have had in

18 those cases and also to look at racial

19 disparity issues.

20 And the last thing I'll say is, you

21 know, while I'm aware of some of the studies

22 with other instruments that you referred to,

23 I've also read literature from scientists who

24 have studied this issue who will tell you

200

1 that the greatest racial disparity comes from

2 unbridled discretion. And that when you have

3 unbridled discretion in decisionmakers, you

4 get your greatest racial disparity.

5 So I think there is a very valid

6 argument from the science that if you have an

7 objective, validated risk-assessment

8 instrument that is validated for racial

9 disparity issues, you will reduce racial

10 disparity.

11 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: Okay. Now, some

12 of my colleagues in Brooklyn who received

13 SNUG funding last year were put into an RFP

14 process, the way I understand it, or there

15 was an RFP process regarding SNUG funding?

16 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: No,

17 we -- last year there was a -- and the exact

18 amount escapes me right now, but I think it

19 was roughly a million dollars added --

20 actually, there was $600,000 that went to

21 Brooklyn, there was $300,000 that went to

22 Manhattan, $300,000 that went to Queens, and

23 $150,000 that went to Staten Island.

24 That money was added by the

201

1 Legislature last year that went to New York

2 City. And we did not do an RFP, we gave that

3 money to the New York City Department of

4 Health. And the reason is the New York City

5 Department of Health is already running

6 street outreach programs in those boroughs,

7 and we did not feel it was appropriate to

8 have competing street outreach programs.

9 So the Bronx, there's $600,000 that

10 goes to Jacobi, and that was a program that

11 was DCJS-supported. But then there was this

12 additional pot of money that went to the

13 boroughs, and that was not by RFP. We gave

14 the money to the New York City Department of

15 Health for them to use to augment their

16 existing programs, because we didn't want to

17 have competing programs.

18 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: So if I

19 understand you correctly -- well, let me not

20 try to understand you correctly. Are we in

21 Brooklyn going to get SNUG money this year?

22 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: From

23 last year's budget, there was $600,000 for

24 Brooklyn. And it's my understanding that

202

1 right now we're in the process of finalizing

2 the contract with the New York City

3 Department of Health for that money to go to

4 them.

5 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: Okay. How much

6 time do I have?

7 Lastly, you know, we in the Assembly

8 have a long history of supporting

9 Alternatives to incarceration, and they've

10 been really critical for the state's success

11 in reducing crime, reducing the prison

12 population, and saving taxpayers many

13 millions of dollars. Unfortunately, the DCJS

14 budget includes across-the-board cuts. And

15 how will you ensure that these programs can

16 continue to operate and provide the vital

17 services that criminal justice systems depend

18 on to reduce recidivism and improve reentry

19 outcomes?

20 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Again, I

21 appreciate the question. The budget does

22 include across-the-board cuts to many of our

23 local assistance programs of about

24 5.5 percent, and the ATI -- many of the ATI

203

1 funding streams fall into that.

2 I'm very proud of the work together

3 that we've done in this area. You know,

4 we've increased the funding year after year

5 for these programs. I think we're at about

6 $25 million now. The Pew Foundation just

7 recently put out a report recognizing the

8 fact that New York is the only state in the

9 country where more than half of our criminal

10 justice ATI funds go to support

11 evidence-based programs that are proven to be

12 effective in getting results for the

13 population.

14 So I think we do great work here. I

15 think that the funding has increased

16 tremendously over the past five or six years.

17 Not only has it increased, but with your help

18 we've established a dedicated consistent

19 funding stream which never existed before.

20 In the past, these programs were founded, you

21 know, at one point through ARRA funding and

22 through other streams that weren't dedicated

23 or established funds.

24 So I think financially we're in a much

204

1 better position than we were before. You

2 know, certainly the cut is not ideal. But in

3 this budget climate, I think it was a

4 relatively small cut. And we will look at

5 the programs, we'll look at the data, and

6 we'll try to administer those cuts in a way

7 that minimizes the harm that they would do.

8 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: Thank you.

9 My office has recently received a lot

10 of complaints from constituents throughout

11 the state about how long it takes for them to

12 get a copy of their own criminal histories

13 from your division. Many individuals who

14 have had prior arrests or convictions will

15 request their own criminal record to ensure

16 that it is accurate, and they will often make

17 requests before applying for employment.

18 However, we have heard that it takes almost

19 three months or more for these requests to be

20 fulfilled. Is it true that it takes that

21 long? And if so, how can it be remedied?

22 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I don't

23 believe it does. And I can tell we

24 recently -- the largest unit in my office was

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1 the unit that dealt with fingerprints and

2 criminal histories. We recently split that

3 unit in half and split the recordkeeping

4 function out. We're very focused on the

5 accuracy of our records. I think we do a

6 better job than anyone else in the country,

7 but we're very focused on continuing to

8 improve it.

9 What I'd ask you to do is if you have

10 complaints like that, please send them

11 directly to me and I will make sure we

12 address them, because it shouldn't take that

13 much time to get a record.

14 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: Thank you. My

15 time is up, so I'll call on Assemblywoman --

16 the Senate goes, I'm sorry.

17 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Right, Senate goes.

18 So thank you, Deputy Commissioner.

19 And I had a few follow-up questions.

20 The Executive proposes a $21 million

21 reduction in various criminal justice

22 programs, and you started to address that

23 with Assemblyman Lentol. And I share his

24 concerns about these reductions. And I'm not

206

1 sure I heard the rationale behind making

2 these changes, because these are very

3 important programs that a lot of New Yorkers

4 need to be safe.

5 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: In terms

6 of the rationale, I'm not sure I'm the best

7 person to answer that from an overall

8 New York State budget perspective. You know,

9 I know there has been conversation about the

10 difficult budget year and about challenges on

11 the revenue side.

12 You know, from the criminal justice

13 perspective, the largest cuts are basically

14 5.5 percent cuts. Several programs were

15 spared those cuts. You know, so in a number

16 of our program areas in a very difficult

17 budget year, we were able to stay flat.

18 Other programs, like the SNUG program, we

19 actually had a $1.5 million increase in

20 funding for street outreach work this year in

21 the budget. And then in some other areas, as

22 you indicated, there were relatively small

23 cuts, about 5.5 percent. I think the largest

24 cut was the cut with regard to the

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1 Westchester policing funding.

2 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: I was just going to

3 ask you about that.

4 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: You

5 know, and that cut, if you look at the

6 history of that money, that money was put

7 into the budget in either the '94 or '95

8 budget, and it was the result of an agreement

9 to eliminate tolls on certain roads in

10 Westchester. And in exchange for eliminating

11 the tolls, it's my understanding there was a

12 commitment that there would be decreasing

13 funding from that year through the 2000-2001

14 budget year, and the money would end in the

15 2000-2001 budget year.

16 In spite of that, this

17 appropriation -- with the exception of one

18 year when Governor Paterson vetoed it, I

19 believe -- has been carried either by the

20 Executive or the Legislature year after year.

21 So we're now about 15 years past the date

22 that funding was supposed to sunset, and

23 we're still carrying it. There's no county

24 in the state where we provide this type of

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1 money for that, and the justification for it

2 has long since passed.

3 So again, if you look at the pot of

4 money available for criminal justice work,

5 you know, and say should we use it to

6 continue to fund something that was supposed

7 to expire 15 years ago or should we use it to

8 give to probation departments and district

9 attorneys and ATI programs -- you know, I

10 think the decision that's made in this budget

11 to put it toward ATI programs and probation

12 departments and police departments and

13 prosecutors was the right decision.

14 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you. I'm

15 asking these questions on behalf of my

16 colleague Senator Terrence Murphy, who

17 represents Westchester County, and he's

18 chairing an Investigations hearing right now,

19 so he regrets that he could not be here.

20 But it's a $2.3 million cut for this

21 county policing program. So who will assume

22 the costs of the patrol, and will it be the

23 State Police?

24 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I

209

1 believe that the roads will be patrolled in

2 the same way every other road in Westchester

3 is patrolled. And yes, the State Police

4 patrol some of the roads, and I believe they

5 will continue. I think it would probably be

6 more appropriate to ask the superintendent

7 that, for a definitive answer. You know, and

8 I believe as they do with the other roads in

9 Westchester, the police in Westchester will

10 patrol as well.

11 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

12 One area of concern that we all care

13 about is the Rape Crisis Centers funding.

14 And the Executive maintains a million dollars

15 in the Department of Health and $2.8 million

16 in the Office of Victim Services. However,

17 the division's funding for Rape Crisis

18 Centers is reduced from $2.7 million to

19 $2.5 million, which is a $147,000 decrease

20 from this past year's level. So what is the

21 rationale behind that reduction?

22 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: When the

23 funding is given out, the three pots of money

24 are actually combined. And the money from

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1 the Office of Victim Services this year will

2 more than make up for that funding. So at

3 the end of the day, we actually are going to

4 have -- even though there's a relatively

5 small cut, as you indicated, in the DCJS

6 portion of the money, when you look at the

7 pot that's made up from the three agencies,

8 when it actually comes time to administer

9 that money, we will have more money in that

10 fund to administrator than we had last year

11 because the OVS share is increasing.

12 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Has the funding

13 allocation of $2.7 million been awarded from

14 this past year? Has that money gone out?

15 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I

16 believe it has, yes.

17 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay, we'll check

18 on that.

19 The Executive Budget includes funding

20 for two new items, and one is $300,000 for

21 the development and creation of a bail reform

22 risk assessment tool, and $100,000 for

23 research and development to ensure a

24 citizen's right to a speedy trial, as we

211

1 discussed previously. However, the Executive

2 Budget does not include any language to go

3 along with that.

4 So can you provide us with the details

5 on the funding and how the agency plans to

6 administer it?

7 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Yes.

8 The $300,000 was part of the conversation I

9 was having with Senator Gallivan, and that is

10 specifically for the purpose of developing a

11 risk-assessment instrument.

12 The risk-assessment instruments look

13 at the risk of reoffending, among other

14 things; also the risk of returning to court,

15 the risk of reoffending with a violent

16 felony.

17 Before they can actually be used,

18 there obviously needs to be a change to our

19 statutory language to allow our judges to

20 consider that risk.

21 So the idea is that, you know, the

22 Executive, the Legislature, obviously

23 relevant stakeholders, need to weigh in. And

24 the Executive is going to introduce a bill

212

1 with language, but we want to get input from

2 relevant stakeholders before we come out with

3 that language.

4 The same in the speedy trial areas.

5 We discussed, you know, this isn't to point

6 the finger at anybody. There's a lot of

7 different people involved in the system. The

8 delay comes from a lot of different places.

9 And the $100,000 appropriation is for DCJS

10 and the Office of Court Administration to

11 work together to bring all of the

12 stakeholders together and come up with both

13 legislative solutions and administrative

14 solutions.

15 So there will be legislation

16 forthcoming, but we want to work with all of

17 the relevant stakeholders to make sure that

18 that legislation reflects the true challenges

19 that exist and has, you know, real solutions.

20 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: We're firm

21 believers in getting stakeholder input. And

22 it makes sense to get this information from

23 people on the front lines who have to deal

24 with this every day. But the question is on

213

1 the timing. So we have the clock ticking, we

2 have a budget that is due on April 1st. And

3 I'm glad that you're going to convene

4 stakeholders, but what is the time schedule

5 for that? Because it would be helpful to

6 have that proposed legislation, what the

7 details are, prior to the budget being passed

8 so if there are any changes that need to be

9 made to the funding amount or to the

10 language, the Legislature would have the

11 opportunity to do so in the appropriate time

12 period.

13 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I think

14 that's the reason they were not put in the

15 budget as Article VII bills. Rather, the

16 intention is to introduce them as program

17 bills later. Because I think given the short

18 time frame, I don't think it's reasonable to

19 say that, you know, in the next four weeks

20 that can be done.

21 So I think the idea is that by doing

22 it as a program bill, there will be more time

23 to do that, do it in a more thoughtful way.

24 And if need be, whether it's the bail piece

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1 or whether it's the speedy trial piece,

2 effective dates could be put into those bills

3 so that if there are funding issues, they can

4 be addressed in subsequent budget years.

5 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you for that.

6 Would we see a program bill before the

7 end of session?

8 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: That's

9 our goal, yes.

10 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: It's your goal, but

11 do you think that you can tell us today that

12 we will see one?

13 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I'm not

14 great at predicting the future, but certainly

15 our goal is that, and we're going to work

16 toward it.

17 You know, as you know, in any process

18 where you engage, as I talked about, the

19 spectrum of stakeholders that we have in the

20 criminal justice system, and trying to make

21 sure that you get input and build

22 consensus -- you know, we'll work at it and

23 we'll do it as quickly as possible in a way

24 that we think will produce the best result

215

1 possible. And we're certainly aiming to get

2 a program bill before the end of session.

3 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you very

4 much, Deputy Commissioner. And I know that

5 the Legislature in general feels that it's

6 helpful to have the information beforehand

7 rather than having these open-ended questions

8 or pools of money out there that are

9 undefined. So the more that you can do to

10 give us that information, the better.

11 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Thank

12 you.

13 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

14 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Next, Crystal

15 Peoples-Stokes.

16 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Thank

17 you so much, sir, for being here today.

18 Just a couple of questions. I

19 listened to Mr. Lentol mention that we are

20 one of the states in the country that has the

21 highest rates of incarcerating people who

22 weren't guilty. That's astounding for the

23 Empire State. So it's impressive that the

24 Governor has put in his proposed budget some

216

1 things to deal with that.

2 And so I'm wondering, how did you

3 decide on which crimes would be videoed and

4 which would not be videoed?

5 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: First of

6 all, just to correct that, I believe what he

7 said is that we've had more exonerations. I

8 don't know that it necessary follows that we

9 have incarcerated people who aren't guilty.

10 We may just be better at rooting those cases

11 out than others as well. So I think it's an

12 important distinction.

13 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Okay,

14 I'll take that.

15 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: But

16 secondly, the crimes in this bill that would

17 be covered, it would cover murders, it would

18 cover -- basically A felonies that are not

19 drug crimes. So things like murder and

20 kidnapping that are A felonies.

21 It would cover B violent felonies that

22 fall under Article 125 or 130. So things

23 like manslaughter in the first degree, rape

24 in the first degree.

217

1 And then there's two crimes under

2 Section 130.90, sex crimes. But again,

3 they're serious -- B violent felony or above.

4 I think those ones actually may be A

5 felonies.

6 So it's the type of crimes that

7 traditionally people who get convicted get

8 sentenced to long period of times in prison.

9 They're the type of cases where we've had the

10 exonerations come from. And I think that

11 group of cases came from a lot of discussion

12 and compromise that took place both I think

13 on the Justice Task Force, the Sentencing

14 Commission, and in discussions between the

15 Innocence Project, district attorneys, trying

16 to balance practical concerns that police

17 departments had about their ability to do it

18 with fairness concerns about the need to do

19 it.

20 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Okay, I

21 think I heard it mentioned a few times here,

22 and I am pretty sure it's in the Governor's

23 budget, that there are going to be some

24 across-the-board reductions in criminal

218

1 justice programs, with the exclusion of SNUG;

2 is that right?

3 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: SNUG

4 actually got a $1.5 million increase in the

5 proposed budget.

6 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Okay,

7 so SNUG added.

8 For those programs that are going to

9 be cut, is there any recommendations for what

10 could they be replaced with?

11 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: There's

12 no -- other than the Westchester policing

13 program, there's no funding stream that's cut

14 completely. Generally the cuts are about

15 5.5 percent. And you know, we will look at

16 the data, we'll look at the programs, and

17 we'll try and make the cuts in those areas in

18 a way that will have the smallest possible

19 impact. But there's no programs that would

20 be eliminated.

21 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Okay.

22 As it relates to SNUG, there is a SNUG

23 initiative in Buffalo. I have to say and,

24 you know, commend the administration because

219

1 it works very well. Their staff lines were

2 reclassified by the State Insurance Fund.

3 Are you familiar with that issue?

4 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Yes.

5 I'm very familiar with the program. I

6 actually visited the program in July and

7 spent time with all the outreach workers.

8 And you know, they do phenomenal work. I'm

9 aware of the issue that you had. I forwarded

10 it to the deputy secretary's office so they

11 could make the Governor's office aware of it.

12 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: So

13 perhaps, then, you were able to help them

14 figure out how to get reclassified again back

15 to their original classification. Because as

16 you know, the new classification is literally

17 costing them $45,000, which they don't have

18 resources to provide for that. They have

19 resources to provide the services to the

20 community. So --

21 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN:

22 Unfortunately, the insurance questions are

23 far outside my area of expertise. I think

24 I'm fairly good with criminal justice, but

220

1 when to comes to insurance -- you know,

2 obviously that classification issue that

3 they're going through is something that is

4 outside my area of control. So I did forward

5 it to the deputy secretary's office, you

6 know, and I know they're looking into it.

7 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Fair

8 enough. But could you tell me if the other

9 SNUG programs throughout the state have their

10 employees classified as detectives even

11 though they're mentors?

12 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: This is

13 the only program that I'm aware of that's had

14 that issue.

15 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Thank

16 you. I think that's it, sir. Thank you very

17 much.

18 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Thank

19 you.

20 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

21 Senator Comrie.

22 SENATOR COMRIE: Thank you, Madam

23 Chair.

24 I wanted to follow up on the SNUG

221

1 program. Last year we got Queens back in the

2 budget for $300,000 for SNUG, but I haven't

3 gotten any information from your office on

4 where that went to. I heard in your previous

5 testimony that it all went to the New York

6 City Department of Health for each borough,

7 but I haven't gotten any outreach from any

8 groups in Queens or how it was used.

9 I would like to get some details on

10 it. And I would also -- I have outreached to

11 your office about two of the original

12 programs that were in SNUG and had a

13 successful run in SNUG but they were now

14 deemed noncompliant. And I really wanted to

15 be able to sit with someone from your office

16 to try to figure that out. To my chagrin,

17 that hasn't happened. So I would hope that I

18 get a promise from you today that your office

19 can sit down with my office so that I can at

20 least find out why these groups can't get to

21 be compliant and, number two, where is this

22 money being spent in Queens now?

23 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: We'd be

24 happy to sit down with you. I'll make sure

222

1 someone arranges that.

2 In terms of the money, as I indicated,

3 the Department of Health is running a street

4 outreach program in Queens right now. We do

5 not want to be in a situation where we have

6 competing street outreach programs. When you

7 have a shooting and you've got two different

8 groups of street outreach workers, you know,

9 racing to respond and compete with each other

10 for those cases, I think it's a very

11 dangerous model and a very inefficient model.

12 So for that reason, where the

13 Department of Health had established

14 programs, we made the decision to give the

15 funding to the Department of Health for them

16 to use to support the existing street

17 outreach programs they have. And that's

18 what's happening in Queens. We're in the

19 process of negotiating a contract with them

20 now. But we'd be happy to meet with you on

21 it.

22 SENATOR COMRIE: With all due respect,

23 Commissioner, I don't have any visual of that

24 happening in Queens at all. I don't know

223

1 what programs they may and may not be

2 running. I appreciate the noncompete idea

3 that you have, but on the ground I don't see

4 any evidence of it. So I would really like

5 to know what programs are being done.

6 Also, you know, to work, try to get

7 programs that are locally based that have

8 some expertise and are actually in the --

9 that started the program, I think it's only

10 appropriate that we give them an opportunity

11 to find out what they could do better, so

12 that they could qualify to at least do

13 training for the programs for the new people

14 that are coming in from the Department of

15 Health, because there are no existing

16 programs in the community that I know that

17 they're working with.

18 So I would hope that that can get

19 resolved quickly so that at least I can

20 inform my community of what programs are

21 being utilized in Queens.

22 Secondly, also, the Governor announced

23 a $10 million fund to do reentry services

24 throughout New York. But there's no county

224

1 reentry task force program in Queens. Could

2 you explain to me why there's not one in

3 Queens and there's one in every other borough

4 but not the Governor's home borough?

5 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN:

6 Actually, there is a reentry task force in

7 Queens. With the money in last year's

8 budget, a -- there's 19 around the state,

9 there was 19 around the state. And with the

10 money in last year's budget that was added, a

11 20th task force was started in Queens. So

12 that's in the process of being stood up.

13 And again, you know, we'd be happy to

14 meet with you and give the information on the

15 task force as well.

16 SENATOR COMRIE: Okay. Because I

17 pulled some information on a list of

18 available task forces in Queens, and it's not

19 on the list, so --

20 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: It's the

21 newest one.

22 SENATOR COMRIE: Well, I'd like to

23 know where that is also and how I could link

24 up from them and how I can actually have some

225

1 people that want to be on the task force as

2 board members to participate as well.

3 Have those boards been put together

4 yet?

5 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I don't

6 know exactly where they are in terms of

7 putting the board together, but I know

8 they've had, you know, at least preliminary

9 meetings with the task force. And as I said,

10 we can follow up and I'll get you information

11 on who's involved. I know the district

12 attorney's office is involved, I know there's

13 others involved. And we'll get you that

14 information.

15 SENATOR COMRIE: Okay. I have people

16 that would like to volunteer to serve in a

17 volunteer capacity to try to be helpful as

18 well.

19 As you may know, the precincts that

20 are in my district are some of the highest

21 gun violence precincts in the borough -- in

22 the city, actually. And I really want to

23 make sure that we can do everything, working

24 together, to make that happen.

226

1 And not knowing of any groups that are

2 working on SNUG, even when we allocated and

3 pushed to get that extra $300,000 in the

4 budget, concerns me. So I would really like

5 to work with your office in a cooperative way

6 to make sure that that's taken care of and

7 those monies and resources are being spent in

8 a way that can be helpful.

9 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: We will

10 definitely reach out to you. Thank you.

11 SENATOR COMRIE: Thank you.

12 Thank you, Madam Chair.

13 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

14 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Assemblyman Graf.

15 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Hi, how are you?

16 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Good.

17 How are you?

18 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Good.

19 Couple of questions. When we're

20 looking at speedy trial, okay, what we had,

21 we had the administrative judge come before

22 us, and they're looking at hiring 200 new

23 employees, court officers and court

24 personnel. And what we're being told from

227

1 three years ago, they're down 1700. So

2 what's happening is the congestion in the

3 court, right, and the lack of court personnel

4 are making it where the court is actually

5 closing down because they can't get prisoners

6 to come up, right, or else they'll only have

7 one court officer in the courtroom and it's

8 unsafe, they have to close down. And if you

9 look in the back, the paperwork, it's so

10 piled up because they don't have the clerks

11 to prepare it.

12 So one of the biggest things with

13 30/30 that we run into with speedy trial is,

14 you know, court time, court congestion.

15 Right? And they don't have the employees in

16 order to speed this up.

17 So one of the things I'd ask is that

18 when you go back to the Governor, you say,

19 Look, we're at a point right now where we're

20 stepping over a dollar to pick up a dime.

21 Right? The process is getting so slowed down

22 right now, right, that it's actually costing

23 us more money than it would if we hired the

24 appropriate number of people.

228

1 So that's one thing, especially if you

2 want to deal with the issues of right to a

3 speedy trial, that has to be dealt with right

4 now. We've cut court staff to the bone. So,

5 I mean, that's one thing you have to look at.

6 And if you don't fix that, you're not going

7 to fix this. All right?

8 The other thing is you said we haven't

9 cut any programs. However, according to the

10 information that I have, right, there's

11 elimination of local criminal justice

12 programs. And one would be that we're

13 eliminating the crime control and prevention

14 programs by $2.8 million. Then we have the

15 defendant screening services locally by

16 $1 million that we used to fund. Domestic

17 violence programs locally, we're cutting

18 $1.6 million. And payments to counties for

19 costs associated with legal assistance for

20 indigent parolees, we're cutting that by

21 $600,000.

22 So we may not have cut, on the state

23 level, programs we're doing, but we're

24 cutting funding from local programs. Is that

229

1 true?

2 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I'd have

3 to see the list you're referring to. It

4 sounds like you may be referring to items

5 that were legislative adds in previous years.

6 What I was referring to is programs

7 that were funded under the Executive Budget

8 from last year, DCJS-funded programs. The

9 only one of those that I'm aware of that's

10 being eliminated is the Westchester Special

11 Police funds. The rest of them -- you know,

12 SNUG increased, many of them were held

13 harmless, some of them had a roughly

14 5.5 percent decrease.

15 But I'm not aware of any of the

16 Executive-funded programs being cut out.

17 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: If you could check

18 on that. We could check with our Ways and

19 Means, they'll give you a list. Okay?

20 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Okay, we

21 will.

22 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: And the last thing

23 is I keep hearing something about the

24 Governor with the bail. And whether this is

230

1 true or not, you can clarify it for me. I'm

2 being told that the Governor wants the

3 counties to put up pots of money so that they

4 can pay bail for certain people. Is that

5 true?

6 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: No, I

7 have not heard any proposal from the

8 Executive. I think I believe you're

9 referring to a concept similar to something

10 done in the Bronx with the Bronx defender,

11 where there's basically a community fund, as

12 I understand it, to post bail in some cases.

13 I have not heard of any conversation

14 about an Executive proposal along those

15 lines.

16 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Okay. All right,

17 thank you very much.

18 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Thank

19 you.

20 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

21 Senator Croci.

22 SENATOR CROCI: Thank you, Madam

23 Chair.

24 Thank you, Commissioner, for your

231

1 appearance here today.

2 I was struck by one of the phrases you

3 used in your testimony. It regarded a

4 different subject, certainly, but you said

5 unbridled discretion in decision-making,

6 which for many of us here certainly describes

7 this document, the Executive Budget.

8 But I'm looking at a specific section

9 of the budget in which the Governor seeks to

10 require that a 16- or 17-year-old who brings

11 a gun to school, in violation of the Gun-Free

12 Schools Act, his own act, would be

13 mandatorily referred to a juvenile

14 proceeding. Meaning parents, teachers, other

15 children, students in that school, would not

16 know that that individual ever brought a

17 weapon to school.

18 Can you tell me whether or not you

19 believe that this is the right message to

20 send? And whether or not 16- or 17-year-olds

21 who bring a weapon to school should be held

22 to a juvenile proceeding, which would then

23 prevent the public from knowing?

24 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I don't

232

1 read that the same way you do. While that

2 certainly, as I read it, provides a reporting

3 mechanism, I don't read anything in that that

4 gives that person immunity from prosecution

5 or prevents them from being prosecuted.

6 If a 16- or 17-year-old, under current

7 law, possesses a gun, if it's a functional

8 operational gun, you know, at a minimum it

9 would be a misdemeanor. If it's a loaded

10 gun, it would be a felony. If it's on school

11 grounds, it may be an elevated crime.

12 You know, so whether it's under

13 existing law or whether it's under Raise the

14 Age, I don't see anything in there that

15 immunizes or insulates that person from

16 prosecution in adult court or, under the

17 Raise the Age proposal, in a special youth

18 part of adult court.

19 So yes, you know, there's a provision

20 that that person be referred to Family Court

21 that you've referred to, but I don't read

22 that as divesting the police or prosecutors

23 or the courts of any other jurisdiction that

24 they have by law.

233

1 SENATOR CROCI: Well, my reading of

2 the Article VII language in the LFA section

3 directs a superintendent of the school --

4 he's now required to refer students under the

5 age of 17 who violate the Gun-Free Schools

6 Act, for a juvenile delinquency proceeding.

7 Which not only denies that local

8 public school in New York or private school

9 in New York, but also in future years, if

10 that individual were to go off to college --

11 and we've seen enough gun violence at our

12 colleges, the college would have no way of

13 knowing because now this individual is not

14 required to put that on their college

15 application.

16 So this is what happens when budgets

17 are created in the dark of night in this town

18 and contradict their own stated policy goals.

19 I don't understand, if a superintendent is

20 directed to institute a juvenile proceeding

21 instead of a criminal proceeding with law

22 enforcement, how on earth the public is going

23 to know that there was someone in the school

24 who had a weapon and how that is consistent

234

1 with providing safe schools.

2 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Yes,

3 there's a lot of assumptions in your

4 question, the first of which I don't agree

5 with.

6 There's nothing that prevents that

7 person from being prosecuted under existing

8 laws. Even if they're prosecuted under

9 existing laws, though, if they're a 16- or

10 17-year-old right now, there's youthful

11 offender provisions that may well prevent

12 that information from being disclosed anyhow.

13 So you're assuming that it would get out but

14 for that provision, which I also think is not

15 a good assumption.

16 So, you know, I'm not reading that

17 provision the same way you do. I don't see

18 that it divests the courts of the power that

19 they currently have to prosecute a 16- or

20 17-year-old. But even with those powers, the

21 assumption you're making that any results of

22 that prosecution would then be public and be

23 available to schools in the future, for

24 example, I don't think is supported by

235

1 current reality.

2 SENATOR CROCI: Well, I disagree with

3 your reading of it, certainly. But from a

4 superintendent's perspective or an educator's

5 perspective who is confronted with this

6 situation at 8 o'clock in the morning on a

7 school day, and then instead of calling 911,

8 which is what would be their normal response,

9 they now have to institute a juvenile

10 proceeding instead of calling law enforcement

11 to come and respond to it.

12 Juvenile proceedings, according to the

13 last witness -- two witnesses ago, Judge

14 Marks, would in most cases not be required to

15 be made public. And that individual, when

16 they reach the age of 18 and applied for

17 college, wouldn't then have to indicate it on

18 a college application.

19 So I don't know if --

20 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Wouldn't

21 that be the same result you get as a 16- or

22 17-year-old now as a youthful offender?

23 SENATOR CROCI: -- there's some

24 alternate reality that I'm living in when I

236

1 read it.

2 I'm sorry, sir, I didn't hear you

3 because I was --

4 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Wouldn't

5 that be the same result you get right now

6 with a 16- or 17-year-old who gets charged in

7 adult court, gets adjudicated a youthful

8 offender? Aren't you in the exact same spot?

9 SENATOR CROCI: Well, you're taking

10 the discretion out of the local

11 administrator, the person who knows the

12 families of the individuals who go to that

13 school, and you're directing them one way or

14 the other. And I thought what we wanted to

15 do in education is give our educators and the

16 people who take care of our kids every day

17 that option.

18 I just think that this is misguided

19 and, if nothing else, in flat contradiction

20 to the Governor's own stated goals. So I

21 just -- I guess you don't agree.

22 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I don't.

23 SENATOR CROCI: Okay. Very good.

24 Thank you.

237

1 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

2 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Assemblyman Weprin.

3 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Thank you,

4 Mr. Chairman.

5 Commissioner Green, I'm a little

6 confused about part of your testimony. Under

7 the sentencing reform part, you talk about

8 determinate sentencing for nonviolent

9 offenses. But when determinate sentences

10 were created for violent felons, the result

11 ended up being that inmates stayed in prison,

12 on an average, two years longer. And upstate

13 judges tend to hand down longer sentences

14 than downstate judges.

15 I'm not clear what the intent is

16 behind proposing determinate sentencing for

17 nonviolent felons. That's the first part of

18 the question. And the second part is, is

19 there going to be any attempt to make

20 sentencing more uniform statewide to deal

21 with the upstate/downstate situation?

22 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: First of

23 all, you know, while you may be right for

24 some of the violent felonies, if you look at

238

1 sentencing practice and prison populations,

2 starting in 1995 we as a state made the

3 decision to start moving away from

4 indeterminate sentencing and toward

5 determinate. First it was the violent

6 felonies, then certain sex felonies.

7 Ultimately, the decision was made, you know,

8 in the 2000s to take drug crimes and move

9 those to determinate.

10 And at the same time, our prison

11 population has gone from about a peak of I

12 think 72,000, or over 72,000 in 1999 down to

13 about 52,000 today. So we've moved from

14 indeterminate to determinate in every other

15 area, and our prison population has declined,

16 you know, remarkably, I think. We have the

17 lowest imprisonment rate of any large state

18 in the country.

19 But if you look at why move this --

20 you know, basically there's two groups left

21 that have indeterminate sentences, your Class

22 A felonies -- your murders, your kidnapping

23 1st, and then these nonviolent felonies --

24 you know, burg 3rd is a large part of them,

239

1 forgery, grand larceny.

2 Why move those to determinate

3 sentencing? I think there's a number of

4 reasons why. I think the first is that if

5 you look at indeterminate sentencing and you

6 take your worst offenders, someone who gets 2

7 1/3 to 7 for a burg 3rd, and they commit

8 every infraction they can in prison and they

9 get held for the full term -- so this is, you

10 know, your worst offenders -- gets held to

11 seven years, get released at the end of seven

12 years with no supervision whatsoever -- so

13 the worst offender, who arguably needs

14 supervision more than anybody when they're

15 released is being dropped out the door under

16 this current scheme.

17 If you go to determinate sentencing,

18 everyone gets a determinate sentence and

19 everyone gets a term of post-release

20 supervision. So if you're that same

21 offender, you do your full determinate

22 sentence because you don't qualify for any

23 good time, you don't qualify for any merit

24 time -- you serve your sentence, you still

240

1 have that period of post-release supervision

2 that you have to have.

3 So from a public safety perspective,

4 this move would ensure that we have a period

5 of post-release supervision for everyone.

6 The second consideration deals with

7 merit time. Right now you have someone who

8 gets sentenced for a burg 3rd, they get 2 to

9 6 or, you know, 1 1/2 to 4 1/2, whatever they

10 get. They go in and they want to

11 rehabilitate themselves, and they enroll in a

12 merit time program, they complete that merit

13 time program, they're supposed to get credit

14 for that. What they get is an earlier

15 appearance in front of the Parole Board. And

16 when they get denied parole by the Parole

17 Board, they wind up getting no credit for

18 that merit time.

19 If you move to a determinate scheme,

20 that person who goes in, who wants to

21 rehabilitate themself, who completes a merit

22 time program, doesn't then have to go before

23 the Parole Board to see whether or not they

24 get credit for that; they automatically get

241

1 credit for it.

2 And I think another consideration has

3 to do with reentry. When you talk about

4 reentry planning, if I get 2 1/3 to 7 and

5 you're trying to work with your reentry task

6 force and you're trying to work with the

7 Department of Corrections and Community

8 Supervision staff and you're trying to work

9 with the family and the community -- do I

10 start that planning for the 2 1/3 date? Do I

11 start it for 5 years? Do I start it from 7?

12 Nobody knows.

13 With a determinate sentence, you have

14 a much firmer date where everyone knows this

15 is the date we're shooting for, we need to do

16 our reentry planning around this date, and we

17 can be much more successful.

18 And as a former prosecutor, I'd

19 suggest the last reason it makes sense is

20 trying to explain to victims -- and, frankly,

21 trying to explain to defendants who are

22 trying to decide whether or not to take

23 pleas -- what 8 1/3 to 25 means, as opposed

24 to what a 10-year sentence means. You know,

242

1 I had victims looking at me like I had three

2 heads by the time I got done explaining to

3 them, you know, what a 2 1/3 to 7 or a 5 to

4 15 meant and when someone might get out and

5 when they might not and what all the

6 different variables were.

7 So in terms of transparency and

8 ability to understand the system, I think the

9 move also makes sense.

10 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Well, I

11 appreciate that. And I appreciate the credit

12 for merit time and other things. So I'm

13 willing to, you know, see how it works. But

14 if we could get some kind of follow-up if it

15 is enacted as to, you know, what the effect

16 is by changing from the indeterminate

17 sentences to the determinate sentences for

18 nonviolent felonies.

19 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: You

20 know, and I -- just as a kind of a high-level

21 comment, you know, we are very proud of the

22 fact that we're the safest large state in the

23 country, but we're also very proud of the

24 fact that we have the lowest imprisonment

243

1 rate of any large state. You know, and

2 everything that we do is focused on trying to

3 continue both of those trends, not just one

4 or the other, but both at the same time.

5 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Okay. Thank you,

6 Commissioner.

7 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

8 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

9 Senator?

10 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

11 Senator Bailey.

12 SENATOR BAILEY: Thank you, Madam

13 Chair.

14 Good afternoon, Deputy Commissioner

15 Green.

16 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Good

17 afternoon.

18 SENATOR BAILEY: So a couple of

19 points.

20 I represent a district in the

21 North Bronx and the City of Mount Vernon, and

22 gun violence is an issue, to echo some of the

23 sentiments of my colleagues concerning SNUG.

24 And I'm happy to see that there is an

244

1 increase in that. But are there any

2 additional programs being considered for

3 SNUG, or is it just an increase to supplement

4 the programs that currently exist?

5 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: To

6 supplement the existing programs. And I'm

7 not sure with your district, but is the

8 Jacobi SNUG program in your district?

9 SENATOR BAILEY: Slightly outside the

10 confines. But it serves a lot of the same

11 constituency, the individuals in my district.

12 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I think

13 that's certainly one of our flagship programs

14 in terms of the work they do and the results

15 they've gotten.

16 SENATOR BAILEY: Yes, with Jay

17 Gooding. A very good man.

18 Concerning the cuts to the Westchester

19 Police Department, also along the same lines,

20 in the City of Mount Vernon, we are having

21 some issues there. Can you tell me

22 specifically how the City of Mount Vernon

23 would be supplemented by the State Police or

24 other law enforcement organizations,

245

1 considering those cuts?

2 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I would

3 have to look to make sure, but I don't

4 believe any of that funding was for the City

5 of Mount Vernon. It was for patrolling a

6 parkway, you know, one -- well, I think it

7 was two specific parkways in Westchester. I

8 don't believe any of that funding was funding

9 that was supposed to go for patrolling the

10 City of Mount Vernon.

11 SENATOR BAILEY: Okay. And my final

12 question, concerning video recording of

13 interrogations. And this is seemingly a

14 hot-button topic. But what would your

15 specific role be in the interrogation

16 process, the video interrogation process?

17 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: The bill

18 that's proposed would require law enforcement

19 to record, in certain crimes, the crimes that

20 I mentioned a short time ago, serious

21 offenses where generally long sentences are

22 put out. There are exceptions in there if,

23 you know, good faith, the equipment

24 malfunctions or something along those lines.

246

1 But generally speaking, it would be required.

2 What DCJS's role has been is twofold.

3 Working with the Municipal Police Training

4 Council, we've already had the council put

5 out model policies for law enforcement in

6 terms of how the videotaping should be

7 conducted. And secondly, funding. We've put

8 out about $3.5 million in funding so far for

9 police departments and DA's offices across

10 the state.

11 We've actually given a grant to a

12 police department in every one of the

13 counties in the state, so there should be

14 recording equipment everywhere in the state

15 right now. And our intention would be to

16 continue to support law enforcement that way

17 and make sure they have the tools they need

18 so they can record interviews.

19 SENATOR BAILEY: Thank you. Nothing

20 further.

21 Thank you, Madam Chair.

22 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you, Senator.

23 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Helene Weinstein,

24 Senator -- Assemblyman -- Assemblywoman.

247

1 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: Thank you.

2 I just want to follow up with a

3 question that I guess both Senator Young and

4 Assemblyman Graf asked about the reduction in

5 the local assistance monies. So I did hear

6 you say that most of those reductions

7 represent legislative adds that were added in

8 last year's budget, is that correct?

9 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I think

10 there's two different issues.

11 One, the list that Assemblyman Graf

12 read me, I didn't recognize those as

13 Executive programs. So I'll follow up with

14 him and I'll get that list. My sense is they

15 might be what we refer to as legislative

16 adds.

17 But as to our programs, there are some

18 5.5 percent cuts. So for example, Aid to

19 Prosecution has a 5.5 percent cut. As

20 Assemblyman Lentol pointed out, some of the

21 ATI funding streams have a 5.5 percent cut.

22 So there is a relatively small cut to some of

23 our local assistance programs -- not

24 elimination, but a small cut.

248

1 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: Well, if

2 those programs were functioning well and

3 doing their job, and I think some of us would

4 say were at the higher levels underfunded,

5 won't those cuts have an impact on safety in

6 communities around our state?

7 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: With,

8 you know, the ATI programs, for example, I

9 certainly believe they are functioning well.

10 The Pew Foundation has done reports pointing

11 to us as a national example of how you should

12 administer the funding and support the

13 program. So, you know, I do think they're

14 very effective. I think the money is being

15 used very wisely.

16 You know, the best I can tell you is

17 that we will look at the available pot of

18 money, we'll look at the 5.5 percent

19 reduction and we'll try and make sure we

20 administer it in a way that minimizes any

21 potential harm.

22 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: Thank you.

23 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

24 Senator DeFrancisco.

249

1 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, what role

2 if any did you play in the drafting of the

3 language concerning Raise the Age?

4 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I was

5 not on the commission that developed the

6 original proposal. I was interviewed by

7 commission members, I did provide them input.

8 You know, and I've done the same thing since

9 then. You know, I've provided input to --

10 you know, so I haven't actually sat down and

11 drafted any of it. But when asked, I provide

12 input or feedback.

13 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Did this

14 commission continue to do business after the

15 first Raise the Age proposal was sent up last

16 year?

17 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Not that

18 I'm aware of, no.

19 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: All right, so

20 you're just talking about the initial

21 commission action. Do you know generally if

22 the bill that's being proposed this year is

23 the same as the one that was proposed to the

24 Legislature last year?

250

1 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: There

2 are some differences. You know, I think -- I

3 think in terms of the implementation dates,

4 obviously the implementation dates have been

5 moved back to 2019 and 2020.

6 There was feedback that was received

7 from a number of constituency groups, and

8 there were some changes made based on that

9 feedback. So, for example, specific crimes.

10 At one point aggravated criminal contempt was

11 covered; now a part of that is covered. If

12 it's the part that deals with serious

13 physical injury, then those cases would still

14 be handled in adult court.

15 I believe there were some changes to

16 the language around risk assessments,

17 allowing parents to be present with juveniles

18 when those risk assessments were done.

19 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Was there any --

20 thank you. It will probably take too long

21 to go --

22 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: There's

23 others too, yeah.

24 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: No, I

251

1 understand. But I was unclear.

2 Are there changes in the procedure? A

3 kid is arrested. Where's Step 1, Step 2,

4 what happens with transfers of courts?

5 Procedurally, as far as it's administered, do

6 you know if there's any major changes?

7 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I don't

8 know if there's major changes. I think the

9 general structure is that it would raise the

10 age, ultimately, so 16- and 17-year-olds,

11 with the exception of serious crimes, would

12 go to Family Court.

13 Now, with the serious crimes it

14 creates a youth part in adult court. So it's

15 adult court, but it's staffed by a specially

16 trained Superior Court judge in a special

17 youth part that would hear the serious cases

18 with 16- and 17-year-olds.

19 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay, let's -- a

20 16-year-old is arrested. This bill passes, a

21 16-year-old is arrested and he is accused of

22 beating up his girlfriend. Where is the

23 first stop -- a police officer comes, arrests

24 the individual. And it's a felony, a felony

252

1 assault. What does the police officer do at

2 that point?

3 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Again,

4 it depends on the specific charge. But if

5 the charge is a violent felony assault in the

6 second degree, that person would then be

7 treated as a juvenile offender, under this

8 bill, and the case would be heard in adult

9 court, Superior Court, in a youth part.

10 The first step would be to be

11 arraigned in a court with a judge that had

12 been specially trained to handle those

13 arraignments.

14 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: So in Family

15 Court.

16 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: No, not

17 Family Court.

18 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Since it's a

19 violent felony, it goes to criminal court.

20 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Correct.

21 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Now, what

22 consideration does that criminal court judge

23 have as to whether it stays there?

24 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: There

253

1 are new removal provisions added. It's

2 Sections 722.20, subdivision 4. And

3 basically the initial removal rules are the

4 same as they are now.

5 But once a case has been indicted,

6 basically there's two ways that that case can

7 get removed, depending on the seriousness of

8 the case. One requires the consent of the

9 district attorney, the other has to be on

10 motion of the district attorney.

11 So right now, if you're a juvenile

12 offender, you're 14 or 15 and you commit one

13 of those crimes for which you can be charged

14 as a juvenile offender, unless it's a -- you

15 know, one of the most serious crimes. So

16 murder, rape in the first degree, those

17 crimes require the DA's consent for removal.

18 Other crimes do not right now for that 14-,

19 15-year-old.

20 So this bill actually puts in new

21 removal provisions in the section I cited to

22 you, and both of them either require the DA's

23 consent or a motion by the DA to remove.

24 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: All right. Does

254

1 the judge -- okay. It requires DA consent,

2 obviously. Without the consent, they can't

3 be removed.

4 If it requires a DA's motion, it's

5 still up to the judge whether it gets removed

6 to juvenile court?

7 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Yes, but

8 the DA has to make the motion. So if the DA

9 is opposed to removal, it's not going to get

10 removed.

11 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay, let me

12 take the example that Senator Croci gave. A

13 gun is found on someone, and it's loaded.

14 Okay? Is that considered a serious offense

15 under this bill, first of all?

16 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: It's a

17 violent felony offense. So yes, it would be

18 -- if the person is 16 or 17 years old, these

19 provisions have kicked in, that is a violent

20 felony offense and would subject that

21 person -- they'd be a juvenile offender,

22 they'd be handled in an adult court in one of

23 these youth parts with a specially trained

24 judge.

255

1 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. But it

2 would be in juvenile court.

3 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Well,

4 it's in adult court. It's not in Family

5 Court.

6 Right now -- people get confused with

7 the terms. But under current law, if you're

8 a juvenile offender, that means your case is

9 going to adult court. If you're a juvenile

10 delinquent, it means your case is going to

11 Family Court. And I think that causes a lot

12 of confusion.

13 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. So it's

14 in adult court at this point. And how does

15 this fit in with the question that was raised

16 earlier that you have to start a juvenile

17 delinquency proceeding?

18 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: You

19 know, that section, that's not part of the

20 Raise the Age proposal. And I don't read

21 that provision to in any way take

22 jurisdiction away from the criminal courts to

23 prosecute somebody who is arrested for

24 possession of a loaded gun, for example.

256

1 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: So I'm a

2 principal, they find the gun in the kid's

3 hands, I'm required to file a juvenile

4 delinquency proceeding but the police can

5 arrest him and bring him to adult court?

6 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN:

7 Depending on the circumstances. For example,

8 if it's a loaded, functional gun --

9 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yeah.

10 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: -- my

11 reading of it is yes, it does not preclude

12 the police from doing that.

13 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: So how does a

14 principal then bring a juvenile delinquency

15 proceeding if the police officer is bringing

16 them first to jail, then to adult court?

17 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: You

18 know, practically, I'm not familiar with the

19 juvenile proceedings. My experience was all

20 in Family Court. So I don't know if I can

21 give you a good answer to that.

22 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: All right. So

23 it would be dilemma, somewhat of a dilemma,

24 for a principal to decide which way they're

257

1 going to go with this particular offense;

2 correct?

3 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: It may

4 be.

5 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: All right. So

6 it should be cleared up, do you think?

7 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I

8 certainly will take a look at -- as I said,

9 that section is a little bit out of my area.

10 I've spent a lot of time on the Raise the

11 Age. I know that. I'll take a look at this

12 and --

13 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay, one last

14 question. I want to stay as close to time as

15 I can.

16 The last question is with respect to

17 the youthful offender status, you had

18 mentioned you don't see it as -- it's a

19 different situation. Just consider this and

20 see where I'm wrong. If I'm a principal and

21 I bring the juvenile delinquency proceedings,

22 then something is going to have to happen

23 there to remove it to a adult court, I would

24 think, if that's where it starts, if it's a

258

1 serious enough offense.

2 The difference with the youthful

3 offender is first you go to criminal court,

4 and then you have to make an application to

5 become held a juvenile -- in other words, the

6 presumption is that you're going to be

7 treated as an adult. It's a benefit from

8 that point forward to get youthful offender

9 status.

10 On the other hand, if you're

11 automatically going to go to Family Court

12 with a juvenile delinquency, it's a little

13 different burden. Does that make sense?

14 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: It does.

15 But again, it depends on the facts of each

16 case. And for example, if that gun case is a

17 misdemeanor gun case, possession of a weapon

18 in the fourth degree, then -- and you have no

19 prior convictions, it's an automatic youthful

20 offender.

21 So, you know, I just think in some

22 instances your example would accurately

23 reflect what happens, in other instances it

24 wouldn't. And I think they're driven by the

259

1 facts of each case.

2 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay, thank

3 you.

4 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you, Senator.

5 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Mr. Graf.

6 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Getting back to the

7 Raise the Age part here, now what happens is

8 if a person gets arrested -- and there's

9 different dates. So at one time they just

10 increase it to 16, and then by 2020 they

11 increase it to 17. But the mechanism here is

12 if you have a youthful offender type of

13 incident, it goes to the youth part or the

14 youth court; correct?

15 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Again, I

16 think this is where the terminology comes in.

17 Technically it's a juvenile offender, if

18 you're a juvenile offender, which means

19 you've committed a violent felony or one of

20 the other serious cases, then yes, it would

21 go to a youth part. But that's adult court.

22 It's not Family Court.

23 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Now, have you read

24 the bill that the Governor has put forward?

260

1 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I've

2 read most of the bill, yes.

3 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Okay. And there's

4 a part there that those crimes, where it's a

5 serious crime and it goes -- it's called a

6 youth part in the bill -- the DA and the

7 judge can agree, even though it's a violent

8 felony -- and these are some horrific crimes,

9 when you look at it -- they can send it to

10 Family Court, correct?

11 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: In some

12 instances, with the consent of the DA. In

13 other instances, the DA has to affirmatively

14 move.

15 And then there's a list of criteria.

16 In some instances, with the most serious

17 cases, judges would be required to hold

18 hearings and actually make findings before

19 they can do it.

20 But yes, there is a mechanism, with

21 the consent or on motion of the DA, and with

22 the judge agreeing that the circumstances

23 exist that would justify sending it to

24 Family Court, that can be done.

261

1 And I think it's important to point

2 out, you know, that's no different -- if you

3 have someone right now who's charged with

4 rape in the first degree or murder in the

5 second degree and they're 15 years old, there

6 are provisions that allow those cases to be

7 removed to Family Court right now from adult

8 court when they're charged as a juvenile

9 offender. So it's not a new or a novel

10 concept.

11 So what this bill adds is the

12 requirement that anytime a 16- or 17-year-old

13 wants to have their case removed from adult

14 court to Family Court, you either need the

15 consent of the DA or it has to be on motion

16 of the DA.

17 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Yeah, but in this

18 case we're actually talking about if a person

19 is one day short of their 18th birthday and

20 commits a crime.

21 But there's another section, when you

22 start reading into it, where they put in

23 there that upon motion of the defendant,

24 right, and they don't mention consent of the

262

1 DA. So that can be interpreted that upon

2 motion of the defendant, the court, on its

3 own initiative, can send this to Family

4 Court.

5 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: And I

6 just got done reading -- it's 722.20,

7 subdivision 4. And, you know, given my

8 reading of the bill and my reading of that

9 provision, I don't agree -- you know, as I

10 read it, for 16- and 17-year-olds, those

11 provisions, to me at least, make clear that

12 it would require either the consent of or

13 motion of the DA to remove.

14 You know, but if you read it

15 differently, I'm happy -- if you've got a

16 particular section you think contradicts

17 that, I'm happy to take a look at it.

18 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Yeah, I have a

19 bunch of sections.

20 But the thing is we have to look at,

21 when we write a bill, the different ways it

22 can be interpreted. You'd agree with that?

23 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: And I

24 have read this and, you know, given my

263

1 reading of the bill, you know, my

2 understanding and my reading of it is that it

3 requires the DAs acquiescence in some form

4 before a 16- or 17-year-old can have their

5 case removed.

6 One exception would be if there's an

7 arrest, there's a preliminary hearing, and a

8 judge finds there's no evidence to support

9 the felony that got the case into court in

10 the first place. So, you know, that's a

11 different scenario.

12 But, you know, where the evidence

13 supports the charge, the case can't be

14 removed without the DA's acquiescence.

15 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: And some of the

16 things that we're talking about here is

17 tampering -- the things that wouldn't put it

18 into that category is tampering with a

19 witness, gang assault, there are various sex

20 crimes that are in there -- that what they're

21 going to do, they can move that right to

22 Family Court. I mean, there's a lot of

23 crimes in there that we haven't -- that are

24 serious that we haven't hit.

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1 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I

2 believe the crimes you just listed are crimes

3 that someone would be charged as a juvenile

4 offender for and go to the special youth

5 part, as opposed to Family Court.

6 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Well, there's a

7 list of crimes. So when you go in there,

8 they give you a list, right, and -- you go

9 into the law that they direct you to, you go

10 through a list. And basically anything

11 that's not on that list, right, is separate

12 from that.

13 So, I mean, the interpretation is that

14 you're going to switch that to Family Court.

15 All right? And in some of the sex cases,

16 what happens is if you get adjudicated in a

17 Family Court, right -- so if it's a sex crime

18 but it gets adjudicated in a Family Court, as

19 opposed to a conviction, you wouldn't be

20 subject to giving a DNA sample, and you

21 wouldn't be subject to registering on a sex

22 offender registry list. Is that correct?

23 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Yes. If

24 your case is adjudicated in Family Court,

265

1 those provisions don't kick in. If you're

2 adjudicated a juvenile offender in adult

3 court and you're not given youthful offender,

4 they do.

5 So I think what this bill has tried to

6 do is balance, you know, trying to get better

7 outcomes for 16- and 17-year-olds with

8 protecting society from young people who

9 commit horrendous crimes. And, you know, I

10 suppose we can argue about exactly where you

11 strike that balance, but I think the bill has

12 been very thoughtful about trying to figure

13 out, you know, what cases should go into each

14 category and create a framework that even

15 within those categories, where the judge and

16 the DA are in agreement that someone should

17 be treated differently, it gives a mechanism

18 for that to happen.

19 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Right. I mean, how

20 I'm reading it is if I have a person that's

21 one day short of their 18th birthday, they

22 molest a child, it's possible for them to go

23 into Family Court and it's possible for them

24 to be adjudicated in Family Court. And if

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1 they're adjudicated in Family Court one day

2 short of their 18th birthday, they don't have

3 to register on a sex offender registry list

4 and they don't have to supply DNA.

5 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: That's

6 if it's -- if it's a felony sex crime, then

7 that's only with the consent of the DA. And

8 I think you elect a DA, in every single

9 county in the state, to stand up for your

10 rights and to make decisions like that to

11 protect the community.

12 And this bill, you know, is premised

13 on idea that DAs do their jobs and do them

14 well and that they'll review these cases and

15 they won't consent to removal to Family Court

16 unless the facts and circumstances of the

17 case are appropriate for that.

18 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Yeah, but

19 there's --

20 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

21 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Okay. Thank you.

22 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

23 Senator Croci.

24 SENATOR CROCI: Commissioner, just to

267

1 follow up, because I want to make sure we're

2 clear on language and interpretation.

3 I'm looking at the Title VII language

4 change that was put into the LFA bill. And

5 as we get down to the subject, we're talking

6 about lines 20 to 34 that have the track

7 changes. And it states "Provided, however,

8 that commencing on January 1, 2019, a

9 superintendent shall refer the pupil under

10 the age of 17 who has been determined to have

11 brought a weapon or firearm to school in

12 violation of this subdivision, to be a

13 presentment agency for a juvenile delinquency

14 proceeding consistent with Article 3 of the

15 Family Court Act, except a student who

16 qualifies for juvenile offender status under

17 the subdivision 42, Section 1.20 of the

18 Criminal Procedure Law, and provided,

19 however, further that commencing on

20 January 1, 2020, a superintendent shall refer

21 the pupil under the age of 18 who has been

22 determined to have brought a weapon or

23 firearm to school, in violation of this

24 subdivision, to presentment agency for a

268

1 juvenile delinquency proceeding consistent

2 with Article 3 of the Family Court Act,

3 except a student who qualifies for juvenile

4 offender status under subdivision 42 of

5 Section 1.20 of the Criminal Procedure Law."

6 So the superintendent now has an

7 option taken away, based on this language.

8 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Well,

9 first of all, if you're talking about a

10 student who brings a loaded gun to school,

11 the language you just read me that says

12 "except as provided in the juvenile offender

13 situation," indicates that that does not

14 apply.

15 So, you know, the loaded gun scenario

16 you referred to, the language you just read

17 me indicates that that provision has no

18 applicability there.

19 If you take the rest of the

20 situations -- you know, I hear what you're

21 saying. I hear the law. But the Criminal

22 Procedure Law also has provisions. So let's

23 say it's a gun, it's an unloaded functional

24 gun. You know, that directs the

269

1 superintendent to do something. But the

2 Criminal Procedure Law and Penal Law have not

3 changed. And the Penal Law still says that

4 possession of an unloaded gun that's

5 functional is an A misdemeanor.

6 So, you know, I don't see anywhere in

7 there that says -- you know, there's no

8 amendment to the Penal Law to say you can't

9 be charged if, you know, you are in a

10 scenario where the superintendent made an

11 election.

12 So, you know, the point I was trying

13 to make is, you know, while I hear what

14 you're saying about a direction of the

15 superintendent to make a referral, that

16 doesn't take away the power of the police or

17 anybody else to make a determination that

18 that case, if it qualifies, should be

19 prosecuted in adult court.

20 And secondly, it specifically says in

21 serious cases -- for example, where it's a

22 loaded gun -- that section doesn't apply.

23 And the juvenile offender rules apply, and

24 that person goes to court.

270

1 SENATOR CROCI: Right. I didn't bring

2 up the loaded gun scenario. That was Senator

3 DeFrancisco.

4 But why do it? Why in the first place

5 make the change and take away -- why is it

6 necessary to make the change?

7 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: And I

8 think, honestly, that's something that

9 has to be directed to folks in the education

10 group.

11 SENATOR CROCI: Okay, very good. I

12 thank you again.

13 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Thank

14 you.

15 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Senator Krueger.

16 SENATOR KRUEGER: Hi. It's been a

17 while since you first testified, but I just

18 wanted to go on record to say not everyone up

19 here actually is opposed to the Governor's

20 criminal justice reform package, and I'm one

21 of them.

22 I want to go back to the reform bill

23 pretrial detention proposal. So you talk

24 about 44 other states have a different system

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1 that decreases the number of people ending up

2 staying in jail while awaiting trial.

3 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN:

4 Actually, I think it's 46.

5 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'm sorry, 46?

6 Okay. Sorry. So there are only four states

7 that have our system.

8 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: And the

9 federal government as well.

10 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. So what

11 are the lessons we should be learning from

12 the 46 states that do it the way the Governor

13 would like to do it?

14 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I think,

15 for me, the biggest lesson is that if you use

16 effective risk-assessment instruments and you

17 do it properly -- you train people on what

18 the risk-assessment instruments can and can't

19 do, you have a good instrument that's

20 validated, you know, that it's set up in a

21 way that it gets to folks in time so that

22 they can use it in making their decisions --

23 I think we can make better bail decisions.

24 You know, and "we" collectively, not pointing

272

1 the finger at anybody.

2 But I think if we make better bail

3 decisions, the -- one of the early studies I

4 saw from Kentucky, with the work they did

5 with the Arnold Foundation, showed that they

6 actually held fewer people and reduced the

7 number of crimes that were committed by

8 people who had been released, through the use

9 of the risk-assessment instrument.

10 So I think the challenge for us is,

11 you know, how can we make the best possible

12 decisions, how can we make sure that we're

13 not holding people that we don't need to

14 hold? You know, if we have someone that will

15 come back to court and that is in all

16 likelihood not going to commit a crime, you

17 know, should we really be holding them for

18 any length of time, much less three years or

19 five years?

20 So to me, that's the challenge, is how

21 can we continue to get better at these

22 decisions. And I think, you know, allowing

23 judges to consider the risk of dangerousness,

24 providing risk-assessment instruments, and

273

1 then providing a structure -- and I think

2 another thing that we should learn from other

3 states is that outright release or we hold

4 you until your trial should not be the only

5 options.

6 There are a lot of things in between

7 those two that other states are using or

8 starting to use effectively. There are other

9 types of monitoring, you know, that can help

10 keep control of someone, help make sure

11 someone returns to court, short of locking

12 you up.

13 SENATOR KRUEGER: So we would reduce

14 the rate of recidivism from -- and I'm

15 assuming we would save a bunch of money in

16 jail costs pending trials; is that correct?

17 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I guess,

18 for me, the primary consideration is public

19 safety. And so I look at, for example, the

20 preliminary results out of Kentucky and I say

21 you actually decreased the number of crimes

22 that were committed. You know, so for me,

23 that's point number one.

24 But then yes, point number two, if

274

1 you're incarcerating fewer people pretrial,

2 you're saving those costs. There's some

3 pretty good data showing that if you get

4 incarcerated pretrial, there's a better

5 chance you're going to wind up incarcerated

6 at the end of your case. So, you know, it's

7 certainly possible that there are cost

8 savings that would result long-term from

9 this.

10 SENATOR KRUEGER: And I believe I read

11 some research showing when you're

12 incarcerated pending a trial, even if you're

13 going to be found innocent or the case is

14 going to disappear, you have a pretty high

15 rate of risking losing your job and then

16 potentially actually not being able to pay

17 your rent and your other basic needs. Could

18 you confirm that my memory is correct and the

19 research shows that?

20 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I think

21 common sense also tells you that. But yes,

22 there's -- yeah, there's some good research

23 looking at risk pools. And whether you're

24 talking about an ATI program or jail, when

275

1 you put a low-risk person into a pool with

2 high-risk people, generally the research

3 shows that you increase that low-risk

4 person's chances of recidivating.

5 So certainly the scenario you

6 described, if that person had a job, had

7 family connections and otherwise was a

8 low-risk person, and you put them into jail

9 and they lose their job and they develop

10 associations with high-risk folks, you know,

11 in all likelihood you've taken them from the

12 low-risk pool and moved them up.

13 SENATOR KRUEGER: And is there any

14 projection -- it's not a fair question,

15 because you say you have to do your own

16 development of a tool that would be used.

17 But is there a projection of what percentage

18 of people who now sit in jail pretrial could

19 potentially not be in jail?

20 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: We don't

21 have that now. We are working with OCA, and

22 OCA, because of issues with the way their

23 records are kept, has not been able to get us

24 good data that's in a form that we can use

276

1 for all of the courts that includes bail

2 information.

3 I anticipate that they are going to be

4 able to do that soon. And when they do, you

5 know, we certainly are going to look at that

6 and try and put our criminal history

7 information and their bail information

8 together and not only look at validation, but

9 look at projections.

10 So right now, no, we don't have any

11 good information.

12 SENATOR KRUEGER: And there were some

13 earlier questions relating to wouldn't this

14 be very complicated for dealing with the DAs,

15 the police, the courts. Can I take the leap

16 that if 46 other states can figure it out,

17 our police, DAs, and courts are smart enough

18 to figure out also?

19 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: I don't

20 want to speak for any of them, but I have

21 very good relationships, I think, with all of

22 those groups. And, you know, I've worked

23 with them on a number of issues and they've

24 come to agreement on sealing proposals,

277

1 they've come to agreement on videotaping and

2 on identification procedures and all kinds of

3 other issues.

4 So yes, I'm confident that we can get

5 people behind a common-sense proposal to keep

6 moving us forward here.

7 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you very much.

8 Thank you.

9 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Anyone else?

10 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: We've been joined

11 by Assemblywoman Walker and Assemblywoman

12 Fahy. Thank you.

13 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you, Deputy

14 Commissioner, for your testimony today. We

15 really appreciate it.

16 EX. DEP. COMMISSIONER GREEN: Thank

17 you. And I appreciate the support we get

18 from everyone.

19 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Next up is Acting

20 Commissioner Anthony J. Annucci, New York

21 State Department of Corrections and Community

22 Supervision.

23 Okay, thank you, if we could have some

24 order, please.

278

1 Welcome, Commissioner Annucci. We

2 appreciate your participation today, and we

3 look forward to your testimony.

4 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Thank

5 you and good morning, Chairwoman Young,

6 Chairman Farrell, and other distinguished

7 chairs and members of the Legislature. I am

8 Anthony J. Annucci, acting commissioner for

9 the Department of Corrections and Community

10 Supervision. It is my honor to discuss some

11 of the highlights of Governor Cuomo's

12 Executive Budget plan.

13 Last year, under the Governor's

14 executive Order, Hudson was converted into a

15 hybrid youth facility where 16- and

16 17-year-olds are completely separated from

17 adult inmates. While this is a progressive

18 interim measure, I urge the Legislature this

19 year to enact the Governor's Raise the Age

20 proposal.

21 The Governor has also advanced the

22 Permanent Sentencing Commission's proposal

23 that New York switch to determinate sentences

24 for those Class B through E felonies that are

279

1 still subject to indeterminate sentences, and

2 also authorize alternative sentences for

3 low-level predicate offenders. This will

4 save taxpayer dollars, eliminate confusion,

5 and ensure greater transparency, while also

6 reducing the burden on the Board of Parole.

7 To ensure that safety and security

8 remain a top priority, we continue our

9 partnership with the unions and have

10 implemented a number of technological

11 enhancements, training improvements, and

12 policy changes. These initiatives include

13 the completion of a full facility camera

14 project at Attica, with plans for similar

15 projects at Clinton and Great Meadow, among

16 others. Additionally, we have completed the

17 deployment of thermal imaging and heartbeat

18 detection devices, and new state-of-the-art

19 portable metal detectors.

20 Also, for the first time, we are

21 piloting the use of body cameras at Clinton,

22 with an expansion to Bedford Hills this year.

23 In addition, we significantly revised our Use

24 of Force policy and included deescalation

280

1 techniques in our annual training to better

2 enable staff to defuse situations without

3 resorting to physical force.

4 Lastly, we have worked with our

5 federal partners and have developed and

6 deployed a comprehensive security audit

7 instrument that will be used in all

8 facilities.

9 Our partnerships and the initiatives I

10 have briefly outlined have shown positive

11 results. While one assault on staff is too

12 many, the total number of assaults on staff

13 has been reduced by more than 15 percent,

14 reversing the alarming upward trend. With

15 the new use-of-force training, we have seen a

16 10 percent reduction in both the number of

17 use of force incidents, and the number of

18 staff involved in uses of force, an

19 11 percent reduction in staff injured during

20 a use of force incident, and a 45 percent

21 reduction in baton use in the pilot

22 pepper-spray facilities.

23 In terms of the inmate disciplinary

24 system, which is vital to the safety of all

281

1 staff, inmates and visitors, we continue to

2 evolve by implementing the terms of the

3 historic SHU settlement agreement that will

4 further dramatically reform our approach to

5 segregated confinement and provide greater

6 uniformity to prison discipline. These

7 reforms have already resulted in dramatic

8 changes in the population being housed in

9 SHU, including a 12 percent decrease in the

10 number of African-American inmates in SHU, a

11 7 percent decrease in the proportion of

12 African-American inmates in SHU, an almost

13 30 percent decrease in the average length of

14 sanction in a SHU cell, and a 16 percent

15 decrease in the median length of sanctions.

16 In April, we will institute the second

17 round of changes to the disciplinary

18 guidelines, with ranges being adjusted

19 downward. And we have begun a statewide

20 training initiative for all staff on the

21 terms of the settlement agreement,

22 deescalation techniques, and implicit bias in

23 decision-making.

24 Although we thus far have seen

282

1 encouraging results, as evidenced by these

2 statistics, we can and will do better as we

3 continue to evolve by implementing this

4 historic agreement, leading to a more fair

5 and humane system while preserving safety and

6 security.

7 With respect to programming, the

8 budget will expand the Limited Credit Time

9 Allowance statute to include two additional

10 significant program accomplishments, which

11 are participation in the DMV Program and the

12 Culinary Arts Program. The LCTA benefit is a

13 six-month reduction that is also based on

14 good behavior, thus saving taxpayer dollars

15 while making prisons safer.

16 To achieve savings, weekday visiting

17 will be reduced in our maximum facilities,

18 similar to our protocols for medium

19 facilities. By the same token, processing

20 time for visitors will be greatly facilitated

21 by our planned switch to a secure vendor

22 package program.

23 With respect to community supervision,

24 the Swift and Certain literature for

283

1 effective parole supervision focuses on the

2 need for positive rewards for good behavior,

3 as well as the need for certain limited

4 sanctions for negative behavior. Thus far,

5 we have seen encouraging results in our pilot

6 RESET initiative, but our ability to provide

7 meaningful rewards is somewhat limited by

8 certain anachronistic laws.

9 This budget would allow LCTA-eligible

10 inmates who are released and serving

11 post-release supervision to advance their

12 maximum expiration date by three months, for

13 every six months of unrevoked supervision

14 they serve. This is consistent with overall

15 public safety, since the research indicates

16 that if you have not been violated in the

17 first two or three years, you will most

18 likely succeed. Parole officers can thus

19 concentrate on higher-risk parolees.

20 In conclusion, many challenges and

21 expectations lie ahead for the department as

22 it continues to develop transformative

23 programs and initiatives, while relying upon

24 well-trained and dedicated staff who perform

284

1 their responsibilities in an exemplary

2 manner, often under dangerous and difficult

3 circumstances. The Governor's proposed

4 budget takes bold new steps to place DOCCS in

5 an advantageous position to fulfill these

6 expectations.

7 Thank you, and I will be happy to

8 answer any questions.

9 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you very

10 much, Commissioner, for that testimony.

11 I did have some questions. We started

12 out by talking about Hudson and the

13 Governor's executive order. And as you know,

14 in the 2017 enacted budget we included

15 $30 million in capital funding to comply with

16 the Executive Order 150, requiring youths

17 within the state's prison system to be housed

18 in a separate facility. And that's what the

19 Hudson facility actually is.

20 And the transformation of the Hudson

21 Correctional Facility, located in Columbia

22 County, was proposed to occur in three

23 phases: The first phase, $8 million in the

24 current fiscal year -- and I assume that work

285

1 has been done?

2 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Yes.

3 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: -- the second

4 phase, $22 million by August 31, 2016, to

5 allow the facility to open, with November

6 2016 construction of juvenile separation.

7 Has that been done?

8 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: That has

9 been tone.

10 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: So the third phase

11 is unknown, with cameras, equipment,

12 et cetera.

13 How many youth have been housed since

14 the facility became operational?

15 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I can

16 tell you what the population there is today.

17 I believe it's 62 inmates. We also have nine

18 at Coxsackie, which is the other facility

19 that handles maximum-security inmates.

20 I visited the facility about a

21 week and a half ago. I spent some time

22 talking to the young offenders that are

23 there, listening to the issues. I looked at

24 the separation unit, I looked at the

286

1 programming. It's working well, but it is

2 only an interim solution.

3 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: What crimes were

4 committed by the people who are housed there?

5 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: They

6 range. I didn't go through the list of every

7 single crime. I know one of the girls that

8 was there -- and we only had two -- she was

9 very young, 17. I know she's eligible for

10 work release, and I know we want to place her

11 there. Like so many other youth, there's a

12 dysfunctional family situation, because I was

13 encouraging her, I wanted her to do

14 education, maybe pass her high school

15 equivalency. And when I said to her, "We

16 want you to be safe, we want to return you to

17 your family, I'm sure they're waiting for

18 you," she said, "My family is not waiting for

19 me." And what I found out later, it was a

20 horrific home situation for her.

21 So placing these individuals when

22 they're released from Hudson -- we had

23 another 17-year-old individual --

24 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: But these are

287

1 people who have been convicted of violent

2 crimes, correct?

3 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: No,

4 they're 16- or 17-year-olds. They could have

5 been convicted of drug offenses, they could

6 have been convicted of any offense that a

7 judge said state imprisonment is the

8 jurisdiction.

9 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: So none of them

10 have violent criminal pasts?

11 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: No, I

12 didn't say that. I said I didn't look

13 through every offense. I'm sure they range.

14 But in this particular case, the girl I know

15 was convicted of a nonviolent offense.

16 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay. So you're

17 saying that it's a mix of those.

18 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: It's a

19 mix, yes.

20 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

21 How many reside in the facility, on

22 average?

23 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: It

24 varies. It goes up and down. Because once

288

1 they hit their 18th birthday, we have to

2 immediately move them, we can't commingle.

3 So right now it's 62. Last week it

4 was 58. It hovers around that number. And

5 of course the ones that require

6 maximum-security placement are at Coxsackie.

7 That varies too as well.

8 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay, thank you.

9 Could you break down for us what

10 services are provided by DOCCS, which are

11 contracted by the Office of Children and

12 Family Services, and which ones are provided

13 by the Office of Mental Health?

14 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Well, to

15 make it simple, all of the mental health

16 services that are required for this

17 population are delivered by mental health

18 staff, just the same way that they deliver

19 mental health services to any of our caseload

20 inmates in any of our other 53 correctional

21 facilities.

22 OCFS has been very helpful to us in

23 structuring the programming for this youth

24 population -- their special needs, keeping

289

1 them busy. A heavy emphasis on education,

2 naturally; many of them don't have their high

3 school equivalency. Keeping them busy and

4 keeping them occupied and ultimately trying

5 to effectuate the best placement.

6 It was startling to me, in a few of

7 those instances, how many of them have broken

8 families. And so we have a psychologist, we

9 have a social worker. They are going to be

10 working on restoring the families, when they

11 can, if they can be.

12 One 17-year-old is about to be

13 released; he got paroled. I'm hoping today

14 we worked it out. What happened with him is

15 his mother lives in New Jersey, and to

16 transfer him to New Jersey to be supervised

17 there, they have to be 18. They won't take

18 them under interstate parole. So I had to

19 find a place, a residence that would take him

20 for the next two months. He turns 18 in

21 March. And then we had to have the mother

22 come there and sign him in and -- I won't go

23 into detail other than to say he has serious

24 health issues related, so therefore we had to

290

1 have a special placement for him.

2 But I am hopeful that ultimately we

3 will also put there perhaps a televisiting

4 connection so that we can better connect to

5 the families wherever they may be throughout

6 the state.

7 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

8 So what would happen to Hudson if the

9 Raise the Age proposal under the Governor's

10 budget went through? Because it's my

11 understanding that all of a sudden the

12 jurisdiction would go back to the youth

13 facilities and OCFS instead of DOCCS.

14 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Well,

15 first of all, as you know, the bill envisions

16 a two-step process. The law doesn't

17 immediately go into effect to make everybody

18 the age of responsibility at 18. So you

19 would have first 16-year-olds treated as

20 minors, and then ultimately 17-year-olds. So

21 that would take a two-year process starting

22 in 2019. So there would be an overlap

23 period, number one.

24 And number two, when it's ended, we

291

1 would take it back as a general confinement

2 facility, and we would certainly assess all

3 of the efforts we have invested into making

4 the facility youth oriented. And certainly

5 we have enough 18-to-21-year-olds,

6 18-to-24-year-olds that could go there and we

7 wouldn't be forced, as we are now, when

8 somebody turns 18, to move them to a general

9 confinement facility.

10 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: So Hudson would

11 continue to operate under DOCCS

12 supervision --

13 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Yes.

14 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: -- for the most

15 violent offenders?

16 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I'm

17 sorry?

18 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: For violent

19 offenders?

20 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: For any

21 general confinement offender.

22 We have -- 64 percent of our

23 population are violent felony offenders,

24 11,000 or so are drug offenders. It's a mix

292

1 of a population that we have.

2 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

3 So right now we have two secure

4 facilities for youth in the state. One is

5 Brookwood, and one is Goshen. And you may be

6 familiar, back in 2010 OCFS was under the

7 supervision of Gladys Carrion, who is under

8 fire and actually is being let go from

9 New York City because of mismanagement on the

10 city level, especially as it is related to

11 the Administration for Children's Services

12 and the recent deaths and mismanagement that

13 have occurred.

14 But under her supervision, these

15 secure facilities for youth had sex parties

16 as a rewards system -- there was actually a

17 prostitute that was brought in, an underage

18 girl. And after that, the inspector general

19 had a review done and DOCCS was involved in

20 that, and DOCCS was very, very critical of

21 how these youth facilities were being run.

22 We just had another incident last week

23 of violence. There have been riots at those

24 facilities and so on. And I guess my concern

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1 is if there's more of a focus on having OCFS

2 run certain programs under the Raise the Age

3 proposal, that we could have a repeat -- and

4 frankly, you know, the problem hasn't been

5 fixed. The Office of Children and Family

6 Services still has a very high level of

7 violence against staff. There's a lot of

8 violence of youth on youth, youth on staff.

9 And so I don't see where a lot of those

10 issues have been resolved at this point.

11 And my question is, what do you

12 envision would happen, and especially with

13 OCFS running these programs versus DOCCS?

14 There's an issue that needs to be resolved.

15 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Well, I

16 don't think I'm in an ideal position to speak

17 to how OCFS runs its facilities. I --

18 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: However, DOCCS was

19 involved, did an assessment, said that they

20 were being run inappropriately. And I'm not

21 sure that everything has been fixed since

22 that time. And I think DOCCS would be very

23 capable in many cases, if there are youth

24 that are violent, that are acting out, that

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1 it would be more appropriate for DOCCS to put

2 in place measures to make sure that there's

3 safety and security in the facilities.

4 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Senator,

5 I believe you might be referring to the State

6 Commission of Correction that may have

7 rendered that report. DOCCS did not have any

8 involvement. We have no oversight in any

9 institutions that are run by OCFS.

10 And the issues that were going on -- I

11 remember them in the paper -- we would have

12 had nothing do with writing any kind of

13 reports or assessing what was going on there.

14 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Were you here in

15 2010?

16 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Yes, I

17 was here.

18 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay. So there was

19 an assessment that was done in the youth

20 facilities?

21 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I

22 believe it's the State Commission of

23 Correction, which is an oversight entity.

24 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay, thank you.

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1 As far as the parole officers go, what

2 is being done to ensure that they are

3 assigned appropriate caseloads?

4 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I'm

5 sorry?

6 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Parole officers.

7 You talked about parole officers in your

8 testimony, correct?

9 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Yes.

10 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: What is being done

11 to make sure that they have appropriate-level

12 caseloads?

13 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Well,

14 first of all, we rely on the COMPAS risk and

15 needs assessment to tell us what the

16 appropriate caseloads are for Levels 1

17 through 4 -- 25 to 1, 40 to 1, 80 to 1 and

18 160 to 1.

19 We also have, I believe, two parole

20 officer classes that are scheduled for this

21 year. And I believe since the merger -- and

22 I'll double-check on that -- we have had a

23 total of four parole classes. So we're

24 trying to always ensure that we have

296

1 sufficient resources supervising the

2 offenders.

3 I made it a priority to make sure that

4 they have all of the equipment. I have

5 placed orders for vests. We've replaced the

6 Glocks. We continue to invest in training.

7 We continue to try new initiatives.

8 A big proposal for the Governor is to

9 get rid of those low-level people that don't

10 require any further supervision. The

11 literature tells us that too much supervision

12 is actually counterproductive. And we would

13 have a reward system for those on PRS, for

14 every six months they serve without any

15 revocation of their supervision, they would

16 advance their release date by three months.

17 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you. I'm

18 going to come back, but I'll let the Assembly

19 ask some questions.

20 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Assemblyman Weprin,

21 chair of the Correction Committee.

22 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Thank you,

23 Mr. Chairman.

24 Good afternoon, Commissioner Annucci.

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1 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Good

2 afternoon.

3 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: I want to start

4 off by saying I appreciate you reaching out

5 to me as the new chair of Corrections my

6 first week or second week on the job. And I

7 look forward to working with you over the

8 next number of months and years, hopefully on

9 issues of concern to the State of New York.

10 So thank you for that.

11 I'm going to ask a couple of questions

12 on the Limited Credit Time Allowance. The

13 Executive Budget proposes adding two more

14 programs to the list of programs eligible for

15 LCTA, the Department of Motor Vehicles Call

16 Center Program and the Culinary Arts

17 Vocational Program.

18 Can you tell me how many inmates a

19 year participate in an LTCA-eligible program

20 and how many of them are actually granted

21 LCTA and, of those, how many are actually

22 released on LCTA?

23 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I can't

24 tell you off the top of my head. I think I

298

1 can come back and get you more specific

2 numbers.

3 I can tell you that since the program

4 was enacted in 2009, I believe, that the

5 State of New York has saved $14 million in

6 prison avoidance costs. And that's with

7 every successful candidate being released an

8 average of 5.3 or 5.1 months earlier by the

9 time everything was done.

10 So there were nine existing programs

11 that qualify. And this grew out of a

12 Sentencing Commission recommendation that I

13 was on with Assemblyman Lentol -- it was one

14 of the recommendations in their final

15 report -- that we looked at how many programs

16 there were for nonviolent inmates and

17 incentives to participate in programs and

18 potentially advance their release dates, but

19 there was nothing for this cohort, really.

20 And they're in for long periods of time.

21 So we felt if we structured something

22 that listed programs that were very

23 significant, exceptional, and coupled it with

24 significant hurdles for behavioral

299

1 achievement -- and they gave us the

2 discretion to decide what that is. And you

3 cannot have engaged in a disciplinary

4 infraction and received a recommended loss of

5 good time within the prior five years. Then

6 you would qualify.

7 And we started out with I think seven

8 or eight, and we added to it the Puppies

9 Behind Bars program, which is extremely

10 worthwhile. And these two are very

11 worthwhile. We have two call centers, one

12 that we operate jointly with the DMV at

13 Bedford Hills, one at Greene. Inmates go

14 through the training and they answer calls

15 from the general public. And they answer

16 questions that any member of the general

17 public will have about driver's license or

18 registration or -- that's basic questions.

19 In the culinary arts, we know the food

20 service industry is welcoming to released

21 offenders. So giving them the practical

22 skills -- first having them go through the

23 training to receive the serve-save

24 certificate, which is important, and learn

300

1 how to handle food safely and prepare it and

2 actually replicate almost a restaurant-type

3 experience -- take orders from staff, serve

4 the food and even charge for it. This is a

5 real life experience.

6 And so it's a win/win. It will save

7 taxpayer dollars and make prisons safer,

8 because there is no stronger incentive for an

9 inmate than potentially reducing his length

10 of stay in prison.

11 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Okay. Have you

12 had female inmates in these two programs as

13 well?

14 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Yes.

15 Females at Bedford Hills, yes.

16 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: And what's the

17 breakdown of female versus male?

18 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I'm

19 going to have to get you that. I know when I

20 was there at Bedford, it looked like about

21 40-something women actually in the program.

22 But I'll have to get you a total over a

23 year's time, how many might that be.

24 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Okay, thank you,

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1 Commissioner.

2 DOCCS recently changed its policy to

3 limit LCTA for college unless all the credits

4 are earned within two calendar years. And

5 the problem with that I see is obviously, as

6 an incarcerated inmate it's very often hard,

7 especially for a young individual, to get all

8 the necessary credits for a degree within two

9 years, and that could be a problem. Was

10 there a reason by -- a particular reason for

11 that change? And is that flexible to be

12 changed?

13 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I have

14 to double-check with my deputy commissioner

15 for program services.

16 I know that the general rule of thumb,

17 when we wrote the statute, was that we wanted

18 at least a two-year type of program

19 commitment, that it's something that's

20 demanding and requires you at least to

21 participate for two years. So I think that

22 was the thinking behind it, but I'll

23 double-check with him.

24 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Yeah, because

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1 generally you need 60 credits for an

2 associate degree and it's very hard for them,

3 you know, in the limited time as an inmate,

4 to get it within two years.

5 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: But the

6 LCTA specifies you have to participate for

7 two years. You don't have to actually get

8 the degree.

9 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Okay, so you

10 don't have to get the degree within two

11 years.

12 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: No. I

13 don't believe so.

14 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Okay. The

15 Executive Budget proposes to allow the DOCCS

16 commissioner, yourself, rather than the Board

17 of Parole, to set the conditions of release

18 for inmates who are released by operation of

19 law, including inmates who are presumptively

20 released, are conditionally released, or who

21 max out but must complete a term of

22 post-release supervision. The Board of

23 Parole would then continue to set conditions

24 of release for inmates with indeterminate

303

1 sentences who the board releases.

2 Additionally, the Executive Budget

3 proposes to allow three months of earned

4 reduction for every six months of

5 uninterrupted post-release supervision.

6 Approximately how many inmates per

7 year would have conditions of release set by

8 the department?

9 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: This

10 would cover everybody that's getting released

11 on a determinate sentence right now.

12 The Board of Parole sees individuals

13 that are serving an indeterminate sentence.

14 I think -- if I remember correctly, I had

15 this number. I'm going to guess somewhere

16 around 10,000 or thereabouts, but let me

17 double-check and get the exact number for

18 you, that would continue to be seen by the

19 board, and everybody else would be not seen

20 by the board.

21 These are all the individuals that are

22 going out either, you know, under a

23 determinate sentence with a merit time date

24 or a CR date. They're not seen by the board.

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1 The case plan is developed by program staff.

2 We hand off with the reentry specialists, the

3 community supervision. It's really an

4 anachronistic function. The board isn't even

5 seeing these individuals. So it makes no

6 sense to place this continuing burden on them

7 for individuals that they don't even see.

8 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: And does the

9 department envision significant changes to

10 the conditions of release compared to the

11 kinds of conditions currently imposed by the

12 board?

13 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: No. We

14 actually think that in many ways these things

15 will be specifically geared to the inmate's

16 particular needs. There's a case plan that

17 develops. If he needs substance abuse

18 treatment, we'll make sure he gets it, we'll

19 make sure the handoff is there.

20 We have no interest whatever in adding

21 onerous conditions or additional conditions

22 to any parolee. You know, the theme

23 throughout is we want you to succeed. We

24 want you to succeed when you're taking

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1 programs in our facilities, we want you to

2 succeed out there, we want public safety to

3 be advanced. So we do not want programs that

4 aren't tied to rehabilitation conditions to

5 be attached to any parolee.

6 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: I appreciate

7 that. The Daily News did a story and it got

8 a lot of publicity about the proposal in the

9 budget to reduce the number of visiting days

10 at maximum-security prisons, which currently

11 have seven days a week, to three days a week

12 in order to save what is a very small

13 percentage of the overall Correction budget

14 of about 3.5 billion. It would save

15 $2.6 million by eliminating 39 positions.

16 My question for you is, a lot of our

17 members in the Assembly have raised that

18 issue as potentially, you know, not being

19 humane, also not allowing families the

20 opportunity to visit with those inmates who

21 are often many, many miles from their home.

22 And if the Department of Correction were

23 going to choose these three days, it

24 potentially might not be a weekend day. It

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1 could present a tremendous hardship.

2 Very often, because of lines and

3 limited visitation areas, someone often

4 cannot stay more than a couple of hours. And

5 very often when you have seven-day-a-week

6 visiting, family members may come long

7 distances and stay for a number of days

8 during that period.

9 So my question for you is, what was

10 the thought process behind that, and how

11 flexible is the department? Because I know,

12 you know, members of the Assembly majority

13 have raised objections to that to me.

14 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Thank

15 you, Assemblyman.

16 Let me start off by just reiterating

17 that I am absolutely committed to doing

18 everything reasonable possible to maintain

19 family ties. It's absolutely critical to do

20 that wherever we can. It's so critical for

21 reintegration. Having family supports in

22 place is vital to succeed in rehabilitation.

23 Like everybody else, there are budget

24 issues. And I'm trying to save money

307

1 wherever we can, responsibly, to be

2 responsible to the taxpayers. We gave a lot

3 of thought as to which day we would keep as

4 the weekday visiting day. In the mediums,

5 there's no weekday visiting. That was

6 another budget move made in the early '90s.

7 But by keeping Fridays, this is what

8 we achieved. When you go to a weekend and

9 holiday schedule, it means weekdays as well

10 as holidays. We know that four Mondays every

11 year are holidays, with Martin Luther King

12 Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, and

13 Labor Day. So that means four times a year,

14 coupled with Fridays, that's four consecutive

15 days. We know that Thanksgiving is a

16 Thursday. So when you have Friday visits,

17 that's a fifth time where you have visits

18 four days in a row.

19 I've been through the max facilities,

20 and every time I walk through the visiting

21 room in a max facility on a weekday, there's

22 a very limited number of visitors there.

23 They don't get that much use, and yet they're

24 fully staffed to be prepared for visitors.

308

1 I also want to point out that Friday,

2 when we measured it, was of all the five

3 days, the day where most of the visits for

4 weekdays happened.

5 I'll also point out that I'm a strong

6 supporter, a continued supporter of the

7 Family Reunion Program, which really allows

8 the family to live like a family briefly for

9 a weekend or whatever the duration of the

10 visit is. And that will continue, of course.

11 Also, in response to a bill that was

12 passed a number of years ago, you directed

13 that this agency no longer allow commissions

14 from phone calls to be used for any

15 supportive services. So as a result we have,

16 if not the lowest, among the lowest phone

17 rates for when inmates call home, 0.048 cents

18 per minute. And I can tell you that in 2016,

19 there were 21 million completed calls, for a

20 total of 321 million minutes. And to keep up

21 with the demand for phones, we added 68 in

22 2016, including facilities like Attica,

23 Clinton and Green Haven.

24 Also, my long-range plan is to have a

309

1 secure messaging system present. And we

2 currently have an RFP for the new phone

3 contract out there. We're in the blackout

4 period. But we put a placeholder in it for

5 the bidder on the phone program ultimately to

6 provide an email connection. The bidder will

7 be required to outline how the infrastructure

8 and business rules of the inmate phone system

9 can be leveraged to implement secure

10 messaging, making it much easier to stand up

11 when we are ready to pursue.

12 The other thing that we do a lot of is

13 we have many facility special events, family

14 special events, for religious holidays and

15 other events. And in 2016, there were 608

16 special events with family guests that were

17 attended by 23,398 inmates and 22,539

18 members. And I participated in a number of

19 these. A week and a half ago, I attended the

20 college graduation at Eastern Correctional

21 Facility that was in partnership with Bard.

22 The family members were in the audience, they

23 saw all the students come in in cap and gown.

24 I put on a cap and gown. There was a speech

310

1 made by a Yale University dean. We had

2 musicians playing the procession. And we had

3 speeches by the inmates themselves, and then

4 we had food in the area afterwards as a

5 celebratory event.

6 We had something similar at Sullivan

7 for a graduation there, Hudson Link at

8 Sullivan Community College. We had it at

9 Woodbourne.

10 I've also allowed family members to

11 come in during events such as Rehabilitation

12 through the Arts. So when the inmates put on

13 the performance at Bedford -- they saw

14 "The Wiz" -- the children can see their

15 parents in character. When we did it at

16 Sing Sing, they came in and saw the inmates

17 performing Twelfth Night.

18 And one last thing that we did that

19 I'm going to replicate, we had Celebrate Your

20 Child, an event at Sing Sing, where we just

21 had the children brought in. The caretakers

22 brought them in -- the mothers, the

23 girlfriends, whatever -- left them at the

24 facility, we put them at a church off-site,

311

1 just so the fathers could bond with their

2 children. We had a musician come in, we had

3 arts and crafts, we made the entire place

4 child-friendly so it looked like something

5 from Disneyland. We had a DJ, we had food.

6 But it was an initiative that went off very,

7 very well, and it's the kind of event we're

8 going to continue to do because it goes to

9 the heart of maintaining family ties. And my

10 commitment to continue that is unabated.

11 So I have an obligation to the

12 taxpayer. And unfortunately, you know, years

13 ago we made this change in medium. So if

14 you're in a max now, you have visits seven

15 days a week, it's a little of an abrupt

16 change to go to a medium. And many of our

17 mediums previously were at max, and to only

18 have visits on weekends.

19 So this was, we thought, a prudent

20 change, but still leaves weekday visits on

21 Fridays.

22 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

23 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

24 Senator Gallivan, who is chair of the

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1 Crime and Corrections Committee.

2 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Good afternoon,

3 Commissioner.

4 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Good

5 afternoon, Senator.

6 SENATOR GALLIVAN: The budget, if I

7 read it correctly, provides for 165 new

8 correction officer positions that came about

9 as a result of the security staffing reviews.

10 So that's additional positions in addition to

11 your current strength.

12 Where are you in that security

13 staffing review process?

14 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: We're in

15 the third year right now. I think there's

16 either four or eight left to be done. That's

17 a collaborative effort that we do with both

18 unions, NYSCOPBA as well as Council 82.

19 And when the process is complete --

20 and I think it's four facilities left to

21 finalize -- then the recommendations will be

22 submitted to the Division of the Budget.

23 SENATOR GALLIVAN: I'm pleased with

24 your testimony to learn that assaults are

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1 down, which is clearly a good thing. But I

2 agree with you; as you testified, one assault

3 is too many. So while assaults are down, if

4 I understand correctly, from year to year, if

5 we go back five years, we're still

6 significantly above what it was five years

7 ago. And I know that's problematic.

8 And I also know from our separate

9 discussions and your testimony, you're

10 implementing some different things. I'd like

11 to talk just about a few of the things. And

12 this is in no particular order.

13 But you made reference to pepper

14 spray, and you've got pilot facilities. How

15 many facilities is that being used in?

16 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I'm

17 going to double-check. I think we're up to

18 about six or eight.

19 But we are satisfied with the results.

20 And this was something that was recommended

21 strongly to us when we brought in auditors

22 from the National Institute of Corrections,

23 that this would make a lot of sense. And the

24 experience at places like Attica, where we've

314

1 put it, for the most part has been it can

2 stop a violent fight in its tracks, for the

3 most part.

4 And I'm always about trying to enhance

5 anything to keep staff safer, and this is

6 something that we are going to look to expand

7 to all of our medium and max facilities,

8 because we are very satisfied with the

9 results thus far.

10 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Now, three other

11 things that you had testified to -- thermal

12 imaging, heartbeat detection device, and

13 portable metal detectors -- are all of them

14 deployed through every facility, or are they

15 limited as well?

16 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: No,

17 they're not at every facility, but we are

18 spreading them at every facility, or all the

19 maxes. I'm trying to keep every one straight

20 as to exactly where we are. I think we've

21 deployed about 110 of those portable metal

22 detectors, which are very helpful in removing

23 metal weapons from the population.

24 Because it's one thing when an inmate

315

1 sees a fixed location where he knows there's

2 a metal detector, and it's another thing when

3 we can move them and then do them in effect

4 in an unannounced fashion. So that has been

5 very successful.

6 The thermal imaging devices -- the

7 heartbeat detection is at I believe almost

8 all of our maxes, if not all, so that

9 vehicles exiting a facility -- and these

10 things are so sensitive, they'll detect

11 anything. And one time a vehicle couldn't

12 leave, and we found out it wasn't a person,

13 it was a mouse that was trapped in there.

14 So we're learning that technology can

15 be an enormous asset and help us and keep our

16 inmates safe and security staff safe as well,

17 and civilians as well.

18 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Along the lines --

19 continuing the theme of technology, I don't

20 think you testified to the x-ray equipment in

21 the package room. Where does that stand?

22 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: We are

23 still studying it, the x-ray equipment. And

24 we see an important role for that at our

316

1 front gate procedure.

2 I'll check with my technological

3 people to see exactly where we are, but when

4 I last checked, we're still evaluating them.

5 We'll get back to you.

6 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Please do.

7 I think a couple of years ago --

8 although I may be mistaken, but I'm thinking

9 we had perhaps a brief conversation about

10 body scanners. And whether we had the

11 conversation or not really is irrelevant. I

12 mean, what are your thoughts about the use of

13 body scanners?

14 And if I back up, where I've seen them

15 in use is post-visits. So the body

16 scanner -- the visitor is not subject to that

17 at all. But because so much contraband comes

18 in through the contact visits, the idea would

19 be that when the inmate leaves the visiting

20 area, he then passes through the body

21 scanner, similar to what you see at airports.

22 Do you have thoughts on their use?

23 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I will

24 have to defer to my people. I haven't had a

317

1 discussion about that in a while.

2 Certainly I am concerned with

3 visitation and the introduction of

4 contraband, especially drugs. We do have

5 visitor processing systems so that we can

6 readily identify a visitor who has tried to

7 introduce contraband in one facility, and now

8 we have a way of identifying them should they

9 come with new identification or false

10 identification at a different name.

11 So that is expanding to our

12 facilities. We do strip-frisk inmates after

13 a visit. I'm not sure if, on top of that, a

14 body scanner would tell us more. But I'm

15 open to exploring anything that would further

16 increase safety and security.

17 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Several years ago,

18 Rikers deployed the body scanners. It was

19 only for a brief time. And they reported

20 success in reducing the amount of contraband,

21 particularly weapons, coming into the

22 facility, but also had reported where an

23 inmate might have, you know, swallowed a

24 balloon with drugs or something like that.

318

1 They ran into a a problem, though, and

2 that's state law. Public Health Law requires

3 certified x-ray technicians. So we have some

4 legislation to -- I don't want to say to

5 overcome that, to ensure compliance. But of

6 course we'd have to have a willing system to

7 be able to use it, find the funding, which I

8 would be committed to do.

9 But I would ask that that's something

10 that you look into because I think we

11 together would find that the research shows

12 it could be tremendously successful.

13 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: We have

14 a product evaluation committee that's always

15 looking at different things and seeing what

16 the latest technology is from various

17 vendors, so we could certainly explore that

18 as well, Senator. Thank you.

19 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Finally, I know

20 that you do have a pilot going on with body

21 cameras. What can you report to us, and your

22 thoughts on the use of body cameras in

23 facilities? And do you have enough data yet,

24 or have you evaluated it enough to know

319

1 whether it can be an effective tool?

2 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: We -- we

3 started out as a pilot. It's still a pilot.

4 But we first started it at Upstate

5 Correctional Facility, which is an SHU

6 facility, and we said if there's going to be

7 an extraction, let's see how this technology

8 works. It was already on contract, the

9 company and the vendor.

10 So we started using it there, and then

11 we started using it in high-risk escorts, so

12 when our CERT team would be transporting

13 somebody that was a high risk. And we were

14 satisfied to the point that we said, Okay,

15 let's go to the next step, let's deploy it in

16 widespread fashion -- first at Clinton, where

17 we now have 150 body cameras that are

18 deployed.

19 A lot of planning went into it. It's

20 basically event-specific, so that the

21 officers who are outfitted with it -- it's in

22 an inactive phase, but they activate it when

23 one of these events, like movement for a

24 particular area or a response to something.

320

1 And so we're in the very early stages

2 of continuing to evaluate it. Some issues

3 with the vendor, and they've been very

4 responsible, they've come on-scene to, you

5 know, fix any technical problems.

6 But we're hopeful that -- we think it

7 will help. Certainly my ultimate goal is to

8 have a fixed camera system in place at

9 Clinton, very similar to the $12 million

10 project that is almost complete at Attica.

11 And I can tell you when I went to Attica,

12 which was only a couple of months ago, and

13 walked down the cell blocks, you could sense

14 the whole atmosphere was much calmer.

15 Believe me, when the commissioner walks down,

16 if they know it's the commissioner, and the

17 inmates are unhappy about something, they

18 will let you know. But most of the

19 conversation was "How you doin'? Everything

20 okay?" "Yeah, everything's fine," and moved

21 on.

22 So cameras really have a calming

23 effect on everybody. And they let us know

24 exactly what's happening. So we're a strong

321

1 proponent. When we built our new

2 facilities -- now 12 years ago or so --

3 Upstate and Five Points, they were fully

4 camera-ed. That's the way to go.

5 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Thank you,

6 Commissioner.

7 Thank you, Madam Chair.

8 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you, Senator.

9 ASSEMBLYMAN OAKS: Assemblywoman

10 Walker.

11 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WALKER: So thank you to

12 the respective chairs for allowing me the

13 opportunity to speak and ask a couple of

14 questions.

15 The first question that I have relates

16 to college or college classes while a person

17 is incarcerated in one of your facilities.

18 Is this something that's already being

19 implemented? And, you know, is it at all

20 facilities, being made available at all

21 facilities?

22 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: It's not

23 at all facilities, Assemblywoman. But we are

24 strong proponents of it. We have about

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1 900-and-some-odd inmates enrolled in some

2 type of college programs. I think it's at

3 24 different facilities right now.

4 The U.S. Department of Education

5 recently awarded $30 million, and seven -- I

6 believe seven different college consortiums

7 that will service our facilities received

8 that award, so they'll be expanding on our

9 current capabilities. One of the college

10 consortiums I think was in Bennington, so

11 they will service Great Meadow.

12 And we're also looking forward to when

13 the announcement is made by the District

14 Attorneys Association of New York, this asset

15 forfeiture money that he has made available,

16 so they'll be expanding on the college

17 programs. And we are all in favor of that.

18 Based upon my experience, education is

19 the purest form of rehabilitation. And it

20 really also has a very positive effect on the

21 whole inmate population. These are role

22 models for other inmates, and it moves us

23 towards safer institutions.

24 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WALKER: So the

323

1 resources that are being utilized for these

2 college courses, is there any government

3 money that's attached to that, or is that a

4 part of your budget ask this year?

5 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: The

6 government money now that's being used is not

7 the restoration of the Pell Grant funding

8 that was just announced by the U.S.

9 Department of Education, $30 million.

10 The money that will come from the

11 Manhattan district attorney's office is asset

12 forfeiture money --

13 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WALKER: So there's no

14 state money attached to that?

15 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Well, I

16 think there might be a little bit left over,

17 or it might all be gone.

18 But basically all of the existing

19 relationships we have with college programs

20 rely on outside donors, private

21 donors like --

22 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WALKER: Well, would any

23 of these individuals be included in the

24 Governor's Excelsior tuition-free scholarship

324

1 program?

2 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I'm not

3 aware that there are. But certainly we look

4 forward to the expansion of the Pell with the

5 seven institutions that just got awards, and

6 the District Attorneys Association, so --

7 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WALKER: Okay. Also,

8 would there be any continuation of services,

9 like once a person is released and they're on

10 parole, or maybe not on parole, but would

11 they still have an opportunity to continue in

12 their classes? Will they be transferable?

13 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: We are

14 engaged in various conversations with some of

15 the higher education institutions. There's a

16 vehicle by which some of our students can

17 continue, for example, at John Jay, which

18 we're looking at. And in fact we might look

19 to place some of them, take classes there

20 while they're still with us, as part of one

21 form of temporary release. It's called

22 educational release.

23 So we're looking in some ways, limited

24 ways, to continue their education in the

325

1 community when they need it. And some of

2 these institutions on their own do it. Like

3 I believe Bard, when some of our inmates get

4 paroled, do accept them into their programs,

5 or different college campuses.

6 So it is a continuous network, and it

7 certainly helps for employment purposes.

8 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WALKER: Thank you. I

9 think that's a wonderful program.

10 But we also had an opportunity to see

11 the usage of a restraint desk in some sort of

12 educational environments of people who are

13 incarcerated. Is that particular technique

14 something that would be employed here? Or

15 would someone who would require the usage of

16 a restraint desk be limited in their

17 opportunity to take any of these courses?

18 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: The

19 restraint chair that you're talking about --

20 we call them restart chairs -- they're

21 basically used for SHU populations. They're

22 not used for general-confinement inmates.

23 And we learned early on when we got

24 advice from our mental health expert, before

326

1 we settled a complex lawsuit, that when you

2 bring inmates out into a group setting, it is

3 absolutely critical that they all be safe.

4 And sometimes they'll assault each other.

5 And group settings are important to have for

6 mental health therapy and other types of

7 programs.

8 So we will only do it if someone's in,

9 for example, our Marcy residential mental

10 health treatment program or our step-down

11 programs in SHU. But they're not used for

12 general-population purposes. These are basic

13 classroom settings for everybody else.

14 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WALKER: But even if

15 that person who maybe, you know, required

16 some type of SHU exercises, if you will,

17 whether it be solitary confinement or through

18 the restraint desk or whatever the

19 paraphernalia is called -- if that person is

20 in one of these classes, will they still be

21 required to wear --

22 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: No. No.

23 No. If they were, for example, going out for

24 their outside recreation, you know, there's

327

1 no restart chair, there's no restraints once

2 you're in your outside recreation.

3 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WALKER: Thank you.

4 Thank you.

5 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you. Thank

6 you very much.

7 Senator Bailey.

8 SENATOR BAILEY: So I just have a

9 couple of questions. Thank you,

10 Commissioner, for coming here. It's along

11 the same lines that Chair Weprin and

12 Assemblywoman Walker just mentioned,

13 concerning the DMV program and Culinary Arts.

14 They sound like great programs.

15 But concerning reentry, do you have

16 specific relationships with outside groups

17 that would facilitate, post-release, that

18 somebody would be able to actually be

19 gainfully employed based upon the

20 transferable skills that they've learned

21 while incarcerated?

22 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Oh,

23 absolutely. We have many relationships. We

24 have relationships and contracts with outside

328

1 service providers, not-for-profits, Work for

2 Success, Pay for Success.

3 There are a number of things -- we

4 have reentry specialists. We have about

5 22 people that are concerned with getting

6 jobs, getting housing, getting placements. A

7 big challenge, of course, with housing. A

8 lot of our individuals being released

9 unfortunately require homeless services.

10 But reentry is a big, big focus. The

11 Governor has created the Reentry Council. We

12 listen to their recommendations all the time.

13 We're always trying to remove the barriers

14 that there may be for hiring and employment

15 purposes. It is the public policy of this

16 state not to discriminate against anybody in

17 the hiring decision or the housing decision

18 because they may have a criminal record, and

19 we remind people of that all the time.

20 We work with the individuals as part

21 of transitional services. We do practical

22 role-playing, get them ready for a job

23 interview, how to, you know, make up a

24 resume, how do you explain to a prospective

329

1 employer about your criminal record. We do a

2 lot of different things.

3 And we're focused on those industries,

4 like the food service, that is friendly

5 toward the formerly incarcerated.

6 SENATOR BAILEY: Thank you,

7 Commissioner. I think I have one more

8 question for you.

9 So we're looking at potentially fewer

10 hearings and reduced sentences. Overall,

11 would you see -- what costs would that

12 offset? With the cost savings on this side,

13 would that potentially offset other costs

14 that you may have?

15 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I'm not

16 sure I got the first part.

17 SENATOR BAILEY: So understanding that

18 there may be, you know, fewer hearings -- and

19 if we're reducing the amount of folks that

20 are coming in, right, do we -- are we going

21 to offset any additional costs? Are you

22 going to be able to do that?

23 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: You're

24 talking about the fewer hearings by the

330

1 Parole Board?

2 SENATOR BAILEY: Yes.

3 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Okay. I

4 don't think that that's really going to

5 offset too much of the burden on the Board of

6 Parole, which is pretty extensive right now.

7 You know, they have a lot to do to basically

8 have a full file together and -- to some

9 degree, and it will take years to implement,

10 if we enacted determinate sentencing, maybe

11 that's going to change the number of hearings

12 that they will see.

13 But if we go with this change now that

14 I will set the conditions, that's more or

15 less paper changes. It's not hours of

16 changes, it's just eliminating an unnecessary

17 step. It will be helpful to them, but I

18 don't think it's going to be big in terms of

19 reduced workload for them.

20 SENATOR BAILEY: Okay. Nothing

21 further. Thank you, Commissioner.

22 Thank you, Madam Chair.

23 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

24 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

331

1 Mr. Graf.

2 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Do we have any

3 policy when it comes to guard/prisoner ratios

4 in our jail?

5 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I know

6 that our ratio, compared to the rest of the

7 country, is very, very good. I think our

8 inmate -- correction officer or security

9 staff ratio to inmates is 1 to 2.5. And I

10 think for the rest of the country, the

11 average is something like 1 to 6.5.

12 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Now, is this

13 required, the ratio, the staffing ratio?

14 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: No, it's

15 not required. It's a function of what we do

16 to create plot plans for a facility, what

17 needed posts are and coverage, et cetera,

18 relief factors and all of those things. So

19 that's the total security staffing for the

20 whole system.

21 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: All right. And

22 right now we have enough manpower to do this

23 1 to 2.5?

24 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: We have

332

1 yet to complete the final leg of the

2 three-year security staffing audit that was

3 enacted several years ago. And so

4 ultimately, in my judgment, when we adopt all

5 of those recommendations, we'll be at the

6 full complement.

7 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Correct. But where

8 are we right now?

9 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: We've

10 implemented the second year. We've

11 implemented the first year, now the second

12 year. So the third --

13 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: What's our ratio

14 right now?

15 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: One to

16 2.5.

17 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: And now here it

18 says that you as the commissioner, you can

19 set conditions of parole in certain

20 instances. Okay? Now, when you do that, do

21 you take into consideration a victim impact

22 statement like the Parole Board would do? Do

23 you talk to the victims of the crimes?

24 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I don't

333

1 envision that we would talk to the victims of

2 the crimes.

3 Because, first of all, the offenses

4 that we're talking about, the Parole Board

5 doesn't even see them. You're talking about

6 people that are serving determinate

7 sentences. So a determinate sentence is a

8 fixed sentence. It's set in whole or half

9 years. So somebody gets, let's say, a

10 7Ω-year determinate sentence, right, on

11 attempted assault, that person will get

12 released either at the maximum expiration or

13 the conditional release date. When they get

14 released, there's no victim impact to assess

15 whether they feel they should get released or

16 not.

17 We are fully aware of what happened to

18 the victim and will measure that, because we

19 look at the pre-sentence report. That's a

20 very detailed document that will tell us what

21 happened. That also tells us what programs

22 the individual will need while he's with us.

23 If he needs aggression replacement therapy,

24 if it's a domestic violence matter, then

334

1 we'll certainly set conditions like that.

2 But to actually reach out and

3 interview the victim, that's not done now

4 under present practice.

5 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Okay.

6 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Unless

7 it's an indeterminate sentence. Then, of

8 course, the victim is interviewed, because

9 the decision is whether or not the person

10 gets released or not, and the Executive Law

11 requires -- that's one of the factors that

12 the Parole Board looks at.

13 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Okay. Well, it

14 says in certain instances, under the

15 corrections reform bill, that you can set the

16 conditions of parole.

17 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Correct.

18 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Okay? Are you

19 limited in what types of cases you can set

20 the conditions?

21 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: If this

22 is enacted, this would be, in effect, every

23 type of decision where somebody's released,

24 in effect, by operation of law. There's no

335

1 discretionary Parole Board release.

2 So a drug offender, for example, he

3 gets out, I will be able to set the

4 conditions. And they will all be geared to

5 what he needs in the community. Does he need

6 drug treatment, does he need mental health

7 services, does he need substance abuse

8 counseling?

9 Whatever it is, we will set it

10 according to the case plan that's developed

11 by program staff, and then hand it off to

12 Community Supervision staff. Which will

13 continue, by the way, to have the authority

14 to change conditions as appropriate. Parole

15 officers have that authority now.

16 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Okay. Are there

17 any convictions where it would have to go to

18 the Parole Board and you wouldn't be the

19 determiner?

20 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI:

21 Absolutely. Every single case right now

22 where there's a Parole Board interview,

23 right -- and under current law, if you

24 changed nothing else, every single individual

336

1 with an indeterminate sentence, whether it's

2 15 to life, 3 to 9, 5 to 15, every one of

3 those cases goes before the Parole Board.

4 The Parole Board grants release or withholds,

5 holds them for two years, whatever. When

6 they finally grant release, they will

7 continue to set the conditions, because they

8 are doing the interview. They see the

9 individual before them, whether it's

10 physically in their presence or through a

11 televideo interview.

12 ASSEMBLYMAN GRAF: Okay, thank you.

13 I'm out of time.

14 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

15 Any other questions? Okay, well,

16 thank you very much.

17 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: No, no, no, no, no.

18 I'm sorry.

19 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Denny's trying to

20 see if I'm still awake, I guess.

21 (Laughter.)

22 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Assemblywoman

23 Peoples-Stokes.

24 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: I'll be

337

1 real quick, Madam Chair.

2 Just a couple of quick questions.

3 Thank you very much for your testimony today.

4 You mentioned that there's 39 FTEs that will

5 be reduced as a result of the policy change

6 on visiting hours. How many of those 39 FTEs

7 are filled positions?

8 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: They're

9 all filled right now.

10 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: They're

11 all filled right now.

12 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Yeah.

13 What we would envision happening is if this

14 is enacted, gradually we would basically

15 absorb those staff through the normal

16 attrition process. Because, you know, we are

17 always losing staff. People retire, people

18 move to other facilities. So there are

19 always items that need to be filled. And so

20 we don't envision anybody's current job being

21 immediately affected. They'll get a

22 different post; obviously, they'll bid to a

23 different job. But we don't see that

24 happening.

338

1 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Okay.

2 So does your department budget have any

3 vacancies in it?

4 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I'm

5 sorry?

6 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Does

7 the budget have any vacant positions in it at

8 all?

9 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Does the

10 budget have any vacancies in it?

11 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Yes.

12 Yes. You know, sometimes people will budget

13 for vacant positions.

14 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Sure.

15 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Yeah?

16 How many?

17 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: We're

18 always having vacancies.

19 It's -- it's -- when you have a

20 workforce of 29,000 -- and we're budgeted, I

21 believe, for FTEs, 29,215 -- there is

22 constant turnover and constant challenges to

23 fill positions. Especially difficult

24 positions like nurses, which is unfortunately

339

1 very difficult. And then we have to schedule

2 training classes for correction officers. I

3 believe we have nine that are planned for

4 this fiscal year.

5 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Okay.

6 Because did you all just do a recent exam for

7 correction officers not long ago?

8 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I'm

9 sorry, do we have what?

10 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Give an

11 exam for new correctional officers? No? A

12 civil service exam?

13 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I'm

14 sorry, I still don't --

15 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Okay.

16 There's an Article VII in the budget that

17 proposes a change in preferred source

18 correctional -- an industries program, which

19 includes a procurement service for asbestos

20 abatement.

21 Can you explain how that's going to be

22 implemented and who's going to do the

23 training? And are the folks that are being

24 trained able to leave at some point, under

340

1 their release, with a certificate?

2 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Okay, I

3 believe the change you're talking about is

4 allowing that as a preferred source status

5 under our State Finance Law.

6 We've had an asbestos abatement

7 program for a number of years right now.

8 It's a part of our Corcraft program. And the

9 individuals that participate in it, the

10 inmates, are fully trained and are credited

11 with certifications. They're given the full

12 equipment.

13 And there's a lot of demand for them,

14 because unfortunately we have a lot of old

15 buildings that require asbestos removal. And

16 it is one of the LCTA, the Limited Credit

17 Time Allowance components. So that if you

18 qualify and you participate for I believe

19 whatever it is, 18 months, plus the training

20 certificate, you can shorten your release by

21 as much as six months.

22 And I don't have the statistics, but

23 I'm --

24 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: You can

341

1 shorten your -- I'm sorry, say that again.

2 You can shorten what?

3 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: You can

4 get released six months prior to your normal

5 release date. It's one of the nine

6 existing-law Limited Credit Time Allowance

7 criteria, as long as you behave as well.

8 And I've heard, at least anecdotally,

9 that there's a demand for that job in the

10 outside world. So if you have real-life

11 experience working as a crew to remove

12 asbestos from one of either our buildings or

13 one of the public buildings -- because we are

14 allowed to work on any state building or

15 government building, political subdivision of

16 the state, without taking private business

17 away -- that's very valuable in the real

18 world.

19 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Yes, I

20 have to concur, there is a demand for

21 asbestos removal, because there is, I think,

22 a huge demand to preserve some of the older

23 buildings in our state. We have a really

24 great historic preservation operation going

342

1 on here.

2 The problem is that asbestos is a very

3 hazardous material. And if business were to

4 listen when the environmentalists were

5 telling them that years ago, we would have

6 never put that in our buildings.

7 But my concern is that, one, the

8 inmates are providing this asbestos removal

9 as a -- through a training program for the

10 private sector.

11 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I can

12 tell you that what we are doing is under the

13 auspices of the Department of Labor, to make

14 absolutely certain that all of our equipment

15 is safe equipment, that no one's health is

16 compromised, it's state of the art.

17 And we're very pleased with the

18 results so far. I have not heard any

19 complaints or any --

20 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: How

21 many facilities have this program?

22 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I'm

23 going to guess several. I think there's one

24 we're going to open at Fishkill as well. But

343

1 I think about it's two or three right now

2 where we have crews available.

3 But let me double-check on that.

4 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Is the

5 training done by the Department of Labor or

6 New York State Education?

7 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: I'm not

8 absolutely sure. I think it has been. But

9 I'll have to double-check and get back to you

10 on that.

11 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Okay.

12 Well, we'll follow up on that, because I'm

13 definitely interested in some clarity on,

14 one, who provides the training, to make sure

15 it's meeting all the milestones and safety

16 measures that are critically important.

17 And I think the other thing that is

18 important to know is where are the

19 private-sector buildings that the inmates are

20 providing this service, and where are the

21 public-sector buildings that the inmates are

22 providing this service?

23 And you said yes to the fact that they

24 will have a certificate when they leave that

344

1 allows them to have a job skill that they can

2 use in the community that they return to.

3 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Yes,

4 absolutely. It's important that they be able

5 to document, whether it's in that program or

6 any of our other vocational programs or the

7 apprenticeship program that the DOL issues to

8 us -- there's a number of different things --

9 or the computer technology programs that we

10 operate -- whatever they participate in, they

11 have to meet certain qualifications, pass

12 tests. We want them to have the

13 documentation to document, when they go out,

14 what they've actually accomplished.

15 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Well,

16 thank you very much.

17 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

18 Joe Lentol, chairman.

19 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: Thank you,

20 Mr. Chairman. Is this working? I can hear

21 myself usually when the microphone is on.

22 First of all, I just wanted to say

23 that -- how many commissioners have you

24 served under before you became acting

345

1 commissioner?

2 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Well, I

3 started in 1984 with Tom Coughlin, who was

4 succeeded by Phil Coombe, who was succeeded

5 by Glenn Goord, who was succeeded by Brian

6 Fischer. So four. But this is my fifth

7 governor.

8 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: I always thought

9 that you were the brains of the outfit under

10 those commissioners, and now you've proved it

11 by taking over. And I have to tell you that

12 I hoped that we could have gotten rid of your

13 acting commissioner title before the end of

14 the year.

15 (Inaudible; laughter.)

16 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: So let me just

17 make a comment first about determinate

18 sentencing. Because and you and I served

19 on -- as you suggested, you and I served on

20 the Sentencing Commission under Commissioner

21 O'Donnell as well as Mike Green. And you

22 know the difficulties that we had in trying

23 to fashion a grid for the D and E felonies.

24 It wasn't an easy job.

346

1 What makes you think that the

2 Legislature can do it?

3 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Well,

4 let me say this, Assemblyman. This is the

5 product of what the Permanent Sentencing

6 Commission put together, which are different

7 people altogether, who were very mindful,

8 very mindful of the resistance that came

9 about after the first O'Donnell Commission's

10 recommended grids.

11 And they operated on two principles.

12 They were absolutely adamant that the grids

13 that they came up with could not in any way

14 expose people to longer incarceration. They

15 were absolutely certain. They wanted to

16 ensure that people either would save the

17 equivalent time or less.

18 And the second thing is that this is a

19 balanced approach. There's a grid for the

20 homicide offenses, which is separate from all

21 the other indeterminates, because they this

22 way enlisted the district attorneys' support.

23 And this permanent commission is chaired both

24 by District Attorney Cy Vance and Judge Derek

347

1 Champagne. And many others --

2 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: By the way, Tony,

3 you might remember that I was the one that

4 was screaming about racial disparities when

5 we discussed this, where we couldn't get any

6 information out of DCJS or anyone else to

7 determine whether or not this was efficacious

8 for us to do with the built-in racial

9 disparities in the system.

10 And I think we now have that problem

11 now, because everyone is accusing the

12 Parole Board of not letting anybody out. And

13 if we're going to build that into the system,

14 then we're going to have disparities as well

15 in determining what the actual grid could be.

16 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Well,

17 let me say this, Assemblyman. When the

18 Legislature moved to determinate sentencing

19 for all drug offenses, this has had seismic

20 impacts on (A) who's in prison and the racial

21 makeup of who's in prison.

22 The population in prison is driven by

23 two things. One is in admissions, and you

24 get into prison by -- either as a new

348

1 commitment for a felony or as a return parole

2 violator. The other thing is the length of

3 stay. Now, what drives length of stay? Not

4 just a sentence, but all of the programs that

5 the Legislature has enacted over the years

6 going back 30 years -- shock, merit time,

7 earned eligibility, the alternative with

8 parole supervision sentences.

9 So right now, as we're sitting here,

10 compared to 20 years ago, there are

11 10,000 less African-Americans in prison,

12 there are 10,000 less Hispanics in prison.

13 There are 1800 more whites in prison. So

14 when you went to determinate sentencing, yes,

15 you also did a number of other things. You

16 also created alternatives for drug offenders

17 and did a number of other things. But you

18 dramatically changed the prison population,

19 and I think you made it a lot fairer.

20 So you went to determinate sentencing

21 for drug offenders. We think going to drug

22 offenders for this cohort will have similar

23 results.

24 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: I also have this

349

1 to say. And I think this is important. And

2 it's really not part of this hearing, but I

3 have to say it anyway because I have you in

4 the room.

5 I was here long enough to remember

6 that we promised the mental health community

7 to have clinics in the neighborhood in order

8 to solve people's mental health problems.

9 Right now we have a situation where all of

10 the mentally ill people are either on the

11 street, in homeless shelters, or in our

12 jails. Can we tackle this problem?

13 I mean, can you tell us how many

14 people that you suspect are in DOCCS that are

15 mentally ill? Do you have a number for that?

16 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Yeah.

17 We currently -- and it's about 20 percent now

18 of the population that are on the OMH

19 caseload. So that's about 10,000-plus

20 individuals that are requiring some degree of

21 mental health services. And of that cohort,

22 about 24 percent are diagnosed as seriously

23 mentally ill.

24 So it is a challenge for us. And yes,

350

1 you know, a lot of this was when we

2 deinstitutionalized and took away all of

3 those large mental health hospitals and

4 didn't really come back with sufficient

5 community supports.

6 So a lot of the services we provide it

7 should -- and we have really implemented an

8 incredible array of different possibilities

9 for delivering services with OMH. We have,

10 you know, the residential mental health

11 treatment units that you enacted years ago.

12 We have tri-ICP, we have ICP beds. We have a

13 new unit that we're going to create that's

14 going to be a step-down from the residential

15 crisis treatment beds, because you're still

16 at high risk for suicide, we learn, when you

17 get out of there. So we're going to, you

18 know, continue to deliver services.

19 Now we have, you know, specialists,

20 mental health handoffs for the community. We

21 drive the individuals when we have a

22 placement instead of putting them on a bus.

23 We hook them up with services. Getting them

24 to continue to take medication is a

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1 challenge.

2 So it's a very, very complex problem.

3 But we are doing a lot behind the walls and

4 in the community. And perhaps someday we'll

5 have more diversion up-front, similar to what

6 happened with drug offenders, that you can

7 divert people from state prison altogether

8 with suitable placements up-front.

9 ASSEMBLYMAN LENTOL: We also have some

10 programs that I think have been really not on

11 anyone's radar screen, one by your former

12 boss, Commissioner Fischer, up in the Bronx

13 that is a residential facility for the

14 mentally ill. I won't mention the name of

15 it.

16 But, I mean, these are the kind of

17 approaches we have to do. Government can't

18 do it all, but government has to get involved

19 in funding some of these programs like we do

20 any of the other programs that help people

21 who are in trouble, whether it's drug addicts

22 or anyone else that is able to go to a

23 residential facility and get help. And I

24 think we have to do that now, because we

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1 haven't done our job. We're letting private

2 citizens deal with the problem, and

3 government promised the people a better

4 shake, the mentally ill.

5 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

6 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

7 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

8 Any other questions?

9 Okay, well, thank you very much for

10 joining us today.

11 ACTING COMMISSIONER ANNUCCI: Thank

12 you.

13 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: We truly appreciate

14 all of your information. Look forward to

15 working with you.

16 You brought the whole room with you,

17 apparently, because they're all leaving. I

18 guess some are coming this way.

19 Next up is Superintendent George

20 Beach, from the New York State Police.

21 Number five.

22 If we could have some order in the

23 house, please. Okay, let's have some order.

24 We'd like to begin.

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1 So welcome, Superintendent. It truly

2 is always a pleasure to see you and have a

3 discussion with you. So we are very, very

4 happy that you've waited around for this many

5 hours to be able to address any questions

6 that the Legislature may have. So please

7 proceed.

8 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Thank you.

9 Thank you, Chairman Young, Chairman Farrell,

10 and distinguished members of the committees

11 for the opportunity to discuss with you today

12 Governor Cuomo's budget for the Division of

13 State Police. I am George Beach,

14 superintendent of the New York State Police.

15 I would like to take this opportunity

16 to thank the Legislature for its enduring

17 support of the New York State Police.

18 Because of your support, the New York State

19 Police continues to enjoy its well-deserved

20 reputation as one of the leading law

21 enforcement agencies in the nation.

22 On April 11th, the New York State

23 Police will celebrate the 100th anniversary

24 of our founding in 1917. Then-Governor

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1 Charles S. Whitman signed the Wells-Mills

2 Bill into law establishing the State Police.

3 As we reflect on the 100-year legacy

4 of excellence in our agency, we recognize

5 that our role in New York continues to

6 encompass our original purpose while the

7 expectations placed upon the agency in the

8 ever-changing environment of law enforcement

9 continue to expand. Our members are faced

10 with greater threats and demands on their

11 abilities than at any time in our history.

12 This is the reality of our mission.

13 For a century, the State Police has

14 consistently provided public service through

15 its core missions while adapting priorities

16 to ever-changing societal needs. We have

17 striven for continuous improvement in every

18 aspect of our public service. Our current

19 mission priorities include reducing the

20 number of deaths, injuries and property

21 damage caused by motor vehicle accidents,

22 through traffic enforcement and motorist

23 education; providing professional police

24 services to communities and investigative

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1 support to police departments around the

2 state; engaging in emergency preparedness,

3 planning and response activities; and serving

4 a crucial role in the state's

5 counterterrorism efforts through our

6 collaborative work with federal, local and

7 other state agencies.

8 My first and foremost priority

9 continues to be the safety of the public and

10 our troopers who protect them. Toward that

11 end, we will continue to provide our troopers

12 with the necessary equipment and other

13 valuable resources to achieve the best levels

14 of safety in the performance of their duties.

15 During the past year, with your support, we

16 outfitted the agency with new patrol rifles,

17 rifle-resistant body armor plates for every

18 patrol vehicle, additional plates for large

19 deployments, and new ballistic helmets as

20 well as new fitkits for existing helmets

21 statewide. Both you and the Governor have

22 paid close attention to this need after

23 observing the increasing level of

24 sophistication and tactics employed at

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1 criminal events in the United States and

2 abroad.

3 The Governor continues to dedicate

4 funding to enhance efforts to detect and

5 deter terrorism in a time when such acts are

6 constantly a threat to the safety of

7 New Yorkers and are news headlines around the

8 globe. As a result, New York remains one of

9 the safest large states in the nation. Using

10 intelligence-based investigative techniques

11 and targeted enforcement, state troopers are

12 now assigned to potential target locations

13 and, with federal and local partners, provide

14 greater protection for the public through

15 asset integration strategies.

16 Our increasing presence in the

17 New York metropolitan area adds an additional

18 layer of security for our citizens as they

19 travel through the city's public

20 transportation venues. It is also intended

21 to provide a deterrent effect to both

22 terrorism and other criminality as the state

23 moves to open road tolling at all of its MTA

24 bridges and tunnels, where we have a 24-hour

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1 presence.

2 The State Police is unique as the only

3 law enforcement agency in New York State with

4 the ability to deploy large numbers of

5 professionally trained police officers

6 anywhere in the state on short notice in

7 response to an emergency or natural disaster.

8 The State Police is also available for

9 large-scale deployments to meet an immediate

10 need for law enforcement services in any

11 community. In addition to our traditional

12 investigative law enforcement responses, we

13 continue our partnerships with the Office of

14 Emergency Management and the Department of

15 Homeland Security and Emergency Services,

16 with a focus on disaster preparedness and

17 response readiness.

18 Illegal drug use and its impact

19 continues to dominate headlines in our state.

20 Heroin availability and abuse continues.

21 State Police will continue to aggressively

22 investigate drug-related offenses and assist

23 local police agencies. State Police

24 Contaminated Crime Scene Emergency Response

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1 Team members responded to a 38 percent

2 increase in methamphetamine and other drug

3 manufacture locations statewide in 2016.

4 Our troopers, as first responders,

5 continue to patrol with Naloxone, the opioid

6 reversal drug, which we have administered

7 218 times in medical emergencies involving

8 drug overdoses. One hundred ninety-eight of

9 those administered Naloxone survived the

10 overdose.

11 This year was the first year for the

12 Campus Sexual Assault Victims Unit that arose

13 from the "Enough is Enough' legislation and

14 the Governor's commitment to combating sexual

15 assault on college and university campuses

16 statewide.

17 Fifteen State Police personnel worked

18 across the state last year to ensure

19 uniformity in the handling of campus sexual

20 assault investigations, provide investigative

21 assistance to campus or local law enforcement

22 in receipt of these allegations, and educate

23 individuals and campus communities regarding

24 victim's rights and support resources.

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1 During the year, the Campus Sexual

2 Assault Victims Unit investigated 81 campus

3 cases of sexual assault, dating and domestic

4 violence or stalking.

5 Agency staffing remains an area of

6 constant executive-level discussion within

7 the State Police. New and core mission

8 priorities, both internal and external,

9 investigative statistics, member safety,

10 transportation trends and personnel

11 attrition, among others, factor into our

12 needs requests. We continue to request and

13 conduct academy classes so that adequate

14 staffing levels are maintained to perform our

15 new and core mission priorities, without

16 sacrificing the response time or the safety

17 of our troopers. We will continue to look

18 for additional efficiencies through our

19 partnerships with other law enforcement

20 agencies throughout the state.

21 New Yorkers have come to expect public

22 service from a stable, professional and

23 adequately resourced State Police. I am

24 proud to say that New Yorkers can be

360

1 confident their expectations are being met.

2 It is the integrity, knowledge, dedication,

3 and quality of our men and women that

4 distinguishes the New York State Police. I

5 am honored and privileged to be a part of

6 this agency, especially as we celebrate our

7 great traditions on our 100th anniversary.

8 I thank you for your support of the

9 State Police and for the opportunity to

10 address you this afternoon.

11 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

12 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

13 Senator Gallivan to start.

14 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Thank you,

15 Chairwoman.

16 Good afternoon, Superintendent.

17 Thanks for your patience.

18 I would like to touch on two or three

19 different areas. The first is deployment in

20 New York City, that I believe this particular

21 budget calls for an increase in deployment to

22 New York City with police personnel.

23 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, sir.

24 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Could you just

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1 describe to us very briefly what's the role

2 of the State Police in New York City, in its

3 enhanced role, and then what impact might it

4 have on services throughout the rest of the

5 state?

6 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: The State

7 Police is deployed at the moment, Senator, on

8 high-profile transportation facilities, which

9 include all nine MTA bridge and tunnels,

10 Grand Central Train Station, Penn Station.

11 And in addition to that, about three weeks

12 ago we also brought a contingent of troopers

13 into both JFK Airport and LaGuardia Airport.

14 Those are our primary missions at this time.

15 The reason behind this is the concern

16 that we have that these are prime targets.

17 It's no secret that all the available

18 intelligence says that New York City, and in

19 particular its infrastructure assets, remain

20 prime targets for terrorism. That has been

21 shown again and again by the attacks which

22 have either taken place or been thwarted

23 through a combination of law enforcement

24 agencies and resources down there.

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1 A couple of important points. The

2 jobs that we are undertaking in New York City

3 do not supplant or replace the effort of the

4 New York City Police Department. In fact, we

5 work closely and cooperatively with the New

6 York City Police Department in all of these

7 ventures. These are state administered

8 and controlled assets. They have existing

9 police departments, the MTA Police Department

10 in addition to the Port Authority. So we are

11 enhancing the law enforcement presence on

12 those potential target locations.

13 We have not staffed any of these

14 positions in New York City at the expense of

15 any of the resources which are committed in

16 upstate troops. The Governor has budgeted

17 for these additional positions in New York

18 City.

19 As you know, we have had a presence

20 for decades in New York City, but it has been

21 largely investigators who work in a variety

22 of functions, including on federal task

23 forces, drug task forces. So this new

24 component that we are adding of uniformed

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1 positions has been budgeted above and beyond

2 our existing staffing levels so that we can

3 continue to adequately discharge our

4 functions without any diminution of service

5 in upstate areas.

6 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Thank you.

7 A new proposal is a call by the

8 Governor for a Hate Crime Task Force. And I

9 know that -- while the number escapes me, I

10 know that he has provided funding for that.

11 Are those additional positions?

12 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: The -- we --

13 let me explain. We have had, for several

14 decades, specially trained investigators

15 deployed throughout the state and in all of

16 our troops to handle reports of hate crimes.

17 So we had an existing capacity to handle

18 these reports when they came in.

19 The Governor has proposed a funding

20 source for us which will allow us to assign

21 full-time dedicated persons on a regional

22 basis, including a senior investigator and

23 five investigators. But it will allow us to

24 also expand the training. And we envision

364

1 being able to bring in local police resources

2 as well, get them trained as well, to expand

3 our reach.

4 And part of the reason is that, as

5 you're aware, hate crimes require a fast

6 response to them. Evidence can be lost

7 quickly. We've actually encountered some

8 instances where we've had some reports of a

9 hate-type graffiti and by the time we get

10 there, it's already been painted over because

11 it is so patently offensive to the people

12 who, you know, live or frequent these

13 institutions, that frequently we lose the

14 evidence. So our ability to respond quickly,

15 secure evidence, is critical.

16 And so that money will allow us to

17 further support our efforts on that. In

18 addition to that, we have centralized the

19 command of that unit in the BCI command staff

20 at division headquarters to ensure uniformity

21 in the training, in the response, and in the

22 investigation of those crimes.

23 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Thank you.

24 Over the past -- in testimony in prior

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1 years -- and of course you would have an

2 awareness of this because of your history in

3 working on the different positions in the

4 State Police -- there was a lot of concern

5 about the conditions of the fleet, both the

6 uniformed fleet and then the plainclothes

7 cars for the BCI. And in the last several

8 years we provided funding to try to, I guess,

9 work towards fixing that.

10 Can you tell us the status of that?

11 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes. We have

12 made tremendous progress in reducing the

13 number of higher-mileage vehicles through the

14 funding resources that you did provide to us.

15 We estimate that towards the end of the

16 fiscal year, by this March, anyway, we will

17 be able to replace the last 125 to 130

18 vehicles which will be approaching the

19 threshold for mileage, which is 125,000.

20 That's been our goal.

21 The funding that is placed in this

22 budget will allow us to continue that, and so

23 we believe pretty confidently that we can

24 maintain fleet under that mileage limit

366

1 moving forward. But as you know, it's a

2 constant -- the vehicles are constantly in

3 motion, and so this is a problem which isn't

4 going to go away and something that we have

5 to stay on top of.

6 SENATOR GALLIVAN: But this funding --

7 if I understand correctly, this funding would

8 allow you to catch up --

9 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes.

10 SENATOR GALLIVAN: -- and then get

11 back on that cycle, and then obviously annual

12 funding would be necessary.

13 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, sir. The

14 funding going forward will permit us to keep

15 our fleet under that mileage threshold.

16 SENATOR GALLIVAN: And where we are

17 now is much better shape than the last few

18 years --

19 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Oh,

20 tremendously. Yes, sir.

21 SENATOR GALLIVAN: -- and we don't

22 have concerns about safety, the safety of the

23 vehicles at this point.

24 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: I do not. I do

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1 not.

2 SENATOR GALLIVAN: All right, thanks.

3 My final question has to do with the

4 SAFE Act. It continues to be an area of

5 concern for many of us.

6 There is concern that I've received

7 from many of my constituents -- where they're

8 getting this, I don't know, and I wanted to

9 try to clarify this. Are there any plans --

10 well, as we know now, pistol permits are

11 administered at the local level, through the

12 county courts, by the local judge. And the

13 concern is the future of that.

14 Are there plans for the State Police

15 to take over the issuance of pistol permits?

16 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: No, there are

17 not. That will remain the function of the

18 county licensing authorities.

19 SENATOR GALLIVAN: All right. Thank

20 you.

21 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, sir.

22 SENATOR GALLIVAN: All set.

23 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you, Senator.

24 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Assemblywoman

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1 Crystal Peoples-Stokes.

2 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Thank

3 you.

4 Thank you, sir. And thank you for

5 your service. We certainly do appreciate the

6 service of the State Police.

7 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, ma'am.

8 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Having

9 had the opportunity to be in a briefing not

10 long ago with the homeland security

11 commissioner, I do understand why there's

12 perceived need for the new officers, state

13 troopers, in New York City. But I still do

14 have some concern because I think, you know,

15 it's not the only area that quite frankly

16 needs extra surveillance, and I think it

17 should be spread out more throughout the

18 state as opposed to the entire amount

19 directed toward New York City. That's just

20 my opinion on that one.

21 But my question for you is, have you

22 received like any specific directive from the

23 federal administration regarding the recent

24 executive orders?

369

1 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: No. As was

2 indicated by several of the other

3 commissioners this morning, the executive

4 orders that have been issued are being

5 examined by our counsel's office to see if

6 there's any applicable matters or issues that

7 would arise.

8 I have been told preliminarily that at

9 this point we don't anticipate any problems

10 whatsoever, either now or moving down the

11 road.

12 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Good.

13 Good.

14 The other thing I -- the last thing I

15 want to ask you is regarding the sexual

16 offense evidence kits. There has been some

17 backlog in those for a while, and I

18 understand that the Governor has proposed

19 some additional resources to try to catch up

20 on that. What's the strategy for getting

21 that done?

22 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, ma'am. We

23 have budget authority now to hire 26

24 additional forensic scientists to handle what

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1 we anticipate to be the expected caseload.

2 In addition to that, we have performed

3 outreach to other police departments and

4 prosecutorial authorities in the state to try

5 and determine what that potential universe of

6 cases might be. And we believe, based on

7 those surveys, that these additional

8 26 people will allow us to meet the demands

9 being placed upon us.

10 We do have some space requirements and

11 needs at our Forensic Investigation Center,

12 and we are working closely with Division of

13 Budget and with OGS to assess those needs and

14 to move forward on making that --

15 implementing that additional square footage.

16 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Where

17 is that forensic center located?

18 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: It's located on

19 the state campus in Albany, right adjacent to

20 our --

21 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: And so

22 are you saying that it's understaffed? Is it

23 understaffed?

24 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: We believe that

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1 the staff that we have on board right now is

2 adequate.

3 However, it will take the addition of

4 these 26 people to meet this demand. But we

5 are meeting our goals otherwise in addressing

6 the needs of the law enforcement and

7 prosecution and law community.

8 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: So how

9 do you receive, say, these evidence kits from

10 different law enforcement departments

11 throughout the state? What are they, mailed

12 to you or do they come in a car or --

13 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: They can. But

14 typically what happens is their evidence

15 technicians will bring the kits and other

16 evidence which is submitted for

17 examination -- the evidence technicians will

18 frequently bring those either to the Forensic

19 Investigation Center or to one of our

20 regional laboratories which are placed --

21 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Oh, so

22 how many regional laboratories?

23 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: I'm sorry,

24 ma'am?

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1 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES:

2 Regional laboratories, did you say?

3 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, ma'am. We

4 have one in Hudson Valley at Stewart Airport,

5 we have one in Binghamton, and we have one in

6 Olean that provide regional --

7 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: The

8 last one you said?

9 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: In Olean.

10 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Olean.

11 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, ma'am.

12 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Olean.

13 (Laughter.)

14 ASSEMBLYWOMAN PEOPLES-STOKES: Okay,

15 thank you. In the Senator's area.

16 Thank you very much. I appreciate

17 you.

18 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Thank you.

19 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you very

20 much.

21 Senator Croci.

22 SENATOR CROCI: Thank you, Madam

23 Chairwoman.

24 Superintendent, thank you very much

373

1 for your appearance here today. And I want

2 to again thank you for your service to our

3 state over the years. You are in the

4 enviable position of leading one of the

5 finest law enforcement organizations in the

6 country. All of us, I think, have troopers

7 as friends or in the family somehow, and it's

8 a long and storied tradition.

9 And we're very proud to have you here

10 today and again compliment you for the

11 organization you lead.

12 In the Governor's budget he proposes,

13 as my colleague Senator Gallivan mentioned, a

14 Hate Crimes Task Force. Has this proposal

15 been coordinated with the Department of

16 Justice Civil Rights Division or the U.S.

17 Attorney's offices in New York State?

18 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: We envision at

19 this point -- we don't envision, we are

20 actually already working with the Division of

21 Human Rights at the state level. And in

22 addition to that, partnering with local law

23 enforcement agencies and sheriff's offices.

24 To date we have not established a

374

1 partnership with federal prosecutors yet. Of

2 course, as you know, we are well networked

3 with all of the district attorneys. And they

4 have been made aware and are -- you know, we

5 have made an outreach to all of them.

6 But I'm unaware that we've established

7 any partnerships federally.

8 SENATOR CROCI: So it would be a fair

9 statement to say that this policy proposal

10 was -- not at your level and your agency, but

11 not at the policy level in the Governor's

12 office coordinated yet with our federal

13 partners?

14 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Correct.

15 SENATOR CROCI: Thank you.

16 The Governor also, as mentioned,

17 includes money for bridge and tunnel

18 initiatives. I'm familiar, having worked

19 with some of the New York City and other

20 state agencies in reviewing that situation,

21 that it's something that the Senate's

22 Counterterrorism and Public Protection Task

23 Force will be looking at.

24 I just wanted to talk about one

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1 specific part of that allocation, the

2 nonpersonal service. I notice $22 million

3 for personal service -- that's personnel --

4 over time, et cetera, but then there's a

5 $5 million nonpersonal service. I'm just

6 wondering if you could explain a little more

7 what that is.

8 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Well, the -- I

9 haven't studied that portion of the budget as

10 closely, Senator. But in addition, we have

11 had, in order to operationalize this

12 initiative, to purchase vehicles. With those

13 vehicles, of course, comes protective

14 equipment. In addition to that, we purchased

15 LPR units for the vehicles down there to

16 function in the capacity that they have to on

17 the bridges and tunnels.

18 SENATOR CROCI: Okay, so it's money in

19 support of the personnel movement.

20 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yeah, for

21 equipment, yes, sir.

22 SENATOR CROCI: Understood, thank you.

23 He also requests an additional

24 $1 million a year to complete the transfer of

376

1 personnel from the Department of Homeland

2 Security. This is the Intelligence Analysis

3 Unit. We had discussed that last year, I

4 think, around this time.

5 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, sir.

6 SENATOR CROCI: Can you tell me how

7 that process has gone and what the additional

8 million dollars will be used for?

9 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: We're actually

10 almost complete with the process of

11 transferring everybody right at this point.

12 And the additional million dollars will be to

13 offset some of the costs associated,

14 personnel and nonpersonnel, to equip and

15 staff over at the NYSIC where these folks

16 will come in and work with us.

17 SENATOR CROCI: Okay. So in last

18 year's budget that money, I believe, was

19 included as well. This year there's

20 another -- is there a way that we can

21 receive -- I don't expect you to have it now,

22 but receive a breakdown of how exactly

23 that --

24 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Sure. I'd have

377

1 to get back to you on that, but I'd be glad

2 to.

3 SENATOR CROCI: Okay. How is that

4 working, by the way, with those?

5 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: We are very

6 pleased.

7 SENATOR CROCI: Is that information

8 flowing up to you and --

9 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: This expanding

10 capacity for us is tremendous.

11 SENATOR CROCI: And how is the

12 intelligence reporting being done by your

13 agency? Is it being pushed up to DHS --

14 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes.

15 SENATOR CROCI: -- and can you just

16 give us an idea of how that process works?

17 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Well, as you're

18 aware, the NYSIC is the state's fusion

19 center. And it's driven by the need to

20 acquire, collect, analyze and push out

21 actionable intelligence to local law

22 enforcement, state partners, and through a

23 consortium of federal agencies which

24 contribute to all of that process.

378

1 And in addition to that, we of course

2 push intelligence out for the New York State

3 Police as well as the chamber, senior

4 executives in state government, so that they

5 can make decisions about initiatives and

6 emerging situations as they're occurring.

7 SENATOR CROCI: Very good. My last

8 question -- I have about 20 seconds left -- I

9 have repeatedly, as have other elected

10 officials in the state, asked that the mayor

11 of New York, Mayor de Blasio, and the

12 Governor, through the State Police,

13 reestablish the demographics units that were

14 so successful under Commissioner Kelly in

15 New York City in preventing terrorist acts --

16 before we have to get to preparedness levels,

17 preventing by having that good human terrain

18 information.

19 Has the Governor yet directed that the

20 State Police establish such a unit?

21 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: No.

22 SENATOR CROCI: Okay. Thank you very

23 much. And thank you again, to you and to all

24 the troopers.

379

1 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, sir.

2 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

3 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Helene Weinstein.

4 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: Just a

5 follow-up on the question about New York

6 City, the deployment of State Police in

7 New York City. Was that coordinated? Was

8 that at the request of New York City or --

9 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: No, it was not

10 at the request of New York City.

11 But one of the points that I should

12 have made previously is that we have always

13 worked very closely with the New York City

14 Police Department. As I mentioned

15 previously, for decades we have had personnel

16 working down there who work on a daily basis

17 not only with the New York City Police

18 Department but all the other police agencies

19 and federal partners who we work with down

20 there.

21 I have met with and my executive staff

22 has met with all of the senior executives of

23 the New York City Police Department, to

24 ensure that the existing relationships that

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1 we have and the coordination of our work is

2 seamless. And so as we add this uniformed

3 component, I have personally met with

4 Commissioner Jim O'Neill. I consider him a

5 friend. And I can assure you that not only

6 the New York City Police Department but all

7 of our other partners down there have been

8 nothing but supportive in helping us stand

9 this mission up down there.

10 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: Just from

11 personal experience at the Battery Tunnel,

12 there used to be NYPD, and now that car is

13 gone and now there's a state car, I guess the

14 state Port Authority. Or were those

15 Triborough --

16 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, ma'am they

17 were TB, Triborough Bridge and Tunnel

18 Authority officers. They still are there,

19 but we call them now MTA Bridges and Tunnels

20 officers. So we are augmenting their

21 existing patrols down there.

22 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: I guess they

23 were hiding the other day. Thank you.

24 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: I'm glad that

381

1 you saw the troopers, though.

2 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you,

3 Superintendent. And I'd like to echo the

4 sentiments of my colleagues. We are strong

5 supporters of the State Police, and thank you

6 for all of the great service that you give to

7 the citizens of New York.

8 Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples brought

9 up the crime labs. And as you pointed out,

10 we have one in Olean. And I just wanted to

11 ask you about not only the lab but also the

12 barracks in Olean, and I want to get your

13 assurance that both of those will remain

14 operating.

15 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, they will.

16 And the replacement of those facilities is

17 also a priority for us in our capital budget

18 planning. But we'll continue to work --

19 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: And we'd like to

20 see those remain in Olean.

21 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Oh, yes.

22 Absolutely, yeah.

23 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay. Thank you.

24 I'm glad to hear that.

382

1 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, ma'am.

2 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Very glad,

3 actually.

4 I want to go through a little bit of

5 history, because we have been strong

6 supporters of the New York State Police

7 School Resource Officers Program. And I know

8 you probably know the history, but it

9 actually started in the early 2000s under

10 some COPS, the Community Oriented Police

11 Services grants through the federal

12 government.

13 And it took a little bit to catch on,

14 but at the time it was to provide training to

15 students, faculty, and staff in the following

16 areas, which included identifying and

17 mitigating problems contributing to bullying,

18 school safety curriculum, gang recognition,

19 drug resistance and personal safety, and

20 identifying environmental factors that

21 contribute to substance abuse, disorderly

22 behavior, and truancy. And I don't think any

23 of those problems have gone away. And in

24 fact, we've seen active shooter situations,

383

1 unfortunately, across the country over the

2 past many years.

3 So once the schools had the SROs

4 within their facilities, they were just

5 thrilled with the results. And the fact that

6 they had a mentor who could provide, you

7 know, guidance to students, help them, be a

8 sounding board, and provide safety and

9 security to the school buildings.

10 So in 2009 the Executive Budget, under

11 Governor Paterson, included the redeployment

12 of 200 troopers, of which 92 were assigned to

13 school districts as SROs. Unfortunately, the

14 majority at that time rejected that proposal,

15 and through administrative action, the

16 Executive did provide the 92 officers. And

17 then in 2010, unfortunately, the program was

18 ended.

19 There still is a lot of interest in

20 our school districts, I think, and some of

21 our colleagues in the Legislature on the SRO

22 program. And the division currently has a

23 School and Community Outreach Unit. Could

24 you tell us what this unit actually does?

384

1 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Well, it's

2 actually headquartered and administered in

3 our field command operation, so it's part of

4 our day-to-day policing operations. It falls

5 under the purview of one of the captains who

6 works in field command.

7 There are two uniformed sergeants who

8 work in that unit with that captain. In

9 addition to that, we have civilian staff who

10 maintain the webpage and, in concert with the

11 State Education Department, the portal

12 through which we can put out information on a

13 frequent basis to school systems. And it's

14 a -- I am told, a tremendous resource.

15 In addition to that, we have taken

16 other steps towards safety and security at

17 the schools. We have acquired, over time,

18 emergency plans for each of the facilities in

19 each of the districts. That project is

20 underway, but we're largely complete now.

21 Those plans are put together by the

22 superintendent; typically, it would be the

23 business superintendent who we deal with in

24 the districts. We created a form, basically,

385

1 they can fill it out for us. They can do

2 that online to make it seamless, submit that

3 to us.

4 We share that, and have uploaded that

5 not only into our own computer car systems,

6 so that our people responding to potential

7 incidents have the layout and have the

8 emergency plan available right at their

9 fingertips, but we have also made that

10 available to our partners in local police and

11 to sheriff's offices.

12 In addition to that, each of the

13 troops -- and in some cases there are several

14 of our people assigned in each of troops as

15 resource officers. This does not replace the

16 SROs, who were able to devote time in each

17 one of the schools to which they were

18 assigned, but they are an active outreach

19 component of the New York State Police to all

20 of the schools in their district. And they

21 coordinate the flow of information back and

22 forth between us and the schools.

23 Where possible, they do spend time,

24 particularly in areas in which there are no

386

1 other local or sheriff's patrols to provide a

2 visible presence at the schools. And so we

3 kind of lean on them to do some of these

4 functions for us. But it cannot completely

5 replace the SRO program as we had once run

6 it.

7 The last thing, and I want you to

8 know, is that every chance I get -- and I

9 frequently get a chance to speak both to our

10 supervisor groups or to our troopers, and one

11 of the first things that I make them aware of

12 that's a priority for us is they have to know

13 where the schools are, they have to go there

14 frequently, they have to -- I prefer them to

15 be on a first-name basis with the principals

16 or administrators at those facilities, so

17 that if something does happen, we have a

18 ready resource and people who are

19 knowledgeable about what's happening.

20 So we've tried to draw kind of a net

21 together to perform some of these functions.

22 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: The Legislature and

23 the Governor worked together to put in place

24 several new initiatives to deal with the

387

1 opioid and heroin crisis that we see. And

2 obviously we're all very alarmed by the fact

3 that it still is a crisis in the state. I

4 think we've put measures in place that will

5 help over time to alleviate some of the

6 issues that are out there. But I was at one

7 of my school districts recently and the kids

8 were talking about "Another one died last

9 week." Very matter-of-factly, by the way,

10 which is horrifying when you think about it.

11 But they were referring to one of their

12 fellow students who had died from an

13 overdose.

14 And in light of that -- and I

15 appreciate the fact that you talked about the

16 Narcan administration that the troopers have

17 given out. You've saved a lot of lives. But

18 in light of the drug situation that is

19 rampant in some of our schools, in light of

20 the active shooters that have occurred in

21 other states, have you given any thought to

22 possibly reconstituting the SRO program?

23 Because, you know, I appreciate

24 that -- and I know you're very on top of the

388

1 schools and you know where they're at and you

2 know -- you help them with their plans. But

3 is there any thought to that? And what would

4 it cost to restart the SRO program?

5 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: We -- based on

6 our existing programs in the past, we know

7 what it would cost. We know what the

8 commitment of the personnel would be. And it

9 has been the subject of discussion, and it

10 has been the subject of some planning in the

11 State Police. Unfortunately, at this time --

12 and as you know, there's a constant

13 assessment of needs around the state, and

14 staffing levels. At the current time, with

15 the commitments that we have now undertaken,

16 I can't at this point commit people. When we

17 ended the program, we had about 105. And I

18 know what great work they did.

19 But yes, we do, from time to time,

20 look at that.

21 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

22 I think that's all I have. Thank you.

23 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Assemblyman Oaks.

24 ASSEMBLYMAN OAKS: Yes,

389

1 Superintendent, I just wanted to focus a

2 little bit with -- the recertification of

3 pistol permits is coming up, and I know

4 actually within this budget year that we're

5 looking at and talking about, we're going to

6 start to see the first ones of those coming

7 up for being renewed.

8 So just wanted to check with you, do

9 you have numbers on about what we're talking

10 on, total numbers for recertification?

11 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, sir. I'm

12 happy to be able to report to you that we

13 started that recertification program on

14 January 1, as we were required to do.

15 We have, to date, received just under

16 60,000 recertifications, either by computer

17 or by mailed recertification forms.

18 ASSEMBLYMAN OAKS: And those -- they

19 have how long to do that? Or you said you've

20 received 60,000. But if that's only a

21 portion of it --

22 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Oh, yes.

23 ASSEMBLYMAN OAKS: -- do you know

24 what -- the total number you're going to be

390

1 looking at?

2 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: We are -- we're

3 estimating it could be potentially 500,000.

4 ASSEMBLYMAN OAKS: And when do you see

5 that, then, that the cycle will have been

6 completed, that you will have all of those?

7 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: We anticipate

8 -- to answer your question, the closing date

9 on this for recertification is January 31,

10 2018. We're hopeful that in that universe

11 that's potentially out there -- and that is

12 just an estimate on our part -- that we will

13 have, if not all, certainly most of them in

14 by that point.

15 ASSEMBLYMAN OAKS: And are there fees

16 related to that?

17 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: No, there are

18 not.

19 ASSEMBLYMAN OAKS: And as a part of

20 the recertification, is there changing

21 responsibilities of any of the entities --

22 you know, local sheriffs have had

23 responsibilities, the local courts, county

24 clerks. Or that process, if someone was

391

1 going to get a new one, the filing of the

2 papers, et cetera, that's kind of continuing

3 as is, except for the notification and the

4 recertification?

5 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Correct. There

6 will be no change in the actual licensing

7 procedures and protocols as they exist now.

8 That will remain a function of the counties.

9 ASSEMBLYMAN OAKS: Thank you.

10 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, sir.

11 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Anyone else?

12 Senator Krueger would like to ask some

13 questions.

14 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you very much.

15 So one of my colleagues just asked you

16 about the demographics units of the NYPD. My

17 understanding is that those are the units we

18 were referring to as racial and religious

19 profiling units that the U.S. Justice

20 Department investigated New York City about

21 and urged the closing of the units rather

22 than sue us. Is that your understanding of

23 what those units were?

24 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, ma'am.

392

1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Would you support

2 the New York State Police profiling by

3 religion or race?

4 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: We would not do

5 so.

6 SENATOR KRUEGER: You do not do so.

7 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: No.

8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.

9 In your testimony you reference the

10 work on college campuses --

11 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, ma'am.

12 SENATOR KRUEGER: -- over the last

13 year based on the law that was successfully

14 passed, the Campus Sexual Assault Victims

15 Unit. You talk about 75 cases. I'm curious,

16 do you have any data on what was the outcome

17 of any of these cases? Were they followed

18 through with police, DAs, court cases?

19 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, I do.

20 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.

21 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Let me just

22 make sure I do have it.

23 And we're up to 81 as of today.

24 Between the time we wrote this and now,

393

1 it's --

2 SENATOR KRUEGER: So your testimony is

3 there were 75 cases.

4 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, ma'am.

5 SENATOR KRUEGER: Do you know how many

6 of those were actually taken off campus and

7 brought to DAs and the criminal justice

8 system?

9 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Let me just

10 check. And if I don't have that, I will

11 certainly be glad to get that. Let's see.

12 Forty-eight of the cases specifically

13 assigned to and investigated by the State

14 Police, in conjunction with our CSAVU

15 members, the specially assigned unit members.

16 We assisted, in 27 cases, either local police

17 departments or university police departments.

18 And the 75 cases involve 47 different

19 institutions. We made a total of 18 arrests,

20 which is 24 percent of those cases which were

21 investigated. We have 33 cases that are

22 currently pending, and 42 that are closed.

23 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.

24 Do you happen to know if that's a

394

1 significant increase over the numbers of

2 cases being dealt with by the police prior to

3 this law being implemented?

4 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: I don't know

5 that. I have only our stats from this unit

6 here.

7 SENATOR KRUEGER: Okay. Thank you.

8 So for several years since we passed

9 the SAFE Act, there's been the question about

10 whether there could be successfully

11 implemented an ammunition database -- and

12 I'll let Cathy Young jump in afterwards. Has

13 anybody figured out whether this can in fact

14 be done, from a technical perspective?

15 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: A couple of

16 things on that, Senator. As you know, the

17 SAFE Act requires ammunition sellers to

18 access a database to ensure that a buyer is

19 not prohibited from owning a weapon. And as

20 the superintendent, I'm required to certify

21 that such a system meets the needs and the

22 demands that are made by the law. My

23 predecessor, Joe D'Amico, had three

24 technological solutions presented to him,

395

1 none of which met that demand. And I have

2 not, to date, seen anything that has been

3 developed which would make that operational

4 in the law.

5 SENATOR KRUEGER: And have new

6 proposals been submitted to you to review?

7 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: No. Just the

8 three that are preexisting.

9 SENATOR KRUEGER: And whose

10 responsibilities would it be to submit those

11 proposals to you to review?

12 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Office of

13 Information Technology Services.

14 SENATOR KRUEGER: So they'll be

15 testifying later. Thank you.

16 The Governor puts money into the

17 budget to put additional State Police into

18 New York City. How many State Police

19 additionally will be assigned to New York

20 City?

21 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: We have -- at

22 the current time, we have 105 uniformed

23 members of all ranks. That includes 89

24 troopers, sergeants, two lieutenants, and a

396

1 captain.

2 SENATOR KRUEGER: And this will be

3 additional troopers, with this new budget

4 money?

5 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, ma'am.

6 SENATOR KRUEGER: What would it bring

7 your count up to in New York City?

8 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: That would be

9 -- that's the existing count now. Now, there

10 is envisioned, to meet the initiatives that

11 we've undertaken for counterterrorism and

12 open road tolling, that will result in us

13 having, by fall of next year, a total of 202

14 uniformed personnel in the city.

15 SENATOR KRUEGER: So going from 105 to

16 202 --

17 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, ma'am.

18 SENATOR KRUEGER: -- full-time

19 equivalent staff of the State Police located

20 in New York City.

21 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, ma'am.

22 SENATOR KRUEGER: So Senator Young

23 brought up the SRO program, and when you were

24 answering her questions where she was urging

397

1 a reevaluation of that program, you said at

2 least one time there were 105 State Police

3 assigned to that program, I guess it's in

4 upstate school -- or outside of New York

5 City. I'm not asking this question, I'm

6 saying it just for the record.

7 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: I understand.

8 SENATOR KRUEGER: I think NYPD is

9 extraordinarily qualified to handle the

10 situations on a daily basis in New York City.

11 The numbers are enormous in comparison to 105

12 or 200 State Police in New York City. I

13 would urge the Governor to reevaluate and

14 reassign those State Police to other parts of

15 the state where I think they are needed and

16 they are wanted. Not that they're not always

17 welcome in New York City. Love to always run

18 into New York State Police.

19 But I really think for all the

20 problems, the NYPD has got the manpower to do

21 what needs to be done. And I worry, in the

22 context of not enough funding and not enough

23 State Police for communities throughout the

24 state, that this is not the best use of

398

1 resources.

2 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes, ma'am.

3 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you very much.

4 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

5 Senator Croci.

6 SENATOR CROCI: Yes, thank you, Madam

7 Chairwoman. I just wanted to clarify

8 something that my colleague had mentioned.

9 Superintendent, does the State Police

10 on a routine basis use undercover operatives?

11 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Yes.

12 SENATOR CROCI: Okay. Do they

13 investigate in areas of drug gangs and gangs

14 that are involved in criminal activity?

15 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Sometimes.

16 SENATOR CROCI: And are those gangs

17 sometimes of a specific demographic, either

18 national descent or otherwise?

19 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: I'm just

20 reviewing, Senator, in my mind if I can say

21 that as a declarative statement, and I -- I

22 don't -- I would not have that information

23 now, to be honest with you.

24 SENATOR CROCI: Well, I'll help. So

399

1 having some experience working with law

2 enforcement in New York City and around the

3 state and indeed in the country, we do

4 investigate drug gangs, criminal gang

5 activity. We understand what countries that

6 these gangs are coming from, and they are

7 investigated as such. There is no profiling,

8 to my mind, or has been documented either in

9 the NYPD or in the State Police, even though

10 we've been doing this for many years.

11 I know that my colleague cited a

12 couple of specific examples. But do you know

13 of any other way -- is there any doubt in

14 your mind that good human intelligence is a

15 key to preventing future attacks?

16 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: It's an

17 accepted best practice, Senator, that good

18 human intelligence does make a difference

19 in -- particularly in countering terrorism

20 and terroristic acts.

21 SENATOR CROCI: Thank you very much.

22 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Anyone else?

23 Again, thank you, Superintendent, for

24 your service and for joining us today. We

400

1 truly, truly appreciate it.

2 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Thank you,

3 Chairman.

4 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you very

5 much.

6 SUPERINTENDENT BEACH: Thank you, sir.

7 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Our next speaker is

8 Director Bill Leahy, New York State Office of

9 Indigent Legal Services.

10 Welcome.

11 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Thank you, Madam

12 Chairwoman, and Chairman Farrell and the

13 other esteemed members of the committees.

14 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: I apologize, first

15 of all, for the long day, but obviously

16 there's a lot of interest in the information

17 to be presented.

18 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Thank you.

19 I wanted to introduce my comments upon

20 the Executive Budget by just giving a little

21 bit of history, and I want to started with

22 some numbers. And these come from a report

23 we published, it's an annual report we

24 publish, on what it would take -- or let's

401

1 put it another way, the progress being made

2 in upstate New York toward reducing the

3 habitually vastly excessive caseloads.

4 And in that report we published this

5 fall, there's a chart that shows that in the

6 year 2012, the average caseload in the 57

7 counties outside New York City was 719. It

8 went down to 680 in the following year, and

9 then to 616 in 2014, and 561 in 2015.

10 Now, I do not cite those numbers --

11 it's a 22 percent reduction -- I don't cite

12 them with pride, I don't cite them with

13 satisfaction. But I do cite them to show

14 what can be done by a very small office with

15 very small additional amounts of funding --

16 if legislative support is present, if clear

17 and effective communication with localities

18 is in place and if, importantly, the

19 professional expertise of the office is

20 allowed to function independently and without

21 any interference other than the need to

22 secure funding on an annual basis, which is

23 indeed my purpose here today.

24 I also want to say that as many of you

402

1 know, but perhaps some of you may not,

2 reducing caseloads in the upstate counties is

3 not all we have done. And this is all

4 pre-Hurrell-Harring, so I'll get to the

5 Hurrell-Harring piece in just a moment. We

6 have grants out to 25 counties to provide

7 Counsel at First Appearance, in compliance

8 with the law, or at least to begin compliance

9 with the law. We have grants out to

10 47 upstate counties for caseload reduction

11 and quality improvements in assigned counsel

12 programs.

13 We have the country's first network,

14 statewide network of regional immigration

15 assistance centers, so that lawyers who

16 represent clients in criminal cases can have

17 the benefit of expert advice as they fulfill

18 their responsibility to inform their clients,

19 under the Padilla vs. Kentucky case,

20 accurately about the immigration consequences

21 of convictions and whether or not to accept a

22 plea offer.

23 We have also established New York's

24 first statewide standards for criminal trial

403

1 representation, for appellate representation,

2 for parental representation. We are working

3 now on assigned counsel representation

4 standards, which will also be a first.

5 We are -- we have just released our

6 second Counsel at First Appearance request

7 for proposals, with more ample funding this

8 time, which we hope all or almost all

9 57 counties will apply for and will make use

10 of.

11 We are awaiting approval from OSC for

12 the release of our first ever upstate quality

13 parental representation office, which was

14 explicitly modeled after the very successful

15 programs which have been established in

16 New York City over the past 10 to 15 years.

17 So the point is everything we have

18 been able to accomplish basically with a

19 staff of 11 -- up until the Hurrell-Harring

20 moment -- is really attributable to these

21 three factors I have mentioned.

22 Now, on October 21, 2014, a thunderous

23 event happened in the State of New York: The

24 state agreed to settle the Hurrell-Harring

404

1 class action lawsuit alleging massive

2 deprivations in the provision of counsel in

3 five New York counties. And the day

4 following that settlement, I sent out a

5 memorandum trying to set it in context, what

6 did it mean for the state.

7 And I said three things. First, I

8 said it was historic because for the very

9 first time the State of New York recognized

10 that it's a state responsibility to comply

11 with the 6th Amendment and the pertinent

12 provision of the State Constitution.

13 Secondly, what was historic is that

14 the state had chosen to vest the

15 responsibility for the implementation of that

16 settlement with a professionally staffed --

17 I'm quoting myself, I'm sorry, that's

18 probably tacky -- professionally staffed and

19 independent office and board, thus complying

20 with the first and most important of the

21 American Bar Association's 10 principles of

22 an effective public defense delivery system.

23 Then I went on to say, what is it

24 going to take to make this work in the five

405

1 counties? That was the next step. And the

2 three things I identified there -- and I'm

3 happy to say they're all in place -- a

4 continuation and a strengthening of the good

5 working relationships that we already had

6 with officials in those five counties; number

7 two, full funding of the budget requests that

8 come along and are necessary to effective

9 implementation of the supplement -- and I'm

10 happy to say that has been true -- and

11 third -- well, actually that part -- I should

12 have said two points, because that part I

13 broke it out into two, I broke it out at the

14 start and then ongoing. Right up until

15 today, with the Governor's budget release two

16 weeks ago, those commitments are fully

17 fulfilled by the state in those five

18 counties.

19 And then, of course, my third point

20 was, what about the rest of the state? What

21 about the counties who weren't lucky enough

22 to be sued? And there I said that, first of

23 all, there's no argument that they should be

24 in any worse -- there's no principled

406

1 argument that anyone had then, or even

2 subsequent, expressed to me as to why any of

3 those other counties should be left behind

4 and left unremedied.

5 And then I said that our goal is to

6 work towards the day when there's one

7 standard of justice in New York City. And

8 I'm saying this in kind of halting terms

9 right now. We have here in the room

10 Assemblywoman Fahy and Senator DeFrancisco,

11 who have spoken far more eloquently and have

12 made this point with crystal-clear logic, and

13 it's of course inarguable. Of course there

14 should be one standard of justice in the

15 State of New York, and not two or three or 57

16 or 62.

17 So all of that brings me to the

18 Executive Budget. And there is very, very

19 good news in this Executive Budget. And

20 there are a couple of problems. The very,

21 very good news is that, as I mentioned, there

22 is full funding of the three provisions of

23 the Hurrell-Harring lawsuit for which the

24 state agreed in the original settlement to

407

1 pay.

2 There is an additional -- there's a

3 total of $19 million in funding for caseload

4 relief. Now, you may recall that in last

5 year's budget the state put in $10.4 million,

6 and I believe I testified to you that that

7 was sufficient to get those five counties to

8 the then-weighted caseload standard of 367

9 cases. And that's a national standard that

10 adds in a supervision component, because the

11 First Department in New York City has

12 identified a supervision component. So that

13 has been our standard, ILS, subject to state

14 funding, since 2014.

15 So the caseload standards we delivered

16 for the five counties, pursuant to

17 paragraph IV of the settlement, Roman numeral

18 4 -- and I gave you each a copy of the

19 settlement as well, for reference -- that

20 adds another 8.6 million to that 10.4. So

21 it's just over $19 million annually in the

22 five lawsuit counties, and that is fully

23 funded in the Executive Budget, and that is

24 very good news.

408

1 It is also very good news that in the

2 Executive Budget funding is continued for

3 quality improvements and funding is continued

4 for counsel at arraignment. And that is, if

5 not full funding, certainly deserves the

6 title ample funding for those purposes in

7 those counties for this year. And we're very

8 pleased to see it.

9 We are also very, very happy to see

10 that in the first Executive Budget I think in

11 New York's history, there is proposed an

12 extension of those Hurrell-Harring settlement

13 reforms to the entire State of New York. Not

14 just the 52 upstate or outside of New York

15 City counties, but also the City of New York.

16 Why is this important? This is

17 important because the new caseload standards

18 we delivered to the parties on December 8th

19 exceed, are lower than, the existing caseload

20 standards in New York City. So they help

21 New York City and they help the rest of the

22 state. There are many portions of the state,

23 I hasten to add, whom they help a lot more

24 than they help New York City, because of the

409

1 simple fact that caseloads upstate are

2 averaging 561, but there are a couple of

3 jurisdictions out in the Southern Tier where

4 the caseloads are double that. So there's a

5 lot of work to be done, comparatively, to get

6 the upstate counties down.

7 So that's all the very good news in

8 the Executive Budget.

9 There's a little more good news. And

10 that is that if you look at the authorized

11 positions that the executive branch

12 publishes, there's an increase of three

13 positions in my office, from 19 to 22. And

14 if you run an office the size of the office I

15 run, and you have the needs that we have

16 identified, we are very pleased to see that

17 responsiveness.

18 So that is the good news, and it's an

19 important good news.

20 Now, there are a couple of issues.

21 You will have noticed, no doubt, that in the

22 line for State Operations of my office, where

23 current funding is $3.2 million, where our

24 budget request in October was for

410

1 $6.4 million, and where we were encouraged to

2 and did file a late post -- just before the

3 Executive Budget, a proposal for a unit to

4 implement the extension of statewide

5 reform -- we did that, a 10-person unit, with

6 a total request of a million and a half

7 dollars -- there is, instead of the sum of

8 all these numbers or any combination thereof,

9 there is a zero in that account.

10 And on the other hand, in the Aid to

11 Localities account, which includes the

12 increases I've already described to you --

13 which is a total of $8.6 million, as I

14 mentioned, over the original -- not the

15 original request, but the original last

16 year's budget -- there's a total of

17 $4.8 million in excess of the $81 million

18 level funding. I think those of you who

19 follow our budget have been familiar with the

20 $81 million Executive Budget ask for a number

21 of years now. And instead, it's 85.8. And

22 then there's also language in that Aid to

23 Localities -- at the very end of the Aid to

24 Localities appropriation that a portion of

411

1 these funds may be transferred to State Ops.

2 So that is one problematic area that I would

3 like to address with you.

4 And the second one is that the

5 extension of the Hurrell-Harring settlement

6 statewide one would think would follow the

7 model of the Hurrell-Harring settlement. And

8 in most respects, it does. It leaves to the

9 office and our governing board the planning

10 and the proposing, and this is what we have

11 done. And in the Hurrell-Harring settlement

12 you'll notice the language "in consultation

13 with" the Executive and other parties,

14 including the Legislature. And this, of

15 course, we're happy to do, and we have done.

16 And it has worked splendidly, because when we

17 produced our caseload standards, which is the

18 big -- the biggest of the reforms, and

19 certainly the biggest cost-driver, to the

20 Executive on December 8th, our judgment was

21 respected and accepted and, now we know,

22 fully funded.

23 So for some reason, there is in the

24 Executive proposal an addition. And that

412

1 addition, I'm sure you've seen it in both the

2 Article VII and in the appropriation

3 language, says that our plan must be approved

4 by the director of the Department of the

5 Budget.

6 So those are the two problematic

7 aspects of this budget. And we are having

8 conversations, of course, regular

9 conversations with the Executive about this.

10 The point I would like to make about

11 the Department of Budget and the independence

12 issue is the following. It is that the

13 independence of a public defender function

14 does not mean independence from fiscal

15 responsibility, and it certainly does not

16 mean that you're given a printing press to

17 print money. Appropriations are the

18 exclusive domain of the Executive and the

19 Legislature, and no one suggests otherwise.

20 But it is the planning function that has to

21 be independent and is governed by an

22 independent board composed of representatives

23 from the executive, the legislative, the

24 judiciary, the counties and so on.

413

1 So in our conversations, that

2 distinction is clear. I think everyone

3 accepts that distinction. And the problem is

4 we don't yet see that distinction honored in

5 the language in the Executive Budget.

6 I'm happy to take any questions,

7 particularly on those issues.

8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you very much.

9 Our first questioner is Senator John

10 DeFrancisco.

11 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you for

12 the kind words. I did carry the bill. And

13 there's a -- I've got a bunch of questions.

14 The first question is you said the bad

15 news is the fact that the budget director has

16 to approve your actions and the funding

17 request and so forth. Isn't there another

18 big problem? Isn't there no funding for the

19 rest of the state?

20 DIRECTOR LEAHY: I'm sorry, I missed

21 the question, Senator.

22 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Isn't another

23 little problem the fact that it talks about

24 applying the supplement of the five counties

414

1 statewide but it doesn't have any funding to

2 do that, does it?

3 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Exactly. It calls

4 for -- I should have been more specific about

5 that.

6 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: More specific?

7 That's the big issue.

8 DIRECTOR LEAHY: No, I'm saying it --

9 no, it calls for my office to submit plans by

10 December 1st for, I would assume -- and full

11 implementation by April 1, 2023. So the

12 assumption is that this would be a plan that

13 would go into effect on April 1, 2018, with

14 funding. Funding is certainly a piece of it.

15 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Are you

16 comfortable with that assumption?

17 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Well, I do note in

18 the state's financial plan that we appear for

19 the first time and there are -- you know,

20 there are of course, you know, also budget --

21 yeah.

22 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. So you're

23 okay with it.

24 DIRECTOR LEAHY: I think it's

415

1 appropriate way to plan.

2 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay --

3 DIRECTOR LEAHY: I'm not withdrawing

4 our budget request for this year for caseload

5 relief and Counsel at First Appearance. We

6 have 19 million requests for caseload relief

7 and 8 million requests for Counsel at First

8 Appearance, and I'd love to see those funded

9 this year.

10 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. Well, the

11 Governor, in vetoing the bill that

12 Assemblywoman Fahy and myself put forward,

13 talked about the cost of that bill was too

14 much. Is that fair to say?

15 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Yeah, I -- well, the

16 way I interpreted it, he did not want the

17 state exposed to uncontrollable fiscal costs.

18 There's nothing we have done in our

19 implementation of the Hurrell-Harring

20 settlement that can fairly be characterized

21 as imposing uncontrollable costs. Quite the

22 contrary. We have worked very closely to

23 ensure that our plans are approvable.

24 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: All right.

416

1 Except that if -- I'm not so sure how you

2 have that comfort when he's got your plans

3 being subject to the approval of the budget

4 director. That doesn't sound like a lot of

5 confidence towards your office.

6 DIRECTOR LEAHY: It doesn't. And

7 there's a disconnect there, there really is.

8 There's a disconnect between what I am told

9 in meetings and the actions --

10 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: All I'm trying

11 to say is that I think it's more of a dire

12 situation than you're talking about. The

13 logic of allowing every state {sic} to be

14 able to have the same benefits as the five

15 states that settled -- the five counties that

16 settled, it seems to me that it doesn't show

17 that here in any way that that's going to

18 happen. And clearly not to what extent,

19 whether it will be the same funding or not.

20 So I think you're painting this picture as, I

21 think, much nicer than it really is.

22 So with that in mind, the Governor

23 claims his intent is that he wants to

24 treat -- and I've talked to him directly on

417

1 this -- he wants to treat the other counties

2 exactly the way the five counties were

3 treated in the settlement. And I'm sure

4 you've heard that as well; correct?

5 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Yes.

6 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: All right. Now,

7 the bill that Pat Fahy and I put forth, did

8 that bill treat the other counties that

9 haven't been part of the settlement exactly

10 the way the counties that did settle the case

11 were treated?

12 DIRECTOR LEAHY: In my opinion, it

13 didn't.

14 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. So

15 there's a disconnect there, then. If there's

16 a veto and he said he wants to treat the

17 counties -- do you have any -- and I'm being

18 very serious, because I'm trying to figure

19 out what we've got to do to get this done.

20 Is there any way you could bridge that

21 disconnect? Have you talked to anybody that

22 would give you an indication of what things

23 the Governor thought were too expensive in

24 the bill and treated the other counties other

418

1 than the five better than the five counties?

2 DIRECTOR LEAHY: I've had three

3 conversations in the two weeks since the

4 Governor's budget came out, on this very

5 issue.

6 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay.

7 DIRECTOR LEAHY: And there is

8 agreement that -- here's -- the Governor's

9 position, as explained to me, is there is no

10 intent to interfere with the independent

11 operation and planning of the office and the

12 board. Okay? That's number one.

13 Number two, from my part I have made

14 it very clear that we have no right, desire,

15 or dream of dictating how the state spends

16 its money going forward into the future.

17 In other words, so -- and furthermore,

18 the third point about that is what you arrive

19 at is this should be easily resolvable if

20 both of those positions are accurate. I

21 mean, there can be consultation, there can be

22 submission of the cost of the plan as part of

23 the budget --

24 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay, I've --

419

1 I'm going to just finish this line and then

2 I'm going to stop, because I'll -- they'll

3 back to me because I've got many, many other

4 questions.

5 I guess the point is that the -- did

6 the five-county settlement, did that provide

7 for those five counties to be given resources

8 to pay for the initial cost of the assigned

9 counsel program in addition to the additional

10 cost that your standards are providing? In

11 other words, was there a complete takeover of

12 the costs of the five counties in your

13 settlement?

14 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Well, no, there's

15 not. That's the difference between the

16 Governor's budget proposal and your bill.

17 Your bill would have had the state pick up

18 those existing costs.

19 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay, but this

20 is crucial. This is really crucial. What's

21 crucial is that did, did the settlement,

22 okay, the five counties, did that settlement

23 assume all the costs of indigent legal

24 services?

420

1 DIRECTOR LEAHY: No, they did not.

2 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: All right. So

3 isn't the Governor right and -- I'm just

4 trying to be fair to both sides -- isn't the

5 Governor right that to mirror what the five

6 counties got, that bill overstepped?

7 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Well, that's for the

8 Governor and the bill sponsors, I think, to

9 determine. But --

10 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay, you could

11 figure it out, I think. If the bill covered

12 all costs of assigned counsel, which is

13 greater than simply the increased costs for

14 the five-county settlement, isn't that

15 logical that the bill was -- provided more

16 than the settlement?

17 (No response.)

18 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay, you don't

19 want --

20 DIRECTOR LEAHY: It's certainly

21 logical, yes. It's extending -- it's doing

22 what it says it's doing, and it's not doing,

23 you know, what it doesn't say.

24 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: And this is the

421

1 crucial question to try to get this resolved,

2 and I think the Governor and his people would

3 ask the same thing. If the budget mirrored

4 exactly what the five-county settlement was,

5 would that satisfy you as far as your quest

6 to have counsel?

7 DIRECTOR LEAHY: That is exactly the

8 component of the Executive Budget of which we

9 strongly approve. Not only approve, we say

10 it's historic in the State of New York.

11 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: So that would be

12 satisfactory to you, if the five-county deal

13 got translated to the other counties -- not

14 assuming more of the cost, but just the cost

15 that was assumed with the five counties.

16 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Yes. But not to take

17 this too far afield, but this is an important

18 point. The bill that you and Assemblywoman

19 Fahy filed would have also assumed the costs

20 of -- all the costs of parental

21 representation in Family Court. That's

22 25 percent of the caseload. That is not in

23 the Hurrell-Harring settlement and so it's

24 not part of the five-county deal. And, of

422

1 course, nor is it part of the extension of

2 the five-county deal to the rest of the

3 state. That's another qualification along

4 with --

5 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay, I'll wait

6 till my next turn.

7 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

8 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

9 Ms. Fahy, please.

10 ASSEMBLYWOMAN FAHY: Thank you,

11 Mr. Chairman.

12 I want to piggyback on some of the

13 questions that Senator DeFrancisco just

14 raised, as well as some of the concerns. And

15 I also want to reiterate I'm afraid I'm not

16 that satisfied as well.

17 I think that it was intentional in the

18 bill that we proposed these last couple of

19 years -- and passed, with unanimous support

20 in both bodies -- it was intentional to pick

21 up those base costs or existing costs within

22 the counties.

23 Now, I recognize that that was part of

24 and one of the core reasons why the Governor

423

1 vetoed the bill, in addition to this

2 independence issue that you mentioned. But

3 if I could just push you a little further --

4 again, piggybacking on what Senator

5 DeFrancisco raised -- I thought the intent

6 here, the intent of our legislation was that

7 we would try to remedy what in our view had

8 been essentially a 50-year unfunded mandate,

9 a constitutional mandate that had been passed

10 on to the counties and unfunded.

11 So a constitutional requirement that

12 those accused of a crime be provided this

13 representation. Most states did pick up the

14 cost of that. In New York, we chose to pass

15 that on to the counties.

16 So one of the reasons that we had

17 proposed to go beyond the settlement of the

18 Hurrell-Harring, the five counties that had

19 been settled in 2014, was that because the

20 state's -- because the counties do feel that

21 they have been unfairly picking up this

22 burden. And in order to improve the entire

23 foundation, or to improve the entire

24 structure of this system, that we would pick

424

1 up, over a phased-in period, at least seven

2 years, that we would begin to pick up those

3 costs.

4 Now, whether -- you know, I understand

5 that Family Court and even Surrogate's Court

6 could be included in that. But I really want

7 to get at the criminal court piece of this.

8 So if you don't mind, I'd like to pin you

9 down a little bit further on that in terms of

10 your position, following on what Senator

11 DeFrancisco said.

12 It was intentional on our part. Are

13 you saying that you are satisfied with just

14 going where we are in the budget right now?

15 And by the way, I commend the Governor for

16 agreeing to extend the Hurrell-Harring case

17 to the rest of the counties, to the other 52.

18 So that is progress. The glass is half full.

19 I would just prefer to fill the entire glass

20 as opposed to halfway.

21 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Let me answer you

22 directly. Bearing in mind we are an

23 implementing agency and not an outside

24 advocacy group, there were three big

425

1 components of the Fahy-DeFrancisco bill: The

2 state takes over the unfunded mandate, the

3 state picks up the cost of the

4 Hurrell-Harring settlement, and -- somewhat

5 buried, but in the fiscal piece, it was there

6 -- would also pick up the parental

7 representation costs, past and future.

8 Loved all three. Loved the bill.

9 Love it today. But it was vetoed. And I

10 can't do anything about the veto.

11 Now, is the Governor's proposal to

12 extend the settlement reform statewide

13 positive and important? Very much so. And I

14 support it.

15 ASSEMBLYWOMAN FAHY: Okay, so I --

16 okay. Then I won't push any further. But I

17 just want to concur with what we just heard

18 from Senator DeFrancisco --

19 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Would I be happier if

20 it were the Fahy-DeFrancisco bill in toto?

21 I'd be even happier.

22 ASSEMBLYWOMAN FAHY: Okay. Because --

23 well, I did think the budget included the

24 monies -- or did reference the $250 million

426

1 for the increase going forward in order to

2 extend the Hurrell-Harring to the rest of the

3 counties, those provisions.

4 Again, our preference -- and I have

5 reintroduced the bill and am working, intend

6 to work with Senator DeFrancisco to still

7 move that. But the intent is that we work on

8 that foundation to relieve this burden and

9 improve the quality of the existing services.

10 With regard to the independence, I

11 think you've made some good points there. I

12 think that -- I would like to think that we

13 could address some of that language and find

14 some agreement, because as you have said, we

15 need to maintain that independence in the

16 planning while we respect the Governor's

17 right to oversee the expenditures and the

18 fiscal piece of this.

19 DIRECTOR LEAHY: I think that's the

20 right way to put it.

21 And the point I keep making is this is

22 too important a gain, the statewide

23 expansion, to have it fall apart over what,

24 once you parse it out, is largely a matter of

427

1 semantics. And again, if you accept at face

2 value what everyone is saying, it's just a

3 matter of semantics and it can be dealt with

4 in the normal negotiating course.

5 ASSEMBLYWOMAN FAHY: Last quick

6 question, I just want to reiterate a point

7 that I think you just mentioned. The

8 $250 million that is referenced in the budget

9 or in the Title VII language, I'm not sure,

10 that would again -- that would be for funds

11 going forward, any increased funds in order

12 to extend the settlement. That does include

13 the cost of Family Court going forward,

14 right, increased costs?

15 DIRECTOR LEAHY: No, it does not.

16 ASSEMBLYWOMAN FAHY: So it's still

17 criminal --

18 DIRECTOR LEAHY: It's expansion of the

19 Hurrell-Harring settlement, which is

20 criminal --

21 ASSEMBLYWOMAN FAHY: Just criminal,

22 not the -- okay. And you do estimate that

23 that -- I think your estimates have been that

24 that would be -- to address the base funding

428

1 or the existing funds, as well as to include

2 Family Court, that would be roughly

3 $400 million, is that some of the estimates

4 that have been --

5 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Well, there's a lot

6 of calculations that need to be done,

7 especially now that you have New York City in

8 the budget and the bill. And New York City,

9 we don't have as solid data for New York City

10 as we do for the upstate.

11 But I think the $250 million number

12 that I saw, I think it was in the budget

13 book, you know, it seems like a reasonable

14 kind of long-term estimate. I mean, we're a

15 long way from being at full funding

16 statewide, which under the Governor's

17 proposal is five years out and I think under

18 Fahy-DeFrancisco was going to be seven years.

19 ASSEMBLYWOMAN FAHY: Seven, yes.

20 Okay, thank you.

21 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

22 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Senator

23 DeFrancisco.

24 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Just to be

429

1 clear, it definitely was the intent to try to

2 get full funding for all the counties. But

3 then when it got to the point of the cost

4 that the Governor was not willing to do, the

5 question was where do we go from there.

6 Okay?

7 So I want to make clear today, so we

8 go from there more quickly, is there money --

9 not something's going to start in 2018, but

10 is there any money in the budget right now to

11 start implementing the five-county settlement

12 for the rest of the counties in the state?

13 DIRECTOR LEAHY: No, there is not.

14 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: And this may be

15 what Assemblywoman Fahy just asked you. Do

16 you have an estimate of what that would be?

17 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Well, we would

18 have -- should this budget provision be

19 enacted, we would have the responsibility to

20 give an answer to those questions by

21 December 1st of this year.

22 We can ballpark things. We can say

23 that $19 million -- that is a hard number.

24 That's a very detailed number including all

430

1 the costs of adding the staff and the offices

2 and so on in the five counties. That should

3 be about 14 percent of the 57-county cost.

4 So you can basically times it by seven,

5 you're at about 140 -- well, 140 plus the 19,

6 so say $160 million in round dollars.

7 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: So wouldn't it

8 be better --

9 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Outside New York

10 City.

11 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. Wouldn't

12 it be better to start -- we know it's going

13 to cost. If it cost $19 million for five

14 counties, we know it's going to cost

15 something. So wouldn't it make sense to have

16 a number to begin the process of applying

17 this principle in the settlement to the rest

18 of the counties?

19 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Oh, absolutely. I

20 think the number -- right.

21 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: And the number,

22 you think, once it starts being implemented,

23 is $160 million, approximately?

24 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Plus the increased

431

1 city costs, yeah.

2 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. All

3 right. Okay, that's number one.

4 Number two, one of the things that was

5 done here in this process was -- one of the

6 things you were charged to do in the

7 settlement is to come up with eligibility

8 standards; correct?

9 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Yes.

10 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Now, you've got

11 a whole book on eligibility standards here.

12 Okay? Do you have it with you?

13 DIRECTOR LEAHY: I do.

14 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. Could I

15 just ask you -- for example, Onondaga County.

16 This is one of the five counties that was

17 part of the settlement, and I represent part

18 of Onondaga.

19 Page 11. Does this chart that's on

20 page 11, does this -- the arrow going up on

21 the top chart, which deals with applications

22 for assigned counsel, it sort of goes up

23 maybe, I don't know, 70 -- I don't know how

24 many degrees. But that shows a substantial

432

1 increase in applications; correct?

2 DIRECTOR LEAHY: It does. During a

3 six-week period.

4 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. And the

5 lower chart, where the lines are going down,

6 does that mean that the denials by the judge

7 for free counsel are going down?

8 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Yes.

9 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. So based

10 on the standards, at least for Onondaga

11 County, the new standards, the number of

12 applications for free counsel are going up

13 and the judges are denying them less.

14 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Yes.

15 Keep in mind, though, Senator, that

16 Onondaga County is a true outlier with

17 respect to eligibility. Our findings, dating

18 back to the beginning of 2015, show that

19 judges had historically been overriding

20 denials of eligibility by the assigned

21 counsel program in 86 percent -- with an

22 86 percent frequency.

23 During the six-week, very short period

24 in which we had data post the new standards

433

1 coming in, that rate rose to 89 percent

2 reversal of denials. So the judges in

3 Onondaga have really been replacing the

4 assigned counsel program, which I'm very

5 happy to say is now under new leadership.

6 And we're hoping for -- in other

7 words, what we don't know about those numbers

8 you note on page 11, we don't know whether it

9 is a true spike because of changes in

10 eligibility or whether, as many attorneys

11 have told us, the process of having a client

12 become eligible took weeks or months in

13 Onondaga under the old leadership of the ACP

14 program. Because voluminous documentation

15 was required. As I've already indicated,

16 many, many erroneous denials of eligibility

17 were rendered. Attorneys didn't get paid

18 until eligibility was determined, so the

19 critical first weeks of representation were

20 not funded.

21 So what we don't know is whether all

22 of those pent-up applications which had not

23 been submitted to the program because

24 documentation was not complete -- and now,

434

1 all of a sudden, September 19th,

2 documentation was not required in order for

3 eligibility to be considered -- whether that

4 led to a one-time surge. That's noted in the

5 accompanying pages.

6 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. Can you

7 go to page 26? There's a chart there for

8 Schuyler County. Percentage of applications

9 found ineligible; correct?

10 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Right.

11 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: And do you see a

12 precipitous drop down to zero people were

13 found ineligible for assigned counsel?

14 DIRECTOR LEAHY: 0.9?

15 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Excuse me, 0.9.

16 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Yup.

17 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: So of all the

18 people applying for assigned counsel, only

19 0.9 percent in Schuyler County were found

20 ineligible, based on the new standards.

21 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Actually, you can

22 look at the table on page 4, which has all

23 five counties in one place, and that will

24 show the Schuyler rate did go down from a 3.1

435

1 percent denial rate before implementation to

2 0.9 percent after implementation, and that

3 the five-county average went from 4.4 percent

4 denial rate to 1 percent denial rate, on

5 average, during this very short period of

6 time.

7 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: During a very

8 short period of time, which all happens to be

9 after you changed the eligibility standards.

10 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Yeah. The point

11 being that in the five counties, the overall

12 impact on -- of the eligibility standards on

13 increased cases and cost is quite minimal.

14 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I don't make the

15 same conclusion. When you've got counties

16 that everybody's eligible that applied, that

17 concerns me a little. Which brings me to my

18 very, very final point. The out --

19 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Senator, let me say

20 one more thing about that, if I may. And I'm

21 sorry if I'm interrupting.

22 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Go ahead.

23 DIRECTOR LEAHY: That is that --

24 please understand that we were not

436

1 negotiators of this settlement, we're the

2 implementers of it. Had I been at the

3 negotiating table, I can tell you, without

4 any fear of doubt, that either that provision

5 would have been funded or it wouldn't have

6 been in there.

7 And that's the one provision in the

8 settlement that is not funded, except for the

9 five counties. And that is not right. And

10 that is why we have a $6 million request not

11 found in the Executive Budget -- I hope it

12 will be found in the legislative add -- to

13 reimburse counties for any additional costs

14 of the implementation standards -- which

15 don't go into effect in the other counties

16 until April 1st.

17 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. This is

18 my concern. If you have poor counties, rural

19 counties, where everybody applies for free

20 counsel, gets it -- or 0.9 percent don't get

21 it, okay -- that the costs overall to each of

22 these counties are going to go up

23 substantially with the new eligibility

24 standards. And we're going to be creating a

437

1 problem, a substantial problem down the road.

2 Okay?

3 It's different if the Governor signed

4 the bill that the state's picking up all of

5 the charges. But the state, under this

6 budget, is not. Okay, so that's point one.

7 And these are the standards. Now,

8 tell me if I'm incorrect. The old standards,

9 when we were talking about this bill, trying

10 to get things done, was that if your gross

11 income was -- I think it was 125 percent of

12 the poverty level, you would be -- under the

13 guidelines, the people would be eligible. Is

14 that fair to say?

15 DIRECTOR LEAHY: No. Senator, we did

16 eight public hearings, we did a survey of

17 judges and providers, we -- in this very

18 report you can read that we found at least

19 70 different standards for determining

20 eligibility in the state.

21 And you can also read, again on page

22 4, that three of these five counties under

23 this preliminary study -- very preliminary,

24 we don't take it as gospel -- show no

438

1 increase in assignments.

2 A fourth one, Washington County, shows

3 an increase that they attribute not to

4 eligibility but to Counsel at First

5 Appearance. And the reason there is pretty

6 clear, that if people have a lawyer at first

7 appearance, that lawyer hands them an

8 application form, they're much more likely to

9 go through the laborious process of applying

10 for counsel than they would have been if they

11 were alone there.

12 And then there's Onondaga, and that

13 one is very much in flux. And we expect that

14 to even out, but it's early days.

15 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. Now,

16 getting back to the question, the question

17 was, if you want to tell me the five

18 counties, what was the percentage over the

19 poverty level that each of the counties

20 applied before you changed the standards?

21 DIRECTOR LEAHY: I think that that is

22 probably in the report. I don't have it off

23 the top of my head.

24 I can tell you that over and over and

439

1 over again, at our eight public hearings --

2 and I attended six of them -- we heard that

3 we have a low rate but we have a beneficent

4 review and most people who apply for counsel

5 are given counsel. That was the

6 overwhelming --

7 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Well, that's

8 great. I don't care what's said at the

9 hearings. What I'm trying to find out is

10 what was fact, not what people's opinions

11 were trying to expand the system.

12 My understanding was that 125

13 percent -- if you are 125 percent, your gross

14 income is 125 percent of the poverty level,

15 under the guidelines, you're eligible. Make

16 it a 150 percent. Make it 175 percent. The

17 new guidelines went from that number to

18 250 percent -- not of the gross income, but

19 of the net income. Is that fair to say?

20 DIRECTOR LEAHY: I don't believe gross

21 income was really the actual standard in any

22 county, Senator.

23 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Bill, you're

24 losing me. You're really losing me. We'll

440

1 have more discussions about it.

2 DIRECTOR LEAHY: We really need to,

3 because there has been so much hysteria about

4 what these new standards -- which we're

5 implementing under a court order, please keep

6 in mind, are going to cost. And there is as

7 yet scant evidence that that actually is the

8 case.

9 We're doing our best with this 38-page

10 report concerning three months of experience.

11 We're getting it in here on time for this

12 budget hearing. It should be the start of a

13 more rational debate about this important

14 issue.

15 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Well, you can't

16 have a rational debate if you're changing the

17 facts as you go forward.

18 DIRECTOR LEAHY: I'm not changing any

19 facts, I am telling you what we learned

20 during our study.

21 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Well, answer

22 this. Maybe you can do this without any

23 public hearings and so forth. Do you know

24 the new standards, the eligibility standards?

441

1 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Yes.

2 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. Is it 250

3 percent --

4 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Yes.

5 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: If your net

6 income, not gross --

7 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Yes, net.

8 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: -- your net

9 income is 250 percent of the poverty level.

10 And net means you take out automobile

11 payments, rent payments --

12 DIRECTOR LEAHY: You take our

13 reasonable and necessary living expenses for

14 you and your dependents.

15 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Now, is that a

16 substantially bigger eligibility pool?

17 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Yes, it is an

18 expanded eligibility pool. The question is,

19 is it a more appropriate one. We think it

20 is.

21 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. And the

22 last point is simply this. We've got to get

23 something that works. All right? If you

24 want to insist that the eligibility

442

1 standards are going to be expanded to that

2 amount, then you're going to be in a

3 situation where the costs are going to be

4 expanded. And the issue of cost is not going

5 to be over after this budget, it's going to

6 be continually going forward.

7 What I'm only suggesting is that in

8 order to get this thing moving, we should

9 have an amount in the budget that's realistic

10 to start treating the other counties exactly

11 like the five counties that sued -- or were

12 sued. And secondly, to make sure that the

13 eligibility standards aren't going to break

14 the bank of the counties, because at least

15 right now, all of the costs of the counties

16 are not being covered by the state. Fair

17 enough?

18 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Fair enough.

19 Senator, I agree with you on both

20 points. I'm happy to continue the discussion

21 with you. And as I've told you before, when

22 we have a body of work, when we have a year's

23 time to take a look at what the impact

24 actually is -- you know, we don't consider

443

1 ourselves all knowing and supremely

2 intelligent. We're happy to reassess should

3 data demonstrate that we should.

4 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Finished?

5 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes.

6 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay, thank you.

7 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Assemblywoman

8 Weinstein, please.

9 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: Thank you,

10 Mr. Chairman.

11 Bill, I thought I heard you mention

12 that about -- close to 25 percent of the

13 cases were family representation.

14 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Yes.

15 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: So I'd just

16 like some clarification. I know that you

17 said that they're not included in the

18 settlement agreement, but are they included

19 in the caseload standards that you've

20 developed so far?

21 DIRECTOR LEAHY: No, they're not.

22 Because those are done pursuant to the

23 settlement and as part of the implementation

24 of it.

444

1 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: So then how

2 do the family representations fit with

3 caseload standards? Could that then increase

4 the number of cases, individual 18b --

5 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Right now they're

6 essentially orphaned. I have a -- on page 8,

7 the last page of my written presentation, I

8 have a paragraph called "Unfinished Business"

9 to try to highlight this. Some of you may

10 have seen the New York Law Journal piece in

11 which I raised it as a real concern.

12 Angela Burton, who is the director of

13 parent representation in my office, is

14 studying this and organizing, you know, what

15 we hope will be a task force to look at the

16 problem. The problem is it goes all the way

17 to the Kaye Commission. It was not included

18 in the Kaye Commission study. Therefore, or

19 perhaps therefore, it was not included in the

20 Hurrell-Harring litigation, which began in

21 2007. And it is left out of the settlement

22 and it's left out of the Governor's

23 otherwise, you know, very positive proposal,

24 and it's very unfortunate. It should be in.

445

1 It's every bit as much mandated

2 representation as is criminal defense.

3 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: So I don't

4 want to take up more time here, but if you

5 could forward us some data on the cost of

6 that representation.

7 DIRECTOR LEAHY: We've done a little

8 preliminary work. The five counties is where

9 we have our best data, just because we've dug

10 in so deep there. And based on just the five

11 counties, you know, it looks as though the

12 cost component may exceed case assignment

13 component. So 25 percent case assignments,

14 it's looking like about 30 percent of costs,

15 as near as we can tell. Again, early basis

16 and always subject to further review. But

17 that's the way we see it right now.

18 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: And I know

19 you were having a discussion with Senator

20 DeFrancisco about the 250 percent of poverty.

21 You said that was net? Do you have a dollar

22 figure --

23 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Net income.

24 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: --

446

1 associated with --

2 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Well, we were guided

3 by two things. We were guided by the Third

4 Department guidelines going back to 1977.

5 They didn't say 250, but they talked about

6 net income and how you have to be able to

7 care for yourself and your family, and then

8 can you hire a lawyer. That's the proper way

9 to analyze it.

10 And the second thing we followed is

11 the self-sufficiency index for each county.

12 And the lowest self-sufficiency index of any

13 county in the state, in 2010, was about

14 220 percent. So very likely even there

15 it's --

16 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: It may even

17 be low for --

18 DIRECTOR LEAHY: And of course on Long

19 Island, Westchester, Hudson Valley, it's like

20 350, 400. So we don't think 250 is an

21 unreasonable approach.

22 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: Okay. Thank

23 you very much.

24 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Senator Krueger.

447

1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Evening. Is it

2 evening? I'm not sure. Oh, it's afternoon.

3 So we just got into lots and lots of

4 substance about the money for the different

5 counties. I'm a little confused about the

6 money just to have you continue. Because

7 you've been taken out of the State Operations

8 budget and you can be moved into Aid to

9 Localities, but you're not there now. So who

10 moves you and when? And what happens if you

11 don't?

12 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Well, I am seeking --

13 not necessarily daily, but very, very

14 frequently -- the assurances that I think are

15 implicit in your question.

16 Here we are in the budget not only --

17 well, we're two years, first of all, into a

18 7Ω-year implementing role, chosen by the

19 State of New York for that role. We're very

20 proud to have it, we're fulfilling it very

21 responsibly, but we've got 5Ω years to go,

22 and that obligation doesn't cease if we have

23 zero in our State Operations line, the

24 state's obligation. That's number one.

448

1 Number two, we are vested with the

2 responsibility of taking Hurrell-Harring

3 reforms statewide in the Governor's own

4 budget. So the word "disconnect" is about

5 the most mild word I can think of to describe

6 all of those responsibilities on the one

7 hand, and the zero in the State Ops line on

8 the other.

9 And I wish I had an answer to that

10 question which I have been putting. I don't

11 have one yet. I intend to get one. I have

12 expressed that I have a very hardworking and

13 very expert staff which produces these

14 reports and these plans, and they

15 understandably would like to know that their

16 state employment will continue.

17 SENATOR KRUEGER: So if you're not put

18 back into State Ops, then you have to

19 actually be written in somewhere in a budget

20 bill into Aid to Localities, correct?

21 Because you're not there really either.

22 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Right. We're not

23 specifically written in, it's just a portion

24 may be transferred to State Operations.

449

1 That's what it says.

2 SENATOR KRUEGER: No, I think it said

3 a portion may be transferred to Aid to

4 Localities.

5 DIRECTOR LEAHY: From Aid to

6 Localities into State Ops.

7 SENATOR KRUEGER: Right, that could be

8 transferred. But that would need to be

9 explicit in the budget, except "can be" is

10 not really very explicit if you want to make

11 payroll. Right?

12 DIRECTOR LEAHY: I'm sorry, I missed

13 your question.

14 SENATOR KRUEGER: "Can be" is not very

15 useful when you want to make payroll.

16 DIRECTOR LEAHY: "Can be" is not very

17 useful. And of course we have no control

18 over that. I mean, I have already expressed

19 the view that there's $4.8 million that

20 belongs in State Ops, and what's it doing in

21 Aid to Localities, and I want it back.

22 SENATOR KRUEGER: Okay. So I just

23 wanted to agree with you that you're not in

24 the right place right now.

450

1 In the very beginning of your

2 testimony, you talked about all these reports

3 showing real success coming out of the work

4 in indigent legal services, and a reduction

5 in the number of cases. Where are the

6 reports?

7 DIRECTOR LEAHY: The reports are all

8 on our website. They come out every fall.

9 They're called -- they have a kind of

10 unwieldy title, I have one here, "Estimate of

11 the Cost of Compliance with Maximum National

12 Caseload Limits in Upstate New York."

13 SENATOR KRUEGER: So I can go online

14 now and see the most recent reports.

15 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Yes, you can. Or you

16 can simply ask me to send your office an

17 email with all four, and I will do it before

18 the day is out.

19 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you very much.

20 Thank you.

21 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

22 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

23 That's it?

24 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay. Thank you so

451

1 much for your testimony today. We truly

2 appreciate it.

3 DIRECTOR LEAHY: Thank you very much

4 for your time. I really appreciate it.

5 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay, thank you.

6 Our next speaker is Director and Chief

7 Information Officer Margaret Miller, New York

8 State Office of Information Technology

9 Services.

10 Welcome. So go ahead, proceed.

11 DIRECTOR MILLER: Thank you.

12 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

13 DIRECTOR MILLER: Good afternoon,

14 Chairwoman Young, Chairman Farrell, and

15 distinguished members of the Legislature. I

16 am Maggie Miller, the state's chief

17 information officer and director of

18 Information Technology Services, and I'm

19 joined today by Matt Millea, executive deputy

20 director of the Office of Information

21 technology Services.

22 The 2017-2018 Governor's Executive

23 Budget includes $582 million in General Fund

24 support to enable ITS to continue to provide

452

1 consolidated statewide information technology

2 services. The Executive Budget also includes

3 $85 million in capital funds for IT

4 innovation in enterprise-level applications

5 and programs.

6 The funding will allow ITS to build on

7 the very considerable progress accomplished

8 to date towards ensuring the citizens of

9 New York are provided with the best possible

10 technology in their interactions with state

11 government, making government work smarter

12 for citizens, spurring economic growth, and

13 making the state more accessible to business.

14 Every member of the ITS team can be

15 proud of the progress made in our

16 transformational journey. We are very

17 conscious of the distance still left to

18 travel before the ITS organization and the

19 services it provides fully meet the standard

20 that the citizens of New York deserve. Such

21 was the fragility of the environment before

22 consolidation that we've had to focus more

23 and for longer than we'd anticipated on

24 reducing operational and cyber risk rather

453

1 than creating new functionality.

2 However, let's not ignore what's been

3 achieved. We are already delivering greater

4 operational resilience, an environment much

5 hardened against cyberattacks, some very

6 significant savings, and key initiatives

7 applying our strategy of "build once, reuse

8 often" that delivers better, new services

9 faster and cheaper.

10 Our TS team comprises some of the most

11 talented and committed individuals it's been

12 my privilege to work with. New York State

13 can be very proud of them and their

14 achievements. And we are grateful for the

15 continued support of the Governor and our

16 agency partners.

17 The transformation of ITS is without

18 precedent in terms of ambition and scale and

19 is taking place in the face of unusual

20 challenges, including the extent of

21 technology debt that has resulted from

22 long-term underinvestment, as well as fiscal

23 and practical constraints.

24 We are aggressively driving complexity

454

1 from the environment of the agencies ITS

2 serves, to reduce risk, improve the quality

3 of our services, provide the best career

4 opportunities to ITS team members, and free

5 up resources to invest in innovative new

6 services to citizens. We make multiyear

7 plans based on the best information available

8 at the time, while continuously modifying

9 these plans as the needs of citizens and

10 agencies evolve, and as circumstances demand.

11 The Office of Information Technology

12 Services' Executive Budget request for state

13 fiscal year 2017-2018 reflects these goals

14 and constraints.

15 In the last year, ITS determined key

16 areas of strategic focus, and these remain

17 our strategic priorities in the 2017-2018

18 financial year.

19 There is no higher priority for ITS

20 than protecting citizen data against

21 cyberattack. We have adopted the industry

22 standards NIST 800.53 and ITIL frameworks and

23 are aggressively driving towards compliance,

24 working closely with our partners in DHSES

455

1 and State Police as well as the FBI and the

2 federal Department of Homeland security.

3 Among our initiatives to improve

4 cybersecurity are a remediation of critical

5 applications to achieve the required level of

6 cyber protection, implementation of a

7 vulnerability scanning architecture and

8 support organization to ensure devices

9 located at our CNSE data center are

10 maintained to industry security controls,

11 real-time network monitoring against threats

12 in both the CNSE and Utica data centers,

13 passive email phishing and malicious URL

14 payload protection, real-time network packet

15 capture and incident response support for

16 network threats discovered, and threat

17 correlation across multiple vectors and

18 consolidated management of threat

19 intelligence.

20 Running existing services and building

21 new ones as cost-effectively as possible,

22 while managing our financial resources in

23 accordance with best practice, is the very

24 core of what we do. These outcomes are those

456

1 most visible to our agency partners and

2 citizens. The remaining strategic priorities

3 are those areas we must focus on in order to

4 transform the way ITS delivers services to

5 agencies and citizens.

6 New York citizens expect IT-enabled

7 services to be reliable, secure, and

8 available 24/7, and we have a major focus on

9 overcoming decades of underinvestment in

10 infrastructure, processes and skills to

11 achieve operational excellence by remediating

12 the technology debt, driving out complexity,

13 accelerating the consolidation of legacy data

14 centers, and significantly upgrading our

15 level of operational maturity while further

16 driving down costs.

17 ITS continues to transform

18 applications by delivering integrated IT

19 services from the citizen viewpoint, and

20 these services will mirror the best of the

21 commercial world in functionality,

22 availability, reliability, usability and

23 security. Wherever possible, we build

24 capabilities once and reuse in multiple

457

1 places to deliver a seamless citizen

2 experience and best value, securely and

3 reliably.

4 We are achieving this by identifying

5 opportunities for sharing technology

6 solutions across agencies with similar needs.

7 Technologies procured and stood up with a

8 ready-trained workforce are being leveraged

9 by multiple initiatives.

10 ITS has the capacity to help transform

11 how cost-effective services are delivered to

12 the citizens of New York State. To achieve

13 this, we must have the right resources, the

14 right skills and the right organization. We

15 plan to become a national leader in building

16 the IT workforce of the future by partnering

17 with academic institutions and technology

18 industry leaders to develop the workforce we

19 need to grow the technology sector in

20 New York State.

21 We're reengineering the ITS

22 organization and offering really exciting

23 career opportunities to our staff. We do

24 have much to do to ensure that each member of

458

1 the team has the opportunity to reach his or

2 her potential and make the greatest possible

3 contribution to our transformation program.

4 We're ensuring our training and development

5 plans are closely aligned with our

6 transformation strategy and that each team

7 member has the skills needed to be effective

8 and to progress in his or her career. In

9 2016 alone, ITS provided more than 6,800

10 training courses to our staff.

11 However, expertise requires both

12 training and experience. We face a

13 significant loss of experience, with

14 35 percent of our staff eligible to retire in

15 the next five years, and 15 percent of our

16 team eligible to retire today. As the vast

17 majority of IT staff in the state are already

18 part of ITS, the only way to replace the head

19 count lost from retirements is with

20 entry-level staff with very limited

21 experience. That results in a very high

22 reliance on expensive consultants to meet the

23 experience deficit.

24 For these reasons, we are requesting

459

1 your support for the Governor's Executive

2 Budget proposal that allows us to hire a

3 number of these consultants into the

4 PEF-represented state workforce in term

5 roles. On passing the civil service exams,

6 those individuals would then be able to apply

7 for permanent positions, in competition with

8 existing ITS staff.

9 Again, I ask for your support for this

10 important legislation.

11 Thank you for the opportunity to speak

12 with you today, and I welcome your questions

13 and comments.

14 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you very

15 much. Thank you for joining us here today.

16 And I listened to your testimony.

17 Now, we had a discussion last year about

18 career ladders within the department, and

19 you're bringing forward a proposal that

20 actually would add I believe an additional

21 250 slots.

22 So in 2009, we authorized 500 term

23 appointments. To date, how many of these

24 slots have been utilized?

460

1 DIRECTOR MILLER: I think that

2 provision has expired.

3 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: It expired, but how

4 many were utilized, and were any held over?

5 DIRECTOR MILLER: None. The program

6 was very successful, and we were very

7 successful in retaining those staff.

8 So the examination was held within the

9 five-year period, and all the staff who were

10 then in those positions I believe took the

11 exam, and many of them passed and were

12 successful in achieving permanent positions,

13 and we've retained them. There's been a

14 great record of retention of some very key

15 skills as a result of that program. And

16 that's one of the reasons we're asking for a

17 repeat of the program.

18 I don't have the number on exactly how

19 many were hired during that process, I'm

20 afraid. I can get it back to you.

21 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay, thank you.

22 Are term appointment employees

23 classified as contractors, or something else?

24 DIRECTOR MILLER: They're classified

461

1 as staff. They're PEF positions, so they are

2 PEF-represented roles, so they're classed as

3 staff positions -- technically not permanent,

4 they're this unique-term role.

5 Temporary positions are what we use

6 for project roles of a limited duration.

7 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: So you're saying

8 the vast majority of the 500 slots made the

9 transition to permanent employee?

10 DIRECTOR MILLER: I could be wrong; I

11 don't remember it being 500. I do apologize.

12 I'll check the numbers and get back to you.

13 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Oh, okay.

14 DIRECTOR MILLER: I thought the

15 original number was lower. But I will find

16 out.

17 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Because I thought

18 you just said that, that the 500 slots were

19 utilized and most of them transitioned into

20 permanent employment.

21 DIRECTOR MILLER: From memory, the

22 first time around it was a lower number than

23 500. And we're requesting 250, as you know,

24 this time.

462

1 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: It would be helpful

2 to know those figures.

3 DIRECTOR MILLER: Yes, of course.

4 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

5 What kind of job functions do these

6 individuals perform?

7 DIRECTOR MILLER: It will be a range

8 of roles, depending on our need. But roles

9 where experience, as I say, is crucial. And

10 in IT, experience always matters.

11 And as I just described, we're losing

12 a great deal of valuable experience through

13 retirement, and currently our only mechanism

14 is to hire people at entry level. And

15 unfortunately, that's adding to the already

16 increasingly unsustainable load on some of

17 our senior staff, who are really critical to

18 the operation of the agency.

19 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: So your testimony

20 says that you face a significant loss of

21 experience --

22 DIRECTOR MILLER: Yes.

23 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: -- with 35 percent

24 of your staff eligible to retire in the next

463

1 five years. I seem to remember a discussion

2 last year during the budget hearings about

3 career ladders and employees being very

4 concerned about lack of career ladders. And

5 what have you done to address that situation?

6 DIRECTOR MILLER: Well, as I just

7 mentioned, we've had a very intensive

8 training program. We've chosen some very

9 specific skills that are strategic skills for

10 the future so we can really focus our career

11 development on those skills, and we have

12 conducted 6,800 trainings.

13 And in fact, in the last year, we

14 promoted a record 11 percent of our staff

15 internally into new opportunities. But

16 unfortunately, that isn't sufficient to meet

17 the experience deficit.

18 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

19 The IT cybersecurity responsibilities

20 were absorbed from the Department of Homeland

21 Security and Emergency Services. And as it

22 stood, DHSES performed this task for three

23 programs -- information security management,

24 managed security services, and the

464

1 cyber-incident response team.

2 The Executive's 2018 budget proposal

3 includes the creation of a cyber-incident

4 response team funded through DHSES. So when

5 IT absorbed the responsibilities that were

6 formerly with the Department of Homeland

7 Security, IT took over information security

8 management, managed security services, and

9 the cyber-incident response team. Now that

10 the cyber-incident response team is being

11 funded through DHSES, does your department

12 still have a response mechanism?

13 DIRECTOR MILLER: Well, one of the

14 things that I've worked very closely on with

15 the commissioner of DHSES and also the

16 superintendent of State Police is making sure

17 we have absolute clarity on who's responsible

18 for what. And that's working very well.

19 And in fact what we've clarified now

20 is that the responsibility of ITS is for

21 ensuring the security of the data held by the

22 48 agencies we support. Whereas the

23 Department of Homeland Security, of course,

24 is responsible for helping New York State

465

1 citizens and businesses and critical

2 infrastructure protect themselves, so that

3 their scope is somewhat wider.

4 So we have a capability to respond to

5 incidents within the organizations we

6 support, but DHSES's responsibility is very

7 much broader than that.

8 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: So it's still split

9 between multiple agencies, is what you're

10 saying.

11 DIRECTOR MILLER: Well, and

12 appropriately so, I think, because we have

13 different areas of responsibility. And of

14 course there's also State Police, who enforce

15 cybersecurity laws and provide targeted cyber

16 intelligence.

17 And in fact we actually had the

18 opportunity to test out how well we work

19 together only a couple of months ago, because

20 we had the opportunity to take part in a

21 tabletop exercise run by the federal

22 Department of Homeland Security, where we

23 mocked up a cyberattack on the health agency

24 and we had -- goodness me, I think we must

466

1 have had 50 people in attendance, from all

2 the potentially affected departments who

3 would have to respond to a real cyber event.

4 We had members of staff from the chamber and

5 everybody from the Governor's staff to

6 communications and so forth.

7 Nobody had prior notice of this

8 exercise, what it was going to be like, so

9 nobody could prepare -- other than how they

10 would normally. And in fact we did very

11 well. And we looked at the after-action

12 report that was produced for us, and the

13 Department of Homeland Security was very

14 complimentary about the way the different

15 agencies worked together, didn't fall over

16 each other, but really understood their

17 roles.

18 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Which state

19 agencies and public authorities specifically

20 are covered under ITS?

21 DIRECTOR MILLER: There are 48. I can

22 list them for you if you'd like.

23 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Forty-eight out of

24 how many?

467

1 DIRECTOR MILLER: Well, there are,

2 gosh, quite a large number of non-executive

3 agencies and authorities and other executive

4 agencies that we don't support. That was the

5 original mandate of ITS when it was formed.

6 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: If an executive

7 state agency is the victim of a cyberattack,

8 how are the victims notified? Are they

9 notified by you? How does that process work?

10 DIRECTOR MILLER: It depends on the

11 nature of the attack. If the -- if it's an

12 attack on an agency that we support, then --

13 and the majority of attacks, of course, are

14 not successful.

15 But in the rare event that an attack

16 might be successful, then we would work very

17 carefully with that agency to determine the

18 extent of any breach and whether indeed that

19 breach required notification, and then the

20 agency itself would handle the notification

21 if it was citizens' data that was breached.

22 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: How do you

23 interface with federal agencies, that sort of

24 thing? Because it seems to me that there are

468

1 constant new threats out there, there are new

2 schemes that are put together and -- how does

3 that work so that you're up to speed?

4 Because I have to imagine that this changes

5 day by day and even minute by minute in some

6 cases.

7 DIRECTOR MILLER: Indeed it does,

8 yeah.

9 We work very closely with the NYSIC

10 and also with the Multistate ISAC, which is

11 an organization that collects information

12 from around the country and around the world,

13 from federal agencies and state agencies. We

14 have a very close relationship with them.

15 And of course, conveniently, they're located

16 very nearby. And we review all the

17 information provided to us to determine

18 what's actionable and what's for information

19 only, and move very aggressively to implement

20 their recommendations, such as we did with

21 the Grizzly Steppe recommendations that

22 recently surrounded the election.

23 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: One of the issues

24 has to do with -- and I know you're focused

469

1 on the state agencies, but with the new

2 cyber-incident response team. It will be

3 helping localities who may be under threat

4 and that sort of thing.

5 But do you see a need for some kind of

6 focus on private industry or business? And

7 the reason I ask that is that many people in

8 the state were victims of a computer hack by

9 a health insurance organization. And of

10 course we're very concerned about that.

11 Those are some of the most sensitive records

12 about anyone, and it includes items that

13 could be used for identity theft and other

14 nefarious deeds.

15 So what need do you see out there?

16 DIRECTOR MILLER: Indeed, I was the

17 victim of such an attack myself only a couple

18 of weeks ago, so I totally understand that.

19 I'm confident that Commissioner

20 Melville has a good plan in place in order to

21 advise industry. And of course, you know, we

22 welcome the new regulations that DFS is

23 proposing to make sure that financial

24 organizations secure their data.

470

1 The threats are constantly evolving.

2 We maintain a posture of I would call it

3 confident paranoia, because however on a

4 daily basis we increase our level of

5 protection, the threat continues to evolve.

6 And that's one of the reasons why in ITS

7 we're spending more on cybersecurity -- in

8 fact, more than twice as much as the majority

9 of government agencies across the country.

10 We're spending fully 17 percent of our budget

11 on securing citizen data.

12 But I do think that there's a need for

13 more awareness. Certainly there are federal

14 regulations and financial regulations, such

15 as SOX, that focus on this. But I'm

16 confident that Commissioner Melville has a

17 plan on that subject.

18 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

19 We'll allow the Assembly to ask some

20 questions, and then some of my colleagues.

21 ASSEMBLYMAN OAKS: Yes, I just had a

22 question. The ammunition database through

23 the SAFE Act, originally there was an

24 appropriation of $80.74 million that would

471

1 have paid for that. My understanding is

2 there's currently $4.6 million left in that.

3 So I guess the question would be, are we done

4 with that? And if so, do we have a plan to

5 use that other 4.6?

6 DIRECTOR MILLER: Unfortunately, I

7 don't recognize those specific numbers.

8 But I mean, as you know,

9 Superintendent Beach has been in his role for

10 some seven months at the moment, and we

11 continue to work very closely with him and

12 his team in order to find a suitable solution

13 for the ammunition database. But so far, as

14 you know, we've been focusing on the many

15 provisions required -- the many elements

16 required to fully meet the provisions of the

17 SAFE Act.

18 And in fact we've just this month

19 implemented the functionality for pistol

20 recertification, and I'm pleased to say that

21 we've already seen some 30,000 registrations,

22 pistol recertifications.

23 But as I say, unfortunately I don't

24 recognize those specific numbers. Happy to

472

1 follow up with you later.

2 ASSEMBLYMAN OAKS: I would be

3 appreciative of that. Thank you.

4 DIRECTOR MILLER: Of course.

5 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: And I will remind

6 you, Director, that there is a memorandum of

7 understanding that the database cannot go

8 forward without --

9 DIRECTOR MILLER: Indeed.

10 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: -- the agreement by

11 the majority leader in the Senate, and that's

12 still in place.

13 DIRECTOR MILLER: Indeed.

14 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Senator Croci.

15 SENATOR CROCI: Thank you, Madam

16 Chair.

17 Director, good to see you again.

18 DIRECTOR MILLER: Good to see you,

19 Senator.

20 SENATOR CROCI: A quick question. You

21 mentioned that there's coordination with

22 regard to the cyber-incident response teams,

23 the fact that they're going -- they're not

24 going to your office, and instead they're

473

1 going to DHSES, whereas I think last year

2 when we were having these conversations, it

3 was the other way around.

4 But you said that there's an

5 understanding between the superintendent of

6 State Police and Commissioner Melville at

7 DHSES and yourself.

8 DIRECTOR MILLER: Mm-hmm.

9 SENATOR CROCI: So there is a coherent

10 policy, everyone knows their lane in the

11 road. My question is, where can I as a

12 legislator read that policy or that roadmap

13 for how these lanes in the road function?

14 DIRECTOR MILLER: For how we interact

15 between us and --

16 SENATOR CROCI: Yes. You said

17 there -- and it was recognized even by the

18 Department of Homeland Security. I'm just

19 wondering, is this an informal policy or is

20 this something where it's a, you know,

21 interagency process and you've come up with

22 something that a legislator or someone else

23 can look at and say this is -- who is

24 responsible for this kind of an incident

474

1 across the enterprise and across the spectrum

2 in the State of New York?

3 DIRECTOR MILLER: I'm not aware of a

4 published policy, I'm afraid, Senator.

5 SENATOR CROCI: Okay, so it's an

6 informal policy between the commissioners

7 that's agreed to by the Governor?

8 DIRECTOR MILLER: Not in the format of

9 a formal policy, no. Although we do have a

10 very good understanding between us and work

11 very closely together.

12 SENATOR CROCI: Would it make sense to

13 have a formal policy?

14 DIRECTOR MILLER: It's actually a

15 really interesting suggestion. Let me look

16 into it.

17 SENATOR CROCI: Okay. I had a

18 question about -- we talked a little about

19 the Governor's -- one of his very I think

20 effective measures that he implemented, which

21 was that 6 percent set-aside for contracts

22 statewide go to service-disabled

23 veteran-owned businesses.

24 You previously testified that you were

475

1 either compliant or approaching compliance.

2 I'm looking at the report that I got from

3 OGS, my office received, with the members of

4 the committee. And you're not in this one,

5 your department isn't, but I see zero

6 percent, zero percent in this year's report,

7 which was late -- not from you, but was late.

8 I don't see you listed. So I'm wondering

9 what is your current compliance with the

10 state law with regard to state contracts

11 issued by your department for

12 service-disabled veteran-owned businesses?

13 DIRECTOR MILLER: Yeah. Well, the

14 good news is I'm pleased to say for the

15 second year running, on the minority- and

16 women-owned businesses, we are exceeding our

17 target. In fact, we've reached double our

18 target.

19 I'm personally disappointed to have to

20 tell you that for disabled and veteran-owned

21 business, for the current year we'll probably

22 only reach 50 percent of our goal. I'm very

23 disappointed about that. I --

24 SENATOR CROCI: Fifty percent of the

476

1 requirement, or do you have a goal that's

2 short of the requirement?

3 DIRECTOR MILLER: We have a --

4 SENATOR CROCI: It's 6 percent.

5 DIRECTOR MILLER: We have to establish

6 a goal, and that's a published goal.

7 The limitation on us in that area,

8 which hopefully won't exist in the next year,

9 is that we're limited by the order of

10 precedence of procurement. So first of all

11 we have to go to preferred-source vendors, if

12 the form and fit meets our needs. Then we go

13 to OGS centralized contracts, and that's

14 where we do the vast majority of our

15 purchasing. And there just weren't many

16 veteran-owned businesses in that category.

17 I'm pleased to say that OGS has just

18 added 10 disabled and veteran-owned

19 businesses to that category. So I'm really

20 optimistic that I'll be able to tell you next

21 year that we've beaten our goal. That's our

22 intent.

23 SENATOR CROCI: I sure hope so.

24 DIRECTOR MILLER: Yeah, I'm --

477

1 SENATOR CROCI: I had one other

2 question, and this is with regard to a report

3 that the Comptroller did with regard to

4 different agencies. It's not very flattering

5 for your agency -- words like "significant

6 deficiencies in planning and execution of

7 transformation."

8 And more alarming is "ITS often did

9 not provide timely or independent access to

10 certain data and staff, thus limiting the

11 reliability of some of the data that auditors

12 received and the interviews the auditors

13 conducted. There is considerable risk that

14 the material information pertaining to IT

15 transformation was withheld. Further,

16 throughout the audit, we were presented with

17 contradictory information when trying to

18 obtain documentation and answers to our

19 inquiry."

20 And this is from Comptroller

21 DiNapoli's report of August 2016, which

22 you're no doubt aware of. This recently came

23 across our desks, and I just wanted to give

24 you the opportunity to explain it. Thank

478

1 you.

2 DIRECTOR MILLER: I'm delighted to,

3 thank you.

4 I categorically reject OSC's

5 statement. ITS always works in good faith to

6 comply with all auditors' requests. I

7 believe the truth matters, and the truth is

8 that no requested data was withheld. In

9 fact, I personally committed to provide any

10 information requested, and did so, and spent

11 many hours explaining the terminology and

12 concepts.

13 I welcome all input that's objective

14 and constructive and well informed.

15 Unfortunately, I don't think anybody learned

16 anything useful from this exercise. I

17 requested the standard against which the

18 transformation was to be evaluated; the only

19 reply I ever received was that OSC would

20 measure the program against the measures we

21 use ourselves. But the report makes no

22 reference to the NYST and ITIL frameworks

23 that we do use.

24 And despite the tone of the report,

479

1 they only came up with four recommendations

2 that were specific, all of which were either

3 already complete or in progress.

4 So I'm as puzzled as you are, Senator,

5 by the nature of their comments.

6 SENATOR CROCI: Well, just to close,

7 Madam Chair, I haven't found the

8 comptroller's office to engage in hyperbole

9 or speculation. They're normally very

10 factually based. And of course Comptroller

11 DiNapoli is somebody that is held in high

12 regard in both houses.

13 I'm just curious as to how there can

14 be such a disagreement with the process of an

15 audit or the information that was provided.

16 DIRECTOR MILLER: I'm, as I say, as

17 puzzled as you are.

18 There were some initial delays that

19 were due entirely to the fact that OSC

20 objected to the presence of a member of my

21 audit team in the interviews. That was

22 necessary to make sure that statements by ITS

23 staff weren't misrepresented or

24 misunderstood, as unfortunately had happened

480

1 in the past.

2 And also, some of the information

3 requested by OSC didn't exist in the form

4 they specified, and they were working

5 documents. So it took a while for us to pull

6 the information together and create the right

7 versioning and check for accuracy and so

8 forth.

9 This is a really complex

10 transformation that is tough to understand

11 for those with many decades of experience in

12 IT. But as I've said to you, while we're far

13 from perfect and have a long way to go, we

14 have already or are in the process of

15 actioning all the recommendations they made

16 and did categorically provide all the

17 information requested. And I completely

18 reject the statement that we in any way

19 frustrated the audit. We did not.

20 SENATOR CROCI: Okay, thank you.

21 Thank you, Madam Chair.

22 DIRECTOR MILLER: Thank you.

23 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

24 Senator Krueger, please.

481

1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.

2 So just following up on Assemblymember

3 Kolb's question, even if from a different

4 direction --

5 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Oaks.

6 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'm sorry, excuse

7 me. I apologize.

8 So there was $84 million for the

9 ammunition database at some point in time,

10 and you said you were going to get back to

11 him on that. I would also like to understand

12 what was spent exactly, because we don't

13 actually have one.

14 And I asked the question of

15 Commissioner Beach of the State Police, who

16 said there's been no new proposals made to

17 him since he's been in charge of the State

18 Police. So I know that there were three

19 earlier proposals, but I can't believe we

20 spent millions and millions of dollars on

21 yet-to-happen.

22 DIRECTOR MILLER: Right.

23 SENATOR KRUEGER: So I would like a

24 clarification of that.

482

1 DIRECTOR MILLER: Certainly. By all

2 means.

3 So as I said, the SAFE Act requires a

4 number of provisions, and there are number of

5 elements to the IT work required to meet

6 those provisions.

7 The components we've completed already

8 are the assault weapon registration, mental

9 health reporting, ammunition dealer

10 registration, and the recertification of

11 pistols. And on all of those, we spent

12 $12.8 million. But we have spent no money at

13 all on the ammunition database.

14 SENATOR KRUEGER: So you've said that

15 you oversee -- what did you say, 48 or 49

16 agencies?

17 DIRECTOR MILLER: Forty-eight.

18 SENATOR KRUEGER: And you talk about,

19 in your testimony, all these things you're

20 doing. Do you have a list of the

21 accomplishments that you have completed on

22 any of these agencies in their software or

23 hardware?

24 DIRECTOR MILLER: We do report to the

483

1 commissioners on a regular basis on our

2 progress. And in fact we're currently

3 working on a report that calls out all the

4 achievements over the four-year life of ITS.

5 Unfortunately, I don't have a report I

6 can give to you right now.

7 SENATOR KRUEGER: So it's one of my

8 pet peeves: So have we finished the

9 computerization of the Department of Housing?

10 Which is no longer called DHCR, it's HCR.

11 DIRECTOR MILLER: I'm pleased to say

12 that finally the contract has been awarded

13 for that piece of work.

14 SENATOR KRUEGER: Just the contract?

15 DIRECTOR MILLER: Yes, and the -- the

16 work has been begun.

17 SENATOR KRUEGER: So that was

18 supposedly a top priority of the Cuomo

19 administration when the Governor was first

20 elected, and we have a contract awarded

21 after -- six and a half years?

22 DIRECTOR MILLER: It's been a very

23 lengthy process, yes, I know.

24 SENATOR KRUEGER: Get any farther on

484

1 any other agencies?

2 DIRECTOR MILLER: Oh, yes. Yes. I

3 mean, we have -- at the moment we have a

4 portfolio in the current year of some 140

5 projects that are over a million dollars, as

6 well as a large number of enhancements to

7 existing systems.

8 So there are a huge number of projects

9 going on at any time in the agency.

10 SENATOR KRUEGER: I share some of my

11 colleagues' frustration that we're not

12 getting anywhere fast enough on an incredible

13 number of issues.

14 You are right when you say the people

15 of New York State, the consumers of state

16 government, in fact are expecting a

17 21st-century government that has functioning

18 IT and allows them to participate in all

19 kinds of ways, and that our workers deserve

20 the kinds of systems that allow them to

21 provide the services.

22 And I look at the state compared to

23 other states -- or even the City of New York,

24 where I live -- and I'm constantly shocked

485

1 with how little progress we make.

2 So I have not read the comptroller's

3 report. I will, on the recommendation of

4 Senator Croci, read it.

5 DIRECTOR MILLER: For sure. I mean, I

6 would say that we probably don't do a good

7 enough job of explaining some of the progress

8 we do make, and we are making significant

9 progress. You'll have noticed, for example,

10 on the recent election, that the voter

11 registration process went very smoothly. And

12 that, for example, required us to completely

13 rewrite the systems that underpin

14 applications for voter registration. We

15 rebuilt those between the primary and the

16 general election registration process. And

17 we handled 800,000 applications, 200,000 of

18 those in the last week, without any

19 interruptions in service.

20 So a lot of what we do is not terribly

21 obvious because it's not headline-grabbing,

22 but actually works very well.

23 And we've also, unfortunately, because

24 of the fragile nature of the environment when

486

1 ITS was formed, we've had to focus far too

2 much and for far too long on stabilizing the

3 environment and on cybersecurity.

4 Unfortunately, those things have to come

5 first. It doesn't make me very popular with

6 my commissioner colleagues, but I have to

7 insist that stabilizing the environment,

8 making sure that we have operational security

9 and cybersecurity, has to come before

10 anything else, including, unfortunately, some

11 of the newer projects.

12 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.

13 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Point of

14 clarification. There was never any money

15 lined out in any state budget regarding the

16 SAFE Act.

17 DIRECTOR MILLER: That's correct.

18 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: So you apparently

19 have been spending these millions of dollars

20 out of the ITS budget.

21 DIRECTOR MILLER: Out of the General

22 Fund, that's correct.

23 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

24 Senator Savino.

487

1 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you, Senator

2 Young.

3 Thank you, Ms. Miller. I just have a

4 question about -- at the end of your

5 testimony, you talk about the IT staff and

6 the significant threat to -- the loss of

7 staff. I think in your testimony you said

8 you're facing -- about 35 percent of your

9 staff right now are eligible to retire in the

10 next five years, and 15 percent are eligible

11 today. That's fully 50 percent of the IT

12 staff.

13 And at the same time, in the

14 Governor's budget there's a proposal to allow

15 for the hiring of 250 people. And this was

16 the subject of some discussion the other day

17 with Civil Service and with GOER, and I'm

18 still somewhat confused as to who these

19 people are, what they would do.

20 Because I understand we have an

21 existing -- we have an existing civil service

22 list for IT positions with almost a thousand

23 people on it. So I asked the question then,

24 why can't we just turn to that list and hire

488

1 people off the list? They couldn't answer

2 it.

3 So perhaps you can tell me --

4 DIRECTOR MILLER: Certainly.

5 SENATOR SAVINO: -- one, if that list

6 for those positions are positions that you

7 need to fill with these 250 that we want to

8 hire. And if not, why not? Like, what

9 exactly are these 250 people going to do?

10 And then at some point these 250 staff

11 people that will now be represented and state

12 workers, there's going to have to be a civil

13 service exam developed for this position.

14 That's my understanding.

15 DIRECTOR MILLER: Happy to clarify.

16 SENATOR SAVINO: Maybe you can explain

17 it to me, because they couldn't.

18 DIRECTOR MILLER: I'll try.

19 So these individuals are current --

20 currently contractors, very expensive

21 contractors. So they're a known entity. So

22 we know their value to the state. They've

23 already learned about state systems.

24 And this legislation allows us to turn

489

1 those expensive contractors into state

2 employees in PEF positions, but those

3 positions only last for up to five years.

4 During that five-year period they have to

5 take a civil service exam appropriate to the

6 role that they would be going into.

7 But what this does do is allow us to

8 hire people at more senior levels, more

9 experienced people. Because currently the

10 only way we can bring people into the ITS

11 organization is at the lowest levels. Now,

12 that's great, and we have fantastic

13 internship programs, and we love having

14 bright kids straight out of college join the

15 organization. But as I said, expertise is a

16 mixture of skill and experience. And we

17 desperately need an injection of experience

18 into the middle layers and into the more

19 senior layers of the organization.

20 SENATOR SAVINO: So the existing list

21 that has a thousand -- that would be a lower

22 title or a lower level of skill?

23 DIRECTOR MILLER: There are probably a

24 range of lists, so we have lists applicable

490

1 to multiple titles. And those -- I think

2 there's a misunderstanding that -- about who

3 competes for the permanent roles.

4 So the permanent roles that these term

5 appointments would be eligible to compete for

6 are available to -- and indeed the term

7 roles -- are available to permanent staff as

8 well as the contractors. And in fact we're

9 obliged to hire from the permanent staff in

10 preference to the contractors.

11 So there's an opportunity for the

12 permanent staff to apply for the term roles,

13 and then when term staff, if they pass the

14 exam, they're in competition with permanent

15 staff who might have reached that level in

16 the ladder, and we would take a view on which

17 are more suitable and would most likely hire

18 the -- those who had the greatest skills as

19 well as the experience.

20 SENATOR SAVINO: It makes a little bit

21 more sense than the explanation I got the

22 other day. But I just wonder, you know, if

23 we are developing exams that actually reflect

24 the work that the agency needs. And perhaps

491

1 that's something that Civil Service should be

2 looking at.

3 DIRECTOR MILLER: Yeah, that's a

4 different matter and something that we're

5 working very closely with Civil Service on.

6 The tricky thing is that the civil

7 service exams are by nature very general, and

8 IT skills are very specific. So that does

9 give us some challenges, and that's something

10 that Civil Service and our HR department are

11 working on very closely. Because obviously

12 we don't want to have to develop an exam for

13 each very narrow technology skill. That

14 wouldn't be a good use of anybody's time.

15 But at the same time, if someone comes

16 in the top three on a particular exam, but

17 their skills are in COBOL programming and I

18 need someone who's skilled in an Oracle skill

19 set, then that's a mismatch too.

20 So it's -- we're trying to work within

21 the system, at the same time hoping Civil

22 Service and PEF will work with us to make the

23 system more appropriate for the 21st century.

24 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you.

492

1 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: I just have just

2 one more question, and that's whether -- I

3 wanted to ask whether ITS has developed a

4 cloud strategy.

5 DIRECTOR MILLER: I'm sorry?

6 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: A cloud strategy.

7 DIRECTOR MILLER: Oh, a cloud

8 strategy. Yes, indeed.

9 We're very thoughtful and very careful

10 about it. Such is the scale of ITS that in

11 fact we have our own private cloud that

12 operates out of our CNSE data center, and

13 that's how we provide services to many of our

14 agencies, is using a private cloud concept.

15 But we are very carefully and

16 selectively adopting government clouds. So

17 for example, our email system is housed in

18 the Microsoft government cloud. And we are

19 also, on a very selective and careful basis,

20 making use of other cloud services that meet

21 our security requirements, and where we

22 believe we won't be locked into a particular

23 vendor in an inappropriate fashion.

24 So we have a strategy, but we're being

493

1 very careful and thoughtful about it.

2 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you for that

3 answer.

4 Are the other state agencies and local

5 governments able to access the cloud system

6 that you're putting together? Because that's

7 a low-cost alternative.

8 DIRECTOR MILLER: It can appear a

9 low-cost alternative, although I often

10 counsel my colleagues to be careful of the

11 total cost of ownership over time.

12 But certainly where cloud providers

13 are available on the OGS contracts, those are

14 available to other state agencies, yes.

15 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: And to local

16 governments also?

17 DIRECTOR MILLER: I believe so, yes.

18 EX. DEP. DIRECTOR MILLEA: If I could

19 just add, Senator, we are working closely

20 with OGS on a periodic recruitment for the

21 cloud umbrella contract that OGS has, with a

22 particular focus on making sure that local

23 governments will have the vendors they're

24 looking for and that they'll be able to

494

1 participate through the OGS procurement.

2 DIRECTOR MILLER: Thanks, Matt.

3 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay, thank you.

4 Anyone else? Okay, I think we're all

5 set, so thank you for testifying today. We

6 truly appreciate it.

7 DIRECTOR MILLER: Thank you.

8 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Next up is

9 Robert -- Tembeckjian?

10 ADMINISTRATOR TEMBECKJIAN: You got it

11 right last year and this year too. Thank

12 you, Senator.

13 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: It took me a

14 second.

15 -- administrator and counsel for the

16 New York State Commission on Judicial

17 Conduct.

18 ADMINISTRATOR TEMBECKJIAN: Thank you.

19 No, I'm not going to read it at all.

20 And I will be as brief as possible.

21 Public confidence in the courts and in

22 the integrity of the judiciary requires an

23 effective and capable judicial ethics

24 enforcement component, and that's what the

495

1 Commission on Judicial Conduct does. We are

2 created in the State Constitution. We have

3 disciplinary jurisdiction over the 3300

4 judges of the New York State Unified Court

5 System. We receive close to 2,000 complaints

6 a year and process them all.

7 We have, over the last nearly 40 years

8 of our existence, conducted over 10,000

9 preliminary inquiries, 8,000 investigations,

10 and have publicly disciplined 814 judges,

11 including 169 who were removed from office

12 for egregious misconduct as well as 63 who

13 resigned with the stipulation that they never

14 return, also in situations where the alleged

15 misconduct was significant.

16 The Legislature in 2007 made a

17 significant investment in the commission's

18 resources by, for the first time in a

19 generation, bringing our budget up to a level

20 far beyond what the Executive Budget had

21 recommended so that we would have the

22 resources to investigate and, where

23 appropriate, publicly discipline judges in a

24 timely manner.

496

1 Certainly it is in the interest of

2 both the judge under investigation and the

3 public that our inquiries be conducted and

4 concluded in as expeditious a fashion as

5 possible so that those who are guilty of

6 misconduct are punished and those who are

7 innocent are exonerated, without undue delay.

8 Now, in the last seven years we've

9 been in a period of I would call Executive

10 Budget stasis. For the seventh year in a

11 row, the Executive Budget is recommending not

12 one penny more in resources to the Judicial

13 Conduct Commission. And that is a problem.

14 Over the last seven years of this

15 static period, our staff has been reduced by

16 18 percent -- we went from 55 authorized

17 full-time employees to 50, but I'm only able

18 to employ 45 because of the limitation on our

19 resources. The progress that we made after

20 the 2007-2008 infusion of funds to more

21 speedily conclude our proceedings has begun

22 now to backslide, because the resources are

23 limited.

24 A flat budget is a cut, because our

497

1 expenses go up, our rent goes up, the cost of

2 our services go up, salaries go up. But if

3 we're not given any additional funding to

4 cope with it, then we've got to find places

5 to cut. And that has an impact on our

6 ability to do our job efficaciously, swiftly,

7 and within the constitutional and statutory

8 guidelines of due process under which we

9 operate.

10 And that is a concern. So that, for

11 example, in the last five years, the average

12 number of matters pending at the close of the

13 calendar year has remained static at about

14 195, where we had been down to under 170 as

15 the result of the infusion of funding that

16 you provided for us in 2007.

17 In the last several years, I have

18 asked the Legislature to give us a little

19 more than the Executive Budget has

20 recommended, just so that we could stay

21 constant and not hemorrhage staff any

22 further. Throughout the year, in

23 consultation individually with a number of

24 Senators and members of the Assembly, I took

498

1 some of the advice that I was hearing and I

2 asked in this year's budget submission for

3 what would be required to get us up

4 essentially to our approved station of 50

5 employees. I've asked for $550,000 more on

6 our budget of $5.6 million.

7 In the large scheme of things, we're

8 really not talking, obviously, about very

9 much. I'm asking for a budget of slightly

10 over $6.1 million. Given the large amounts

11 of money that you've been hearing about and

12 discussing with all the previous speakers to

13 me today, this must seem almost like a walk

14 in the park.

15 But unlike most of my colleagues who

16 have testified before you today, I don't

17 really have -- and the commission doesn't

18 really have -- a constituency to which we can

19 turn for support. We don't get funded by the

20 judiciary, for the very logical and obvious

21 reason that the judicial branch should not be

22 controlling the budgetary purse strings of

23 the entity that disciplines members of the

24 judicial branch.

499

1 And for whatever reason, in the last

2 seven years I've been unable to make the case

3 to the Division of Budget and the second

4 floor that the commission's budget ought to

5 at least keep pace with inflation. And in

6 fact, the $6.1 million that I'm asking for

7 this year is less than what would have been

8 our due if we had simply kept pace, 2 percent

9 a year, with the rate of inflation over the

10 last seven years.

11 I hope that in dealing with the very

12 large budgetary numbers that you deal with in

13 the overall state budget and with individual

14 agencies, that somehow you might find the

15 relatively limited resource improvement that

16 I'm asking for so that we can get our staff

17 back up to speed, so that we can more

18 efficiently and quickly dispose of the

19 matters before us. And hopefully it would be

20 the last time in half a generation I'd have

21 to come back and ask, hat in hand, for this

22 kind of assistance.

23 And that said, most of you know our

24 record of achievement. Despite this

500

1 limitation of funding, we essentially lead

2 the nation -- every state has a judicial

3 disciplinary entity like ours. None gets

4 more complaints in a year than we have. None

5 has more judges under its jurisdiction than

6 we do. None discipline as many judges as we

7 do.

8 But in the smaller states, where the

9 resources are more commensurate with the size

10 of their judiciary and the size of their

11 physical jurisdiction, they tend

12 comparatively to do better than we do. And

13 so I'm hoping that this year the Legislature

14 can find its way to give us the resources we

15 need to get back up to speed.

16 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you very

17 much.

18 Senator DeFrancisco.

19 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, you have

20 some in this room that are very sympathetic.

21 Some in this room haven't seen an increase in

22 18 years.

23 (Laughter.)

24 ADMINISTRATOR TEMBECKJIAN: I'm aware

501

1 of that.

2 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I was a young

3 man back then, the last time --

4 ADMINISTRATOR TEMBECKJIAN: There's no

5 one here more sympathetic than you, Senator,

6 and Assemblywoman Weinstein, for which I am

7 deeply grateful.

8 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I'm going to do

9 what I can to try to get some increase.

10 And there's two reasons. One, because

11 it's the right thing to do. You know, I

12 remember when your organization came into

13 being -- I think it was in the '70s, wasn't

14 it?

15 ADMINISTRATOR TEMBECKJIAN: Yes, it

16 was. Right, 41 years ago.

17 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: And at that time

18 the judges went ballistic, thinking that

19 there could be a body that could possibly

20 supervise -- not supervise them, but look

21 over their shoulders to make sure that they

22 comply with proper comportment, proper

23 procedures, and dealing with the public

24 fairly. And that was the case for many

502

1 years.

2 Now it's second nature. The judges in

3 many cases are appreciative of your office

4 because they review wrongful allegations

5 against them and clear them from nonsensical

6 charges.

7 So it's exactly what's needed in the

8 judicial realm, and it's accepted by judges

9 and practitioners alike. And I think it's

10 the right thing to do to make sure you

11 operate the way you've been operating.

12 The second reason is a selfish reason.

13 As you well know, I'm trying to do the same

14 thing with a prosecutorial commission that

15 reviews prosecutorial conduct. Because

16 it's -- and there's been a lot of screaming

17 and yelling, just like there was in the '70s

18 with respect to your commission. And I think

19 over time it would do a great service to

20 everyone in our community, and I want to make

21 sure you continue to succeed so you're the

22 light for the rest of us to recognize what we

23 should be doing with a prosecutorial

24 commission.

503

1 And you've done a great job. I

2 appreciate it.

3 ADMINISTRATOR TEMBECKJIAN: I

4 appreciate that very much. And as your

5 colleagues know, the legislation on a

6 prosecutorial misconduct commission is

7 modeled on the statute that governs the

8 Judicial Conduct Commission, and I think that

9 it's significant. And I deeply appreciate

10 that you think well enough of us that you

11 would want to model your new version on the

12 success that we've been able to demonstrate,

13 both statutorily and I think in operation.

14 And I certainly hope that when the

15 three parties sit down to negotiate this

16 year, that we can prevail.

17 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: And we didn't

18 plan that, did we?

19 ADMINISTRATOR TEMBECKJIAN: No, we

20 didn't. We certainly didn't.

21 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay, thank you.

22 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

23 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Helene Weinstein.

24 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: Thank you,

504

1 Bob, for being here and joining us in this

2 marathon.

3 I want to join my colleague, the

4 former chair of the Judiciary Committee when

5 we clearly saw the need to improve services.

6 He's gone on to bigger and better things, but

7 I share his commitment that the office is

8 deserving of an increase. It is important

9 for judges to be able to have that, and for

10 people who are alleging wrongdoing to be able

11 to have a quick resolution of the issues.

12 And I just wanted to ask a question.

13 Over these past six years when the budget has

14 remained flat, has the number of matters

15 referred to the commission increased,

16 remained steady?

17 ADMINISTRATOR TEMBECKJIAN: It's

18 actually gone up. The average, the five-year

19 average has been about 1850 complaints a

20 year, and last year we had 1940. The year

21 before, we had 1959. So that we actually are

22 seeing more complaints and are processing

23 more.

24 And as you know, because of the depth

505

1 of the investigations that we conduct, it can

2 take as long and it is just as important to

3 spend the resources to clear a judge as it is

4 to censure or remove a judge from office.

5 And in that respect, to follow up on

6 what Senator DeFrancisco said, the commission

7 does absorb a lot of the heat and hostility

8 that might otherwise be directed to the

9 judiciary for incorrect rulings, bad

10 decisions. The number of complaints that we

11 get that we dismiss because they don't really

12 allege ethical wrongdoing, but have to do

13 with someone's dissatisfaction with a court

14 ruling, actually does a service to the

15 judiciary. And I think it helps to enhance

16 the independence of the judiciary to call

17 them like they see them and to know that

18 they're not going to be punished for having

19 made what might be an unpopular decision but

20 one that was certainly within their

21 discretion.

22 That's a very important role that we

23 play. It doesn't show up in the statistics,

24 but it's extremely significant. And we take

506

1 it very seriously, as we do our role in

2 helping to educate and train the judiciary

3 and court staff in the appropriate ethical --

4 promulgated ethical rules to follow.

5 And I think that the behavior overall

6 among the judiciary has dramatically improved

7 from the time in 1976 when the commission was

8 created in its current incarnation to today.

9 And having been there then and still having

10 been there today, I have seen a dramatic

11 change for the better. And I think that also

12 speaks to the significant role that we play

13 and why it's important to fund us at a level

14 that we can do our job.

15 ASSEMBLYWOMAN WEINSTEIN: Thank you.

16 ADMINISTRATOR TEMBECKJIAN: Thank you.

17 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

18 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Assemblyman Weprin.

19 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Thank you,

20 Mr. Chairman.

21 Mr. Tembeckjian, I'm sure you wouldn't

22 remember, but --

23 ADMINISTRATOR TEMBECKJIAN: But I do.

24 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: -- as a young

507

1 lawyer --

2 ADMINISTRATOR TEMBECKJIAN: I

3 remember. I do.

4 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: -- it was from

5 like 1981 through 1983, I worked for Alfred

6 Julien, who had a number of cases before

7 you -- Gerald Sternway {ph}. I was the

8 administrator at the time. I think you were

9 deputy, if I'm not correct --

10 ADMINISTRATOR TEMBECKJIAN: That's

11 right. That's right. And I do remember. We

12 were both pretty young then. We didn't have

13 any gray hair, neither one of us did.

14 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: You look pretty

15 good.

16 But I'm well aware of -- even though

17 on the other side of a couple of cases, I am

18 very much aware and respectful of the great

19 work that your commission has done over the

20 years.

21 ADMINISTRATOR TEMBECKJIAN: I thank

22 you.

23 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: And it is a very

24 important tool to keep, you know, the

508

1 judiciary honest and also to allow aggrieved

2 litigants to have an opportunity to have some

3 other form of appeal.

4 So I certainly will support an

5 increase in your budget.

6 ADMINISTRATOR TEMBECKJIAN: I thank

7 you very, very much, Assemblyman. Thank you.

8 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

9 All set? I think we're all set, so

10 thank you so much for joining us. We really

11 truly appreciate you.

12 ADMINISTRATOR TEMBECKJIAN: Thank you,

13 Senator Young, very much. Thank you.

14 appreciate it, thank you.

15 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Next we have

16 President Thomas Mungeer, the Police

17 Benevolent Association of the New York State

18 Troopers.

19 Good evening.

20 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: Chairwoman Young,

21 Chairman Farrell, esteemed members of the

22 Legislature, I appreciate it. I'm going to

23 keep this very simple because I know it's

24 been a long day.

509

1 I kind of want to go off the testimony

2 of my superintendent, George Beach, before,

3 that focused -- the questioning was focused

4 more on New York City initiatives for

5 antiterrorism. I believe in the mission,

6 very important. But I think it's very

7 important also that we don't lose track of

8 there's another 57 counties other than

9 New York City.

10 You know, as he said, that we

11 celebrate our 100th anniversary this year,

12 and we've always been able to go in and help

13 other police agencies, which is what we're

14 doing down in New York City. But Senator

15 Young, you brought up a very good point, that

16 the SRO program -- very important, would love

17 to see it reinstituted. As the father of

18 four children, I see the value. Also, I

19 think the lesson that we learned from earlier

20 this month with the Fort Lauderdale airport

21 was that the terrorists are going to look

22 for, you know, the path of least resistance.

23 It doesn't have to be the Miami

24 Airport, it might not be the JFK or the

510

1 LaGuardia, but it might be upstate, at the

2 points -- what I'm trying to get at, the

3 border crossings, transportation hubs, points

4 of mass gathering, we definitely need more

5 protection. And if we're able to come in and

6 help out the local police departments, county

7 sheriff's departments, the more the better.

8 We are stretched. There is funding

9 for more troopers down in New York City, but

10 the bottom line is that we're stretched. We

11 have troopers headed down right now, manning

12 posts down there at the airports, bridge and

13 tunnels on overtime. And that, you know, it

14 does -- I won't say that it leaves upstate

15 short, but again, it's on overtime. These

16 guys, men and women, are away from their

17 families.

18 Normal year, in the Division of State

19 Police, they lose slightly under 250 troopers

20 through attrition. I'm looking to increase,

21 besides the attrition, two classes of 250

22 troopers. It's an extra 250 troopers to be

23 used for such things as the SRO program,

24 antiterrorism initiatives upstate, plus also

511

1 be able to carry out the mission that the

2 Governor has entrusted us with down in the

3 city.

4 With that, again, the Legislature has

5 been very good the last couple of years, as

6 Senator Gallivan has helped and stated with,

7 you know, increased -- better patrol cars.

8 We are starting to come out of that hole.

9 We're still not there. We still need an

10 additional $15 million, just as a matter of

11 course, to keep up so we're not -- so we're

12 replacing the cars at 125,000 miles instead

13 of 200,000 miles.

14 Our troopers -- you know, we don't

15 drive 55 miles an hour. It's not by choice.

16 When you have to chase people down, sometimes

17 you have to get up to high speeds, so you're

18 going from zero to almost 100 miles an hour

19 back to zero all day long, so you need a

20 reliable vehicle.

21 The other thing we made is that -- for

22 the antiterrorism mission, we're going to

23 need rifles, we're going to need the tactical

24 ballistic vests. So we need all this

512

1 equipment to carry out this mission. It's

2 good that the Governor has appropriated

3 funds, but we need more. And I believe that

4 we can't leave upstate -- we can't ignore

5 upstate. We have -- that's been our mission

6 since 1917.

7 Again, I appreciate what the Governor

8 is doing down in the city, but there's a

9 whole other area north of the George

10 Washington Bridge, and west, that we can't

11 lose sight of. And also, not for nothing,

12 Fort Lauderdale should be a lesson to us all

13 that we can't turn a blind eye.

14 So I appreciate the time.

15 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

16 How does it work as far as people

17 being assigned to New York City? Do they

18 rotate in and out? Do they --

19 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: We do have a

20 permanent detail down there, as the

21 superintendent said. But, you know, the

22 expanded mission with the airports, the

23 troopers are being sent down a week at a

24 time. And it's similar. It's just part of

513

1 the job. The Dannemora prison break, we had

2 the same thing. During 9/11 we sent 500

3 troopers, in the blink of an eye. We were

4 down there that afternoon.

5 So it's a matter of course of what we

6 do. But again, it's a week away from home.

7 And that's what we sign up for. But they are

8 troopers coming from up in your area, Troop

9 A. They are coming down from Troop B and

10 what have you. It is taking manpower off the

11 road. They are filling in the gap in tour

12 coverage with, you know, troopers filling in

13 the patrol posts and what have you. But

14 again, the manpower is being stretched thin.

15 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay, thank you.

16 Any -- Assemblyman?

17 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: The Chrysler

18 product, does it make the 100,000? The

19 Dodge.

20 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: The Dodge? You

21 know, they did have some glitches on that,

22 from what I understand, the brakes and what

23 have you. But unfortunately we've been

24 pushing these products to almost 200,000

514

1 miles at times, and when -- I'm all right

2 with 125,000 miles, but, you know, a normal

3 car usually doesn't go by that, especially

4 when you're driving it the way we do at high

5 speeds all day long.

6 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: One of your guys

7 picked me up when I blew out at 225 with a

8 Pontiac. He was very nice. I didn't know

9 you can't get picked up on the Taconic.

10 Thank you.

11 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Senator Gallivan.

12 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Welcome,

13 Mr. President.

14 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: Senator.

15 SENATOR GALLIVAN: As always, thanks

16 to your and your members for what you do

17 across the state on behalf of all our

18 citizens.

19 A number of members up here today

20 expressed concern -- and I share the

21 concern -- to ensure that we have proper

22 staffing across the state. I think the

23 reason for the little focus on New York City

24 is because of the Governor's proposal to add

515

1 funding for that. But please don't mistake

2 that, and I think I can speak for my

3 colleagues. We are concerned with deployment

4 statewide and ensuring safety for our

5 communities statewide.

6 Can you help me on a couple of things?

7 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: Sure.

8 SENATOR GALLIVAN: First, your

9 testimony -- and then looking at your written

10 testimony -- you mentioned two classes of 250

11 people to help staff up beyond attrition.

12 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: Yes.

13 SENATOR GALLIVAN: And I see funding

14 for a thousand troopers in your written

15 testimony.

16 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: Yeah, by the end

17 of next year. This is not the -- I guess the

18 end all. We're going to lose 250 troopers

19 this year, 250 next year. So I'm looking --

20 next year I'm going to be back here again,

21 Senator --

22 SENATOR GALLIVAN: So the fourth

23 class --

24 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: -- and I think

516

1 you're going to be in the same spot --

2 SENATOR GALLIVAN: I hope so.

3 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: -- and I'm going

4 to sit here and I'm going to ask for another

5 500 troopers again. So I figured I'd cut to

6 the chase and put the thousand in there right

7 off the bat.

8 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Understood. And

9 while we can check on these numbers, I just

10 don't have them with me. And if you're able

11 to help with the numbers, fine. If not,

12 we'll look it up.

13 We believe that over the past two

14 fiscal years, about $30 million were spent,

15 from what we allocated, for State Police

16 vehicles, and I'm looking at a little under

17 $15 million for the uniform patrol cars.

18 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: Yeah.

19 SENATOR GALLIVAN: So that was a total

20 of $30 million. I'm seeming to remember that

21 we allocated more. Do you know that or not?

22 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: I believe that it

23 was an extra -- you allocated on top of the

24 existing, I believe, $12 million to

517

1 $15 million. We were again stuck -- I don't

2 want to use the term stuck in the rut, but we

3 hadn't bought any cars and our cars were very

4 dilapidated, if you will. That was on top.

5 We're actually -- we're not out of the

6 woods yet, but we're a heck of a lot better

7 than where we were because of that funding.

8 SENATOR GALLIVAN: I think that's

9 consistent with the superintendent's

10 testimony.

11 Well, we can check on it, because it

12 may be that -- I mean, you mentioned the

13 number $15 million. It might already be

14 provided for, so -- if I understood the

15 superintendent's testimony correctly, that

16 kind of gets you up to where you have to be

17 to then continue the regular rotation so long

18 as you're sufficiently funded in years

19 forward.

20 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: Yeah, $15 million

21 is pretty much what they need every year just

22 to keep up the vehicles just on a yearly

23 turnover.

24 We can't ignore also, with extra

518

1 troopers, whether they're down in New York

2 City or upstate, we need cars. You know, a

3 trooper needs his horse to get around on, if

4 you will. So extra cars come, you know --

5 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Except these

6 horses cost a little more.

7 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: Yeah, a little

8 bit.

9 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Last question --

10 and again, it goes back to refreshing my

11 memory. I know in the past several years

12 that we've had discussions, you've testified,

13 NYSPIA has also testified -- I might be

14 confusing your testimony, or what we

15 ultimately did about the need for additional

16 firepower -- rifles, things like that.

17 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: Yes.

18 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Was money allocated

19 in the past year or two for some of these

20 things, for rifles for troopers?

21 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: Yeah, for -- my

22 goal is -- and again, I think in this day and

23 age you never know when you're going to be

24 deployed -- I would like a rifle for every

519

1 uniformed member. And I would like a rifle

2 plate and carrier for every uniformed member.

3 Right now the allocation is -- I

4 believe there's 1700 rifle plates. That's

5 one for every car plus another 500 for the

6 various troop locations. And I believe

7 there's a little over a thousand patrol

8 rifles. So that means that a third of my

9 uniformed force -- actually, a quarter, when

10 you count the supervisors -- do not have a

11 patrol rifle yet.

12 So we are picking away at the problem.

13 You have allocated funds over the last couple

14 of years, and we're getting there. But I

15 don't think we're over the finish line yet.

16 Because as you know, Senator, you get

17 deployed somewhere, you want that equipment

18 with you. Sometimes you don't have time to

19 run back to the barracks and pick that stuff

20 up and run out.

21 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Okay, thanks.

22 That's all I had.

23 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: Thanks, Senator.

24 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

520

1 Senator Savino.

2 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you, Senator

3 Young.

4 Tom, I just have a question about -- I

5 know there's some dispute about whether you

6 guys should be in New York City or not in

7 New York City. Personally, I love you

8 wherever you are.

9 But we have you guys on Staten Island

10 now, because we have an HOV lane on the

11 Staten Island Expressway. And after a

12 tremendous amount of money that went into

13 building it out, for some reason or other we

14 were -- it seemed like the local department

15 was just not doing a particularly good job of

16 enforcing the HOV-3 lane, and it became a bit

17 of a problem. And so the solution, it

18 appeared, was the Governor's office sent the

19 State Police down to patrol the Staten Island

20 Expressway.

21 So your guys have been down there now

22 for a couple of months, and so abuses of the

23 HOV lane seem to have stopped. You know,

24 nothing like having state troopers assigned

521

1 to it. But how many of your members are

2 actively doing that? And has there been any

3 discussion with the NYPD about them actually

4 taking it over? Because it really is

5 something highway patrol should be doing, you

6 know, in New York City.

7 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: I cannot comment

8 because I do not know if there's been

9 conversations with the NYPD over taking over,

10 you know, various roadways down there.

11 I do believe that the patrol has been

12 pulled back, only because there's other

13 duties, whether it's the bridges and tunnels

14 or the airports. And again, we don't really

15 have the manpower. But I believe they have

16 taken that patrol out of that area.

17 I have heard, you know, comments that,

18 you know, the NYPD can handle what they have

19 down there, and I agree. They have, you

20 know, adequate resources. Where we've been

21 put is actually not where the NYPD was. It

22 was actually bridge and tunnel and the Port

23 Authority were the areas. MTA is where we've

24 been deployed.

522

1 So again, I don't know -- to answer

2 your question, I don't know if that

3 conversation has gone on. I do not believe

4 that that is one of our missions that we'll

5 be looking to do.

6 Personally, I think that what we're

7 doing now with the bridges and tunnels,

8 airports, it's enough. I don't think, you

9 know, patrolling the roadways as such -- we

10 don't have the resources, actually, right

11 now. You know, we're spread thin. And any

12 other duties such as that without, you know,

13 getting the funding for what we're looking

14 for for upstate and what have you, I don't

15 think it's part of the mission.

16 But again, I think that's better left

17 to the superintendent of State Police to

18 answer that.

19 SENATOR SAVINO: Well, it's certainly

20 had an effect on HOV lane abuses. But you're

21 right, you now are at the bridges and tunnels

22 alongside the Port Authority PD --

23 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: Yeah, the Bridge

24 and Tunnel Authority is --

523

1 SENATOR SAVINO: Or the Bridge and

2 Tunnel Authority. And so at the same time

3 we're moving to cashless tolling, dismantling

4 toll booths at all of the MTA crossings. So

5 they've taken them down at the Battery Tunnel

6 now, they've taken them down at the Queens

7 Midtown Tunnel. By the way, it's a mess, but

8 that's beside the point.

9 So what role is the State Police --

10 are they there for security or is it to help

11 with this new transition to cashless tolling?

12 I'm confused as to what -- because we have

13 two sets of police on the scene on these

14 sites.

15 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: We do. And from

16 my understanding, again, some of these

17 questions are probably better posed to the

18 superintendent of State Police. But it is my

19 understanding that they're engaged in traffic

20 enforcement.

21 But I think a lot of it also is that

22 the Governor's wish -- and I -- you know, I

23 believe, is that the mere presence of the

24 State Police is an antiterrorism type -- is a

524

1 terrorism deterrent, if you will. The same

2 with the airports with the troopers. The

3 Port Authority are there and they've policed

4 that location for decades. But again, not to

5 supplant them, but to basically buttress up

6 the enforcement there.

7 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you.

8 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you, Senator.

9 Thank you, President Mungeer for

10 waiting so long today and appearing before

11 us. And truly we appreciate everything that

12 your members do, and they certainly are the

13 finest. So thank you for being here.

14 PRESIDENT MUNGEER: And we appreciate

15 your support. Thank you.

16 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

17 Our next speaker is President

18 Christopher Quick, New York State Police

19 Investigators Association.

20 Hi, President Quick. Great to see

21 you.

22 PRESIDENT QUICK: Good evening,

23 Senator Young, Assemblyman Farrell. Thank

24 you for having me here for my testimony.

525

1 I am Christopher Quick, an

2 investigator with the New York State Police.

3 I also serve as president of the New York

4 State Police Investigators Association.

5 NYSPIA is the employee union that

6 represents approximately 1100 State Police

7 senior investigators and investigators

8 throughout the state. State Police

9 investigators are assigned to stations or

10 special details and are referred to the

11 Bureau of Criminal Investigation, or BCI.

12 Our investigators work on everything

13 from larcenies, robberies, burglaries,

14 identity theft, sex crimes, and homicides.

15 We also have investigators assigned to

16 special details, including computer crimes,

17 forensics, narcotics, auto theft, special

18 investigations, dignitary protection, gaming

19 and counterterrorism.

20 Demand on the resources of State

21 Police, particular investigators, has

22 increased, whether it's to keep up with the

23 background checks for the casinos being built

24 in New York State or keeping the public safe

526

1 in the face of the changing world we live in

2 involving terrorism and mass attacks on the

3 public.

4 To ensure the safety of New Yorkers

5 and visitors to the state, we must have the

6 proper equipment and manpower. The BCI is

7 commonly known as the undercover operation of

8 the Division of State Police and are not

9 issued uniforms that a trooper wears in his

10 or her normal course of duty. There are

11 certain situations where a uniform would be

12 necessary for an investigator. For example,

13 the Matt Sweat manhunt, state of emergencies

14 such as Hurricane Sandy and Irene operations.

15 Investigators will often wear civilian

16 clothing and are not readily recognizable as

17 law enforcement officers.

18 The superintendent recently approved a

19 Class B uniform to be worn in these types of

20 emergency situations. The uniform consists

21 of a blue-color cargo-pocket work pant and

22 shirt with clear markings of "New York State

23 Police," and name tags.

24 The cost to outfit one investigator

527

1 with two sets of these uniforms would be

2 $250.96. The uniforms are produced by the

3 Blower uniform company and are made in the

4 USA. I ask this board to consider

5 appropriating $300,000 for the purchase of

6 Class B uniforms for the BCI members this

7 budget year.

8 Another area of particular importance

9 is our aging fleet of undercover vehicles.

10 The BCI fleet is currently numbered at 1,237

11 vehicles. There are 490 vehicles with more

12 than 90,000 miles, roughly one-third of the

13 BCI fleet. There are 245 with 135,000 miles

14 or more still in service. It is the belief

15 of the division and the automotive

16 maintenance inspector that vehicles should be

17 surplused at 125,000 miles.

18 Last year when I testified before the

19 public protection board, the majority of the

20 vehicles exceeded 150,000 miles. Monies were

21 appropriated with the intent of replenishing

22 the fleet on a two-year timetable. This

23 strategy has improved the fleet noticeably,

24 and I sincerely appreciate the interest,

528

1 concern and problem-solving that each of you

2 took. This is, however, a continuing problem

3 that needs continued attention. On behalf of

4 the NYSPIA members, we want to thank you for

5 making that a concern.

6 Many of our investigations involve

7 undercover operations. In these cases, our

8 investigators need to blend in with the

9 community, both in clothing and with their

10 vehicles. These undercover operations can

11 range from drug surveillance to

12 counterterrorism investigations. The

13 criminal element does its homework, and many

14 are aware of the types of undercover vehicles

15 we typically use.

16 For that reason, we propose a pilot

17 program to allow for the leasing of vehicles.

18 Leased vehicles will allow for

19 diversification in makes and models and, most

20 importantly, non-police-type vehicles for

21 undercover work.

22 Leasing vehicles will also help reduce

23 the high maintenance costs the division

24 currently experiences.

529

1 In addition to the desperate need for

2 more unmarked vehicles, the Division of State

3 Police must be made whole again in terms of

4 manpower in order to meet today's security

5 threats. Oftentimes, even when there's an

6 immediate operational need to promote a

7 trooper to the rank of investigator, that

8 promotion is delayed because of the shortage

9 of BCI vehicles. This can result in a

10 shortage of investigators for months at a

11 time for the sole reason that there are no

12 BCI vehicles available.

13 Terrorism in the United States is on

14 the rise. The Governor recognizes this and

15 has dedicated a significant uniform trooper

16 presence in New York City. The troopers are

17 assigned to high-profile landmarks that are

18 potential targets for terrorism -- Times

19 Square, the Freedom Tower, commuter trains to

20 bridges and tunnels and, just recently, John

21 F. Kennedy Airport and LaGuardia Airport.

22 As more troopers are added to

23 Troop NYC, it increases the need for more

24 investigators. Airport security will require

530

1 a large detail consisting of troopers and

2 investigators. An investigator's duties

3 would include gathering intelligence,

4 conducting investigations, and acting as a

5 liaison to the Port Authority Police, NYPD,

6 and Joint Terrorism Task Force.

7 While our superintendent has

8 repeatedly stressed and fought for the need

9 to have recruit basic school classes at our

10 academy to bolster the needs of the division,

11 we have not been able to keep up with the

12 attrition. This has resulted in the BCI not

13 being full-strength to perform the expanding

14 duties and initiatives required by our

15 changing world.

16 We strongly urge this Legislature to

17 ensure our investigators are safe, as well as

18 the public, by adequately funding the

19 Division of State Police to allow for the

20 purchase of unmarked vehicles, Class B

21 uniforms, as well as funding new and regular

22 academy classes, so we can accomplish our

23 core mission of protecting and serving the

24 people of this great state.

531

1 I appreciate your time, and I'm happy

2 to answer any questions you may have.

3 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

4 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

5 Just one quick question. You talked

6 about the attrition rate, Mr. President. And

7 I was wondering, do you have any kind of

8 figures or facts on how many people will be

9 aging out over the next several years, so the

10 Legislature has that information?

11 PRESIDENT QUICK: I don't have it in

12 my testimony. But, you know, as we talk to

13 the division, they estimate 250 people

14 annually. President Mungeer of the Troopers

15 Association testified to that as well.

16 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay. Good. I do

17 think that's a very significant issue that we

18 need to address. We went through years

19 without academies, and now we want to make

20 sure that they stay on track. So thank you.

21 Thank you. Oh, I'm sorry, Senator

22 Gallivan would like to say something.

23 SENATOR GALLIVAN: I'd be remiss if I

24 didn't thank you and your members for the

532

1 work that you do as well.

2 I think I'm clear now about the

3 vehicles. I mean, combined with yours and

4 President Mungeer's testimony. So your

5 belief is that you're now on the plan with

6 what was allocated last year to at least

7 catch up with the vehicles.

8 PRESIDENT QUICK: I believe it's

9 working.

10 SENATOR GALLIVAN: And once caught up,

11 we need the future funding, of course,

12 annually.

13 PRESIDENT QUICK: Right. We can't

14 take our eye off the prize. The need is

15 there continuously.

16 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Understood.

17 Manpower as well. So it's noted. Thanks

18 again.

19 PRESIDENT QUICK: Thank you.

20 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you. And our

21 sincere appreciation to all of your members

22 for putting their lives on the line for us

23 every day. Thank you so much.

24 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

533

1 PRESIDENT QUICK: Thank you.

2 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Our next speaker is

3 President Bill Imandt, Court Officers

4 Benevolent Association of Nassau County.

5 PRESIDENT IMANDT: Senator, do you

6 have Pat Cullen? Because on the schedule

7 he's ahead of me.

8 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Oh, you're right.

9 Do you mind waiting? I'm sorry, I'm going

10 out of order here.

11 PRESIDENT IMANDT: {Inaudible.}

12 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Well, you got up

13 and stretched your legs, so that's good.

14 Our next speaker will be President

15 Patrick Cullen, New York State Supreme Court

16 Officers Association.

17 Sorry about that, President Cullen.

18 PRESIDENT CULLEN: Oh, that's quite

19 all right.

20 Good afternoon, Chairwoman Young,

21 Chairman Farrell, and members of the

22 Legislature. I am once again thankful for

23 the privilege to address you all. It's an

24 honor to appear on behalf of the men and

534

1 women that I represent. They are New Yorkers

2 who put service first and bravely protect

3 their fellow citizens.

4 We are citizens of this great state

5 who endeavor on a daily basis to provide

6 safety and security for the millions of users

7 who enter our facilities each year. It is a

8 task we continue to do better than our many

9 counterparts nationwide, despite being

10 without a collective bargaining agreement for

11 six years. Lean personnel levels and

12 training inefficiencies add to the

13 troublesome work conditions we encounter.

14 And I thank you for allowing me this forum to

15 once again share the manner in which this

16 budget affects our professional and personal

17 lives.

18 This year's Judiciary Budget can be

19 described as yet another in a series of

20 illusions, specifically its impact on

21 New York State court officers. As it is

22 outlined, another 2 percent increase and a

23 new line item for a $15 million capital

24 appropriation are steps in the right

535

1 direction. The larger picture, however,

2 remains unclear, as we have serious financial

3 and personnel shortfalls dating back seven

4 years that have still not been fully

5 recovered. The budget directly notes that

6 the system "faced significant cost increases,

7 mostly non-discretionary, without

8 corresponding increases in funding."

9 Over a seven-year period, an increase

10 of only $120 million was granted, while costs

11 were absorbed at a much higher rate. The

12 summary continues by admitting that service

13 to the public suffered. Workforces shrunk,

14 and positions were not refilled upon

15 attrition and cessation of service for more

16 lucrative jobs in the law enforcement and

17 civil service arena, to the tune of more than

18 2,000 employees. These disadvantages and

19 burdens would be catastrophic for private

20 business and enterprise, but for us it is a

21 mere hardship to digest and move forward.

22 Efforts have unquestionably been made

23 to address the many inadequacies our system

24 faces, and I am grateful for the new and

536

1 inclusive philosophy Chief Judge DiFiore has

2 infused into the court system. Her

3 Excellence Initiative is exactly the type of

4 action which will rebuild this ailing system.

5 We know how we got to this point, and

6 I believe our new leadership will prove how

7 to deliver us to the future. The question at

8 hand is, Where are we presently? The hard

9 truth remains that in the jurisdiction I

10 represent, we are still shorter, albeit by a

11 small number, than 2015, when we were at an

12 8.3 percent deficit from 2009. This

13 minuscule shift in totals of security

14 staffing translates into problematic

15 disorganization through safety breaches in

16 our courts, a force well behind on training,

17 issues of delays in every court, and

18 ultimately a disservice to the public.

19 This continual lack of staff and the

20 system's inability to properly reconstitute

21 its security protocols leads to delays

22 throughout the day. They contribute to much

23 slower entry times, part opening times, and

24 the inability to promptly deliver inmates to

537

1 court.

2 A systemwide moratorium of sorts on

3 overtime is responsible for a decrease in the

4 length of the actual court Day. This leads

5 to frustrated court users, jurors and

6 employees, who all attribute this stagnant

7 pace to the inherent indolence of an entire

8 branch of government. All of this while

9 judges and judicial staff are continuously

10 added -- as no court officers are to maintain

11 acceptable security for them.

12 In fact, bringing court officer

13 staffing to levels attainable in 2008 would

14 cure these ills. The court day would begin

15 faster, trials would begin on time, and all

16 safety protocols met, allowing the system to

17 perform efficiently and recover from years of

18 listless operation.

19 Furthermore, the staffing deficits we

20 have faced have further-reaching

21 consequences. Many of our members have not

22 been sent for yearly CPR, AED, first aid and

23 equipment training because they cannot be

24 spared at their work location. This is

538

1 beyond unacceptable, it is nonsensical. It

2 is equivalent to sending a carpenter to work

3 without a hammer. In fact, school resource

4 employees in the metropolitan area receive

5 more training than we do -- because it is

6 mandated -- where we overlook the importance

7 of keeping up to date with our most important

8 capabilities and certifications because the

9 Office of Court Administration refuses to

10 maintain a proper census of officers.

11 Another development to consider with

12 respect to these personnel deficiencies is

13 the employees' inability to be granted their

14 duly accrued vacation time with their

15 families because managers cannot afford their

16 absence. It has been proven that law

17 enforcement officers face serious stressors

18 in their workplace and should be required to

19 take leave when requested.

20 Lastly, health initiatives conducted

21 by our organization demonstrate that our

22 levels of serious health concerns, such as

23 hypertension and heart disease, continue to

24 rise higher than national averages. We must

539

1 recognize that the mandate of doing more work

2 with less resources, especially in the law

3 enforcement community, is making our people

4 ill. These issues affect our family life as

5 spouses and parents.

6 By once again expanding our rosters to

7 sufficient levels, the court system can once

8 again flourish and our employees can begin to

9 feel less burdened both at work and at home.

10 As of March 31, 2017, our bargaining

11 unit will be out of a contract for six full

12 years. Our members want a fair contract.

13 They want to be compensated for the efforts

14 they have given in the leanest of times.

15 They also want to be compensated for the

16 ever-increasing hazards they face on a daily

17 basis. Overcrowded courts, simultaneous

18 multiple defendant cases, large gang

19 populations, suspicious packages, the

20 always-present specter of terror, and the

21 New York City Department of Corrections

22 continually shifting their responsibilities

23 to our ranks are among the latest conditions

24 which cause our employment to be more

540

1 perilous. These issues must be addressed

2 through training, as I have said earlier, but

3 they also must be addressed in the fair and

4 equitable compensation that comes with

5 bargaining in good faith.

6 Furthermore, matters requiring massive

7 amounts of funding have superceded the

8 reasonable and decent provisions that would

9 bring us labor peace through a long-term

10 contract. The massive raises given to judges

11 and civilians within the court system, as

12 well as initiatives in excess of $100 million

13 to ensure attorney engagement in the very

14 system this budget funds, are among the more

15 frustrating features of this budget process.

16 We are earnest and hardworking men and

17 women, and we want to be treated as such by

18 receiving what we deserve for the job we do,

19 no more and no less.

20 I wholeheartedly welcome and applaud

21 our new chief judge, Janet DiFiore, and her

22 Excellence initiative, which is rooted in a

23 back-to-basics philosophy. I believe the

24 best method of change is to break things down

541

1 to bare elements, and that is the ideology

2 being used in rebuilding the New York State

3 court system.

4 In recent years at this hearing I have

5 testified and advocated for new equipment,

6 programs and training to become comparable to

7 other agencies throughout the nation who have

8 innovated security protocols and practices.

9 I am pleased to see some of these issues

10 addressed within this budget. There is a

11 request for an appropriation in the amount of

12 $15 million, some of which will be used to

13 re-outfit our entire force with body armor.

14 It will also be used to replace our security

15 screening equipment, which is the first line

16 of defense for anybody entering a court

17 facility. These inclusions in the Judiciary

18 Budget are clear indications that the

19 critical issue of security has not been

20 overlooked as it has been in the past.

21 I urge the Office of Court

22 Administration to sustain that sensibility

23 and look to support our forces with

24 forward-thinking measures, both practically

542

1 and financially, to progress into the future.

2 We are only as safe as the policies and

3 operations we maintain. We must

4 technologically advance with the use of

5 cameras, explosives detection, and K-9

6 programs. It is my sincere hope that next

7 year I can sit here and update you on the

8 development of such critical and innovative

9 programs.

10 This summary of serious and crucial

11 issues to New York's court officers is only a

12 cursory view of some of the problems we face

13 and how the budget affects us. Our morale

14 has been subterranean for many years now

15 because of the agency's inability to fund the

16 most necessary tools we require. Our pride

17 has been terribly damaged, and the way to

18 reconstruct it is through budgetary items,

19 only some of which I have described here

20 today.

21 I urge you to visit your court

22 facilities as well, as many of the problems

23 are obvious upon arrival. Together we can

24 all steer the course forward for the system,

543

1 the public it serves, and those who have

2 sworn to serve it.

3 I thank you once again for your time

4 and for your service to the people of the

5 State of New York.

6 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you very

7 much.

8 PRESIDENT CULLEN: Thank you.

9 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

10 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Senator Savino.

11 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you.

12 Thank you, President Cullen. I just

13 have one question, because earlier today when

14 Judge Marks testified, he talked about the

15 judiciary's budget and their request for

16 funding, they didn't mention anywhere whether

17 or not they had money in reserve for the

18 settlement of a contract that is six years

19 overdue. It doesn't sound like they do.

20 PRESIDENT CULLEN: There are no

21 indications.

22 SENATOR SAVINO: So is there a pattern

23 that -- let's assume you were to settle

24 tomorrow. Is there a pattern that other

544

1 unions have settled that we could anticipate

2 to try and figure out what it might

3 potentially cost OCA?

4 PRESIDENT CULLEN: As you know very

5 well, contract negotiations are a very

6 difficult path to walk upon. The problem in

7 the court system is that 11 unions represent

8 employees throughout the entire system. And

9 as the representative of an entire uniformed

10 force, we feel deserving of a different

11 treatment when it comes to compensation.

12 There are no indications that -- and

13 there never have been indications in the

14 Judiciary Budget of funds set aside should

15 there be the completion of the round of

16 negotiations for collective bargaining.

17 SENATOR SAVINO: Are there any other

18 outstanding contracts?

19 PRESIDENT CULLEN: Yes. My

20 organization is one of four out of those 11

21 that have not a contract since 2011.

22 SENATOR SAVINO: Are any of them as

23 long overdue as yours?

24 PRESIDENT CULLEN: All the same, all

545

1 the same period of time. 2011 was the

2 last -- the end of the prior collective

3 bargaining treatment agreement.

4 SENATOR SAVINO: This could run into a

5 significant amount of money if in fact they

6 were to settle with retroactivity on four

7 bargaining units.

8 PRESIDENT CULLEN: Indeed. And I

9 think the time has come to look forward

10 towards a long-term contract to settle the

11 previous contract and current contract,

12 Senator.

13 SENATOR SAVINO: And finally, when was

14 the last bargaining session that was held?

15 PRESIDENT CULLEN: Mid-December.

16 SENATOR SAVINO: Is there one

17 scheduled soon?

18 PRESIDENT CULLEN: No.

19 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you.

20 PRESIDENT CULLEN: And thank you for

21 your comments earlier also on our disability

22 bill, which was unanimously passed by the

23 Senate last year. Much appreciated.

24 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you so much.

546

1 We appreciate you coming in today to share --

2 oh, I'm sorry, Senator Gallivan would like to

3 speak.

4 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Thank you, Madam

5 Chair.

6 Senator Savino did touch on an area

7 that I wanted to touch on, so I'll pass right

8 over that.

9 Help me with your membership. You're

10 about 2,000?

11 PRESIDENT CULLEN: We're 1500 as of

12 2009. Currently, today, 1379.

13 SENATOR GALLIVAN: And you're Supreme

14 Court --

15 PRESIDENT CULLEN: Supreme Courts in

16 the five boroughs and the 9th Judicial

17 District, which consists of the five boroughs

18 north of New York City. Ten counties in all,

19 30 facilities.

20 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Do you include

21 supervisors as well?

22 PRESIDENT CULLEN: Yes.

23 SENATOR GALLIVAN: The entire uniform.

24 What's that go up to, captain?

547

1 PRESIDENT CULLEN: Major.

2 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Up to major.

3 PRESIDENT CULLEN: Yes, sir.

4 SENATOR GALLIVAN: The other three

5 that are without contracts, are they law

6 enforcement units as well?

7 PRESIDENT CULLEN: They have -- I

8 believe their memberships are made up

9 partially of law enforcement and also

10 partially clerical and civilian employees as

11 well. My membership is strictly uniform

12 personnel.

13 SENATOR GALLIVAN: All right, thank

14 you. And of course thanks to you and your

15 members for your efforts.

16 PRESIDENT CULLEN: Thank you for your

17 support, always.

18 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you. We'd

19 love to see your situation resolved. And we

20 truly appreciate everything that you and your

21 members do, so please extend our gratitude.

22 PRESIDENT CULLEN: Thank you, Senator.

23 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

24 Now you're up. Our next speaker is

548

1 President Bill Imandt, Court Officers

2 Benevolent Association of Nassau County. So

3 you get to be introduced twice.

4 PRESIDENT IMANDT: Thank you, Senator.

5 (Discussion off the record.)

6 PRESIDENT IMANDT: I want to thank

7 you, distinguished members of the Senate and

8 the Assembly. I am one of the four unions

9 that was just alluded to that do not have a

10 contract six years strong -- April 1st will

11 begin our seventh year, actually going from

12 six to seven years.

13 I sat before your committee at the

14 hearing on public protection approximately

15 one year ago today and gave you a report on

16 my take as the union president of COBANC, the

17 Court Officers Benevolent Association of

18 Nassau County, about the state of New York

19 State courts, downstate and Nassau County in

20 particular. I told you that 2011 was

21 probably the worst year in my 33-year career

22 as president, court clerk, court employee and

23 as a citizen of New York State.

24 Why? Well, because in 2011 something

549

1 happened in the judiciary that we in the

2 court system and the citizens of New York may

3 never recover from. That year we suffered

4 layoffs, in Nassau County and statewide, of

5 approximately 20 percent of our workforce.

6 It is the same year we were offered

7 zero percent compensation during contract

8 negotiations, the first of three consecutive

9 zeroes. The seed was also planted to raise

10 the judges' salaries, which came to fruition

11 only last year. New discretionary programs

12 were started up, carving out a tremendous

13 portion of the budget, and those monies were

14 never replaced. And neither was the

15 personnel.

16 We are one of the three equal branches

17 of government, and we are being treated like

18 an experimental startup program. Last year

19 you graciously increased the court budget by

20 2.4 percent -- and that was supposed to go

21 towards bringing back some of the 2,000

22 workers that were laid off back then and

23 towards decent, at least near-cost-of-living

24 increases to the middle-class court

550

1 employees. And I'd like you to know how it

2 turned out a year later.

3 Of the approximate 155 court employees

4 in Nassau County that were laid off -- again,

5 20 percent of the Nassau court workforce --

6 we actually are down from last year. Oh,

7 there's been some hiring, with retirements,

8 transfers and promotions to other counties,

9 but subtract two more employees that we are

10 down from that 20 percent that we were down

11 from last year. Six years of getting the job

12 done with 20 percent less people.

13 My members are understaffed, tired,

14 overworked, unappreciated, and woefully

15 underpaid. Again, morale is way down.

16 Sickness and absenteeism are up, and

17 disciplines are way up, over 200 percent

18 since just two years ago.

19 This heartless game that goes on

20 between the Office of Court Administration,

21 the Legislature, and the Governor has got to

22 stop. The Governor mandates a 2 percent

23 increase cap on state agencies and doesn't

24 even give that to the Judiciary -- again, the

551

1 third branch of our government. We averaged

2 1.3 percent during those five years since

3 that edict. If we got that .7 percent each

4 year, we'd have enough to fund the courts

5 now -- but we've averaged out to be

6 1.3 percent.

7 As the court administration is fully

8 aware, we need at least a 5 percent increase

9 this year to properly serve the citizens of

10 New York. But the Office of Court

11 Administration is afraid to ask the

12 Legislature, who appears to be afraid to push

13 back on the Governor. And the court workers

14 and the citizens of New York are the ones

15 that suffer.

16 I know most of you are practicing

17 attorneys and many of you have come to tell

18 me the horror stories about the once proud

19 New York court system -- five years for a

20 misdemeanor jury trial, where the maximum

21 penalty for a guilty verdict is one year,

22 eight-year-old foreclosure cases that have

23 cost Long Island over $300 million in lost

24 property values, matrimonial cases taking

552

1 over 300 percent longer to conclude, with

2 backlogs due to understaffing, and the

3 accused taking longer to be arraigned and all

4 civil cases taking that much longer.

5 We're better than that. We have to

6 be. With the billions that the Governor is

7 throwing around on all these new projects,

8 there's no excuse not to be. Take care of

9 your foundation before you put on an

10 extension. The Judiciary's foundation is

11 crumbling.

12 And my last paragraph -- I promise you

13 I won't take much longer -- is the citizens

14 of New York deserve better than what they are

15 receiving for their tax dollars. You tell us

16 that you can only give the Office of Court

17 Administration what they ask for. Well,

18 then, we need to have you have meaningful

19 conversations with the Office of Court

20 Administration to find out what they really

21 need to operate properly, effectively, and

22 efficiently. Again, my numbers say it's a

23 5 percent increase.

24 Then, together, we all need to tell

553

1 the Governor, in no uncertain terms, this is

2 not a request, this is our mandate, a mandate

3 from the citizens of New York State, the

4 New York Legislature, and the Office of Court

5 Administration and all the court workers that

6 I represent.

7 I'm sorry for being upset about this,

8 but it's six years. But I will take

9 questions. I appreciate if you have any,

10 because I've got answers.

11 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Questions?

12 Well, I think -- you know, obviously

13 we're sympathetic and we appreciate your

14 passion for your members. And it sounds like

15 they're dealing with very difficult

16 situations. And we'd really like to see it

17 resolved, because they deserve to be treated

18 in a fair way, there's no question.

19 PRESIDENT IMANDT: Well, yes, Senator.

20 Thank you, I appreciate that. But we need to

21 have meaningful contract negotiations too,

22 and that's not happening. The bargaining is

23 stonewalled for the last two years. So you

24 give them more money, and it never filters

554

1 back to the court workers.

2 So I appreciate it, Senator Savino and

3 all of you up there. Please, hold their feet

4 to the fire: What are you doing with the

5 money? Where is it going?

6 Senator Savino asked about is there a

7 reserve for retroactive pay. I've calculated

8 Nassau County is close to $6 million in

9 retroactive pay. The court clerks are about

10 $11 million, and so is Pat Cullen. This is

11 all back money that's going to be due

12 someday, and they're not prepared for it.

13 Apparently, I'm told, they can't carry

14 from one budget to the next. If that's true,

15 then when you get to no contracts at the end

16 of the fiscal year, they put it on furniture,

17 computers -- they do some hiring, yes. But

18 with attrition and retirements and things

19 like that, the numbers aren't going up.

20 Nassau's numbers have gone down. Please help

21 us.

22 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

23 PRESIDENT IMANDT: Thank you.

24 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you very

555

1 much.

2 The next speaker is President Michael

3 Powers, New York State Correctional Officers

4 and Police Benevolent Association, Inc.,

5 NYSCOPBA.

6 (Inaudible interjection.)

7 SENATOR GALLIVAN: First, Suffolk

8 County Court Employees.

9 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Oh, okay. I'm

10 trying to push it, I guess, subconsciously,

11 because it certainly isn't a slight. And I'm

12 sorry.

13 President William Dobbins, Suffolk

14 County Court Employees Association.

15 Okay, my apologies. So welcome. Very

16 happy to have you here.

17 PRESIDENT DOBBINS: Thank you. Thank

18 you, Senator. Thank you, everybody, for

19 allowing me to be here today.

20 You gave me the privilege of appearing

21 last year, and I spoke to you about the

22 staffing issues and the concerns that we have

23 in Suffolk County. And unfortunately, you

24 know, I'm sad to report nothing has changed.

556

1 Our staffing levels are lower than they were

2 a year ago. And the court got an increase to

3 their core budget -- they got a 2.4 percent

4 increase to their budget last year, and none

5 of it translated into jobs for our courts.

6 President Cullen spoke before about

7 his court officers, they are almost 9 percent

8 down in staffing. Well, my court officers in

9 Suffolk County are 22 percent down in

10 staffing. We can't keep our courts safe, we

11 can't keep them secure.

12 And we are here to ask that somebody

13 hold OCA's feet to the fire. Judge Marks was

14 here this morning, and he paints a fairly

15 decent picture of what's going on in the

16 courts, but it's not quite the case. Let's

17 talk about 200 more people being hired in the

18 next year. That doesn't even touch what we

19 need. We have a class of 120 court officers

20 going in in the end of February -- 120 court

21 officers. He's talking about 200 people.

22 Well, what about the other staff?

23 I represent 102 separate titles,

24 ranging from court messenger, court officer,

557

1 court clerk, court reporter, court attorney,

2 court attorney referee, and it goes on and

3 on -- 102 separate titles, and we're

4 suffering. We have the highest mortgage

5 caseload in the state. We have backlogs.

6 Those backlogs -- because the court attorneys

7 can't get to do the motions, there's not

8 enough of them, those backlogs translate into

9 zombie homes in our communities. So it

10 affects the community as well.

11 You know, there's a sense that

12 people -- this is a human issue. There's a

13 sense that people care about the community,

14 that it should be about public service, but

15 that seems to fall on deaf ears when it comes

16 to OCA. Last year they received some extra

17 money in the budget. That money went to pay

18 for their raises, judges' raises, an increase

19 of $27 million for judges' raises. None of

20 it translated into more hiring, none of it.

21 And the only reason why there was more

22 hiring this year was because they couldn't

23 settle the contracts with one of those unions

24 that just spoke before, COBANC. When they

558

1 couldn't settle the contract, there was

2 $40 million available; they said, Okay, now

3 we'll hire. That's the only reason those

4 people were hired.

5 Last year Judge Marks -- I think it

6 was Senator Bonacic asked him, he said, "What

7 are you going to do if you don't get the

8 money for your raises?" And Judge Marks

9 said, "Well, we'll probably have to reduce

10 staffing through attrition." Well, that's

11 what he's been doing. That's exactly what

12 he's been doing. And the only reason he

13 started to hire was because one of the unions

14 didn't settle their contract this year. He

15 had money that he had to spend.

16 My concern is what's going to happen

17 when these other four unions do finally

18 settle. You're talking maybe $50 million in

19 back pay. Fortunately, my union has a

20 contract -- well, we had a contract. Our

21 last contract expired last year. We're

22 working on a new contract.

23 But what happens when those four

24 unions that have been without a contract

559

1 since 2011 finally settle their contract?

2 You're talking about $50 million to

3 $60 million in back pay owed to those unions.

4 What is that going to translate to in the

5 court system? They're not going to be able

6 to hire. We have all these wonderful ideas

7 about programs, putting money in to help

8 people that can't afford attorneys. What

9 good is it if there's no staff to support the

10 court?

11 The infrastructure of the court is

12 collapsing. It's collapsing. And nobody

13 seems to care, nobody seems to be doing a

14 thing about it. It seems like it's become a

15 political game of ping pong -- it goes back

16 and forth, back and forth, and nothing gets

17 done.

18 I'm here to implore you to please hold

19 their feet to the fire. They have the funds.

20 They have the resources. They decide to

21 spend it in other ways. Without the

22 personnel to support our court system, to

23 answer motions, to accept dockets -- could

24 you ask a judge to initiate a case? Could

560

1 they prepare a court file? Do they know how

2 to enter it into the system? Do they know

3 how to talk to a litigant in order to prepare

4 an order of protection?

5 It's the little people that work in

6 our system that do all of that. We are the

7 people that make it all work. When I took

8 over in this union, my motto was that we are

9 the heartbeat of the court because without

10 us, without that life of the heartbeat, the

11 system dies and all these exemplary programs,

12 really good programs, mean nothing. If

13 there's no money to spend to pay for

14 staffing, to settle contracts that are long

15 overdue, to settle future contracts, we're

16 lost.

17 You ask about do they have reserves?

18 They don't even talk about reserves. They

19 say they can't budget for something that's

20 not due yet. Well, if they have $50 million

21 that they owe to other unions and they don't

22 have it, haven't even talked about how

23 they're going to pay for it, what's going to

24 happen? I asked Judge Marks, I said, "How

561

1 are you going to pay for it?" He says,

2 "We'll find a way." They find a way by

3 borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. That seems

4 to be the OCA way.

5 And Judge DiFiore -- Judge DiFiore,

6 wonderful. I think she's going to be really,

7 really good for our court system. And she

8 has this Excellence Initiative -- but again,

9 because there's no staff, there's no hiring,

10 there's no contracts that are settled, so we

11 have all this money that is owed -- I don't

12 see that it's ever going to be achieved.

13 I think that we all -- me, you,

14 Judge Marks, OCA -- I think we have to look

15 at it on a human level. I think we have to

16 look at the humanity. The people who take

17 off from jobs -- they have no sick time, but

18 they have to take off from work to go to

19 court to have a case heard or to file a

20 petition. And then they're told, You know

21 what, we don't have enough staff to handle

22 it. Or, We don't have enough staff to open a

23 courtroom. So you'll have to go away, you

24 took the day off for nothing, and that's a

562

1 lost day.

2 We have prisoners that can't be

3 transported to courtrooms because there are

4 not enough court officers. What do we do

5 with that? There are people who take off

6 from work to come to court to see their loved

7 ones come into the courtroom, to hope that

8 maybe there's going to be some kind of

9 settlement coming to the case, and it just

10 doesn't happen. The defendant gets brought

11 back to the jail, wait two more weeks and

12 hopefully something can happen.

13 It's a waste of resources, it's a

14 waste of time, and it's really a dishonest

15 way to do things. I think we're pulling the

16 wool over the public's eyes and I think that

17 OCA is responsible. I think they have a

18 fiduciary responsibility to care for the

19 court system, and since 2011 they have

20 neglected that responsibility.

21 We all are victims -- the public, the

22 staff, and I believe you as well, because

23 you're told that they're going to do one

24 thing and they do another. They have a way

563

1 of using words. They're attorneys, they know

2 how to use words to express thoughts the way

3 they want it to be heard. But if you look at

4 it at a human level, things are very

5 different.

6 Thank you so much for allowing me to

7 appear here today, and being very patient.

8 Thank you.

9 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

10 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

11 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Please thank all of

12 your members. Thank you.

13 PRESIDENT DOBBINS: Thank you.

14 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: The next speaker,

15 President Michael Powers, New York State

16 Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent

17 Association.

18 Welcome.

19 PRESIDENT POWERS: Good evening.

20 EX. VP SAWCHUCK: Good evening.

21 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Very happy to have

22 you here, and look forward to your testimony.

23 PRESIDENT POWERS: Thank you.

24 Good evening, Assemblyman Farrell,

564

1 Senator Young, Senator Gallivan, chair of

2 Crime and Corrections, Assemblyman Weprin,

3 chair of the Assembly Corrections Committee,

4 and esteemed members of the Legislature.

5 Thank you for allowing me to speak today on

6 behalf of the over 21,000 dedicated members

7 of the New York State Correctional Officers &

8 Police Benevolent Association, otherwise

9 known as NYSCOPBA.

10 My name is Michael Powers, and as

11 president of NYSCOPBA, I have the privilege

12 of representing the interests of our

13 membership, including the brave and

14 hardworking correctional officers and

15 sergeants who are charged with maintaining

16 the care, custody and control of our

17 correctional facilities in the State of

18 New York. With me today are three of

19 NYSCOPBA's statewide elected officials:

20 Executive Vice President Tammy Sawchuk,

21 Recording Secretary Mike Dildine, and

22 Treasurer Dave Widdivo.

23 We've submitted our written testimony

24 today, and in the interests of time and

565

1 recognizing the long day in front of you,

2 we -- many of the graphs and charts that you

3 have before you show much of the violence

4 that is in our system. That's been evident

5 in this year's testimony and in last. So

6 I'll spare you that reading of the whole

7 entire testimony, and I'll touch on --

8 clearly and concisely state what the

9 dedicated professionals of NYSCOPBA believe.

10 Our number-one concern is the lack of

11 resources. We believe it takes adequate

12 resources to effectively supervise inmates.

13 Currently we are lacking the resources

14 necessary to curb the growing violence. This

15 is especially true as four out of five

16 inmates in maximum-security facilities and

17 more than half the inmates in the

18 medium-security facilities have been

19 convicted of violent felonies.

20 The necessary resources required

21 include a sufficient number of regularly and

22 uniformly trained correction officers

23 outfitted with equipment that enables them to

24 both do their job and return home safely to

566

1 their families each night.

2 While we are encouraged by the

3 increase in correctional officer positions

4 that have been filled as a result of

5 departmental staffing reviews, we have a long

6 way to go to reach a staffing ratio that

7 allows critical posts to remain open.

8 Achieving a better staffing ratio

9 would be more attainable if there was an

10 incentive in place to retain some of

11 NYSCOPBA's most seasoned, retirement-eligible

12 officers. Our senior officers are

13 consistently opting for retirement to protect

14 the financial well-being of their families,

15 because sufficient death benefits are not

16 currently available to them. We need to pass

17 equitable death benefit legislation that

18 gives our senior officers a reason to remain

19 on duty. Doing so will ensure that our newly

20 hired officers learn on the job from our most

21 senior NYSCOPBA members with the most

22 experience and practical knowledge.

23 This on-the-job training is even more

24 indispensable because meaningful classroom

567

1 training remains unavailable after a

2 corrections officer leaves the academy. Too

3 often the training that is provided does not

4 focus on the tools and techniques correction

5 officers need to provide security to a

6 facility.

7 While we are encouraged by some of the

8 actions the department has taken to act on

9 recommendations made by the Inspector General

10 and made previously by NYSCOPBA, much of the

11 equipment correction officers rely on is

12 still embarrassingly outdated or inadequate,

13 to the detriment of officers and inmates

14 alike.

15 NYSCOPBA has articulated its stance on

16 these critical issues frequently and

17 consistently at hearings like this and

18 through official channels like

19 labor-management meetings at both the state

20 and facility levels. And we will continue to

21 make our voices heard on these and any other

22 issues that affect the safety and security of

23 our members, inmates, and the prisons they

24 collectively work and reside in.

568

1 The men and women of NYSCOPBA, each of

2 whom walks the toughest beat in law

3 enforcement, as former Senator Nozzolio used

4 to tell us, remain committed to such reform.

5 We look forward to working with all of you as

6 partners in that effort.

7 Thank you again for the opportunity to

8 share our views, and we'll do our best to

9 answer any questions you have.

10 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you,

11 President Powers. And we truly appreciate

12 everything that your members do, because we

13 know what a tough job they have. And I know

14 Senator Nozzolio spoke of that all the time,

15 because he understood how dangerous a

16 situation your members are in every single

17 day, protecting us.

18 It's alarming to see your statistics

19 regarding inmate-on-inmate assaults,

20 inmate-on-staff assaults, the use of K2. And

21 you talk about the fact that more contraband

22 is getting into the prison system. Is this

23 due to lack of resources? You started out

24 your comments saying that that's the most

569

1 urgent situation that is facing us.

2 It seems to me that when you look at

3 these statistics, obviously you're doing a

4 great job as far as fulfilling your duties

5 every day, but there's something going on.

6 And could you talk about what's going on, in

7 your estimation?

8 PRESIDENT POWERS: It's a very large

9 agency, as you're well aware. And many of

10 the things that need to be addressed of

11 course always cost money. And resources cost

12 money, new technology costs money. And this

13 department, in our opinion, is behind the

14 times if you look across the nation,

15 nationally. And much of what we need is

16 going to cost money. And in order to do

17 that, we need more staff.

18 We have issues with staffing in our

19 facilities with closed posts. We have issues

20 with staffing with attrition rates -- as we

21 mentioned, the death benefit legislation that

22 we're pursuing. You know, many of the

23 things -- our hiring rate is not nearly close

24 to the rate of attrition.

570

1 Just in January of 2017 alone, as of

2 today I received a report that 117 correction

3 officers retired in the month of January.

4 And that, since 2007, is a 30 percent

5 increase since in years past. So we can't

6 keep our staff to stay. And with that, and

7 not being able to keep up with the rate of

8 hire, it just puts us behind.

9 The contraband levels. We have high

10 violence, a significant rise in violence. As

11 you can see, the inmate-on-inmate assaults

12 are nearly up 25 percent since last year

13 alone.

14 And, you know, with that, it just --

15 we need more resources. And we need better

16 technology and we need more training when we

17 come out of the academy and enter in the

18 field. That training needs to persist and it

19 needs to continue while in service.

20 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Do we still have an

21 issue with double-bunking in maximum-secure

22 facilities?

23 PRESIDENT POWERS: A majority -- every

24 medium correctional facility in the State of

571

1 New York is double-bunked. The back wall of

2 each facility -- the facilities, I believe

3 the housing units were built for 50; they all

4 house 60. So double-bunk still exists.

5 NYSCOPBA SECRETARY DILDINE: It's

6 mainly the mediums. We presently have nearly

7 7,000 top bunks, so 14,000 inmates in

8 double-bunk situations.

9 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: That obviously

10 contributes to the tension that normally

11 exists within the prison walls and increases

12 the incidence of violence that could occur,

13 other untoward things, so --

14 PRESIDENT POWERS: I believe the

15 acting commissioner testified today, and we

16 dispute that number -- he said 64 percent of

17 the inmate population is violent. We feel it

18 could be a bit higher than that.

19 But I mean that's what you're dealing

20 with. You know, you have these

21 maximum-security facilities and a majority of

22 the facilities, the inmates that are housed

23 within the facilities are violent offenders.

24 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

572

1 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Mr. Weprin.

2 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Thank you,

3 Mr. Chairman.

4 Thank you, President Powers. I see in

5 your testimony it's listed as 9:30 a.m. I

6 hope you haven't been here since 9:30 a.m. --

7 (Laughter.)

8 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: -- as the chairs

9 of our committees and a number of members

10 have been.

11 You know, the commissioner was here

12 and there was a proposal this morning --

13 Commissioner Annucci -- and there's a

14 proposal the Governor has made to reduce

15 visitation days at maximum-security prisons

16 from seven days to three days. When I

17 questioned him about it, he defended that as

18 a cost saving, the fact that he has to cut in

19 his budget. But it looked to me that the

20 cost saving was minimal, $2.6 million in

21 probably a $3.5 million correction budget.

22 But it potentially involved eliminating

23 39 positions.

24 Does your union have a position on

573

1 reducing the visitation in maximum security

2 from seven days to three days?

3 PRESIDENT POWERS: Other than the

4 proposal in the Executive Budget, we haven't

5 seen anything regarding it, how they're going

6 to implement it, where they're going to get

7 the staff. You know, I mean we have some

8 ideas, but we haven't seen the actual

9 proposal as of yet.

10 And you know, I mean -- do we have a

11 stance? No, not necessarily at this point.

12 We just don't know how they're going to do

13 it.

14 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Well, the

15 commissioner indicated, when I questioned him

16 earlier today, that the seven days was

17 underutilized, that there were many days when

18 it wasn't being used.

19 Has that been your experience?

20 PRESIDENT POWERS: I come --

21 personally, from a personal experience? I

22 haven't worked in a max facility in quite

23 some time, but I recall them being busy,

24 quite frankly, all the time.

574

1 But, you know -- I mean, a visit room

2 is a high-volume place at times. Sometimes

3 they're slow. Weekends and holidays -- I

4 traditionally worked in a medium-security

5 facility. Our medium facilities are swamped.

6 In fact, at some points some people have to

7 cut their visits short in order to bring in

8 other individuals because of capacity

9 reasons.

10 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: In those

11 facilities, the visitation days were reduced

12 over the years; is that correct?

13 PRESIDENT POWERS: I'm sorry?

14 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: The days at the

15 minimum-security or medium-security prisons

16 were reduced over the years, right, from

17 seven days?

18 PRESIDENT POWERS: To weekends only in

19 the mediums, correct.

20 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Medium, yeah.

21 PRESIDENT POWERS: I believe in -- I

22 can't remember what year.

23 EXEC. VP SAWCHUCK: Yes, weekends and

24 holidays in the mediums.

575

1 And just to follow up, Assemblyman

2 Weprin, what you asked about visiting in

3 different facilities, I think you might see

4 less visitors the further north or west you

5 go, in a maximum-security, but you might see

6 more visitation in a southern jail like

7 Sing Sing, which is maximum-security.

8 PRESIDENT POWERS: Bedford Hills and

9 whatnot.

10 EXEC. VP SAWCHUCK: Bedford Hills,

11 yes.

12 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Yeah, that's a

13 good point.

14 I know there's been a two-year review

15 of staffing. Has NYSCOPBA drawn any

16 conclusions from that two-year staffing

17 review? And what's the current situation?

18 PRESIDENT POWERS: Well, the

19 memorandum of understanding includes both our

20 input and of course the state's, the

21 department's. And, you know, we've had -- I

22 believe we're nearly completed, I believe

23 they're close to completing the third year of

24 it now. We've seen an increase in staff, but

576

1 we haven't seen an increase in any posts.

2 You know, we're thankful for the staff, but

3 there's -- we still strongly believe that

4 there's a long way to go.

5 NYSCOPBA SECRETARY DILDINE: Part of

6 the -- if I could --

7 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Yes, sure, jump

8 in.

9 NYSCOPBA SECRETARY DILDINE: Part of

10 the issue, when we did these staffing

11 reviews -- which we've done, and we've had

12 our input, and we appreciate having the

13 chance to give that input. But a lot of

14 those posts that were created were already

15 there. They're what we call "ghost posts,"

16 posts that had to be filled every day to run

17 the facility.

18 So what we gain is we may gain the

19 relief for that post, but it's really not

20 addressing the security issues. So a lot of

21 the security issues still haven't been

22 addressed because of that.

23 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Okay, I

24 appreciate it.

577

1 And my final question is, I know your

2 contract is out for ratification now. Do you

3 anticipate any problems, and how is that

4 ratification process going?

5 PRESIDENT POWERS: Our constitution

6 puts it in our membership's hands. Our

7 membership is our governing body, and

8 depending on how the ballot count turns out

9 in February, we'll find out.

10 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: What's the date

11 on the election, the final date?

12 NYSCOPBA SECRETARY DILDINE: The 27th

13 is when the votes are counted. February the

14 27th.

15 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Okay. Well, good

16 luck. Thank you for all the work that you do

17 protecting us each and every day. Thank you.

18 PRESIDENT POWERS: Thank you.

19 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

20 Senator Gallivan.

21 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Thank you,

22 Chairwoman.

23 Welcome. Thanks for hanging in there.

24 I'll try not to be repetitive. I'm

578

1 going to start by thanking you, of course,

2 for the work that you and your members do. I

3 don't want to take credit for Senator

4 Nozzolio's term; it's very apt, though. It's

5 a very difficult job. And he said it year

6 after year, so he deserves credit for saying

7 that. But you deserve credit for the work

8 that you do.

9 I believe you were present for the

10 commissioner's testimony.

11 NYSCOPBA TREASURER VIDDIVO: We

12 listened.

13 PRESIDENT POWERS: We listened to it,

14 yes.

15 SENATOR GALLIVAN: I want to touch on

16 some of the same things, and then I'll move a

17 little bit beyond it. Most of -- much of the

18 questions, the things that I focused on with

19 the commissioner, was the violence in the

20 facilities, the assaults and contraband. The

21 recognition that on a year-to-year basis,

22 assaults were slightly down, but over that

23 five-year period, of course, significantly

24 up. And that's just simply the assaults on

579

1 staff. And we see increased inmate-on-inmate

2 assault, increased contraband.

3 So the commissioner testified to some

4 of the steps that they were taking, and then

5 I want to follow up afterwards about your

6 thoughts about what needs to be done. But if

7 we could go through some of the things that

8 he had talked about. And he talked about

9 some of the different -- the policies and the

10 equipment. So pepper spray, body cameras,

11 the thermal imaging, heartbeat detection

12 devices, portable metal detectors. I did ask

13 him about x-rays, the x-rays in the package

14 room, the new or supposed new equipment

15 that's in there.

16 So can you talk about some of the

17 things that they've done, focusing on that

18 equipment, if you think it's effective or

19 not? Obviously some of it is in a pilot

20 phase, I know, and he testified to if it's

21 successful, they would like to go systemwide.

22 But then in addition, I raised a question

23 about body scanners, using body scanners

24 after visits, and everybody goes through it

580

1 to help reduce the contraband.

2 Could you then talk about what your

3 recommendations would be -- if you had a --

4 the wish list, you talk about resources.

5 What could help be more effective and to keep

6 the prisons safer? But starting with what is

7 in -- some of the changes they're making now,

8 and then moving into the so-called wish list.

9 PRESIDENT POWERS: Let me start off

10 by -- in the line of questioning, and your

11 point exactly, coming from a visit and having

12 the offender go through a body scan is --

13 we'd welcome that with open arms. You know,

14 that would -- we'd -- you know, it was an

15 excellent idea. And we feel that initially,

16 just in the short strokes, how much that

17 would take away from the potential contraband

18 from getting from that visit room into our

19 facility, down back and dispersed amongst the

20 inmate population. Which readily happens,

21 you know. But that's a huge deterrent from

22 that point, from that standpoint right there,

23 from the visit room before it gets back to

24 the housing block. You know, that was a

581

1 great idea.

2 And much of the technology that we've

3 seen, they're pilot programs. You know,

4 there's good and bad with everything, and we

5 haven't seen the outcome of much of what's

6 come out as far as the body cameras.

7 You know, many of the facilities are

8 getting camera-ed up, microphoned up, and I

9 believe Attica, Clinton -- Clinton's in the

10 loop here pretty quick. And, you know, much

11 of the technology that we've seen has been

12 advantageous.

13 The Cellsense is good. That's a

14 mobile device that allows us to move it about

15 the facility to detect contraband moving from

16 one point in the facility to another. It's

17 not a fixed metal scanner, it's mobile, and

18 we're able to utilize that. We've had some

19 good success with that.

20 Some of the other technology I haven't

21 seen --

22 EXEC. VP SAWCHUCK: Pepper spray.

23 PRESIDENT POWERS: The OC spray, the

24 pepper spray is --

582

1 EXEC. VP SAWCHUCK: Very effective.

2 PRESIDENT POWERS: -- from what we

3 understand, and reports from the field that

4 we get, are good. And reports from the

5 department are good as well. And it quells

6 the possibility for having us to have to

7 physically get in and break up a fight, a

8 stabbing, a violent incident of any sort.

9 And/or possibly potential discipline from the

10 department for, you know, alleged acts that

11 take place in a violent incident such as

12 that, and it seems to us as if we're the ones

13 getting it, getting it more so than the --

14 some of the perpetrators of the violent act.

15 But at any rate, you know, we've seen

16 some success, but there's still a bit of --

17 still quite a ways to go.

18 NYSCOPBA TREASURER VIDDIVO: Can I

19 just follow up on the pepper spray, the OC

20 spray that's been in the pilot program that

21 was in motion last summer? In our opinion --

22 I believe I speak for all of us -- I think

23 that we need to expedite that. I think it's

24 no -- anecdotal, but no coincidence that the

583

1 assaults on staff have declined slightly.

2 And I think that we can attribute the use of

3 the pepper spray to that, somewhat. And I

4 think it needs to be expedited and put forth

5 in all the facilities and done yesterday, as

6 opposed to, you know, moving forward, getting

7 it out quickly.

8 SENATOR GALLIVAN: What's happened in

9 the package rooms? Is there new equipment in

10 there?

11 PRESIDENT POWERS: I haven't seen it

12 yet.

13 VP SAWCHUCK: No.

14 NYSCOPBA SECRETARY DILDINE: No, we're

15 still waiting. The department's been working

16 on a plan for literally years to change the

17 way the package rooms operate. And obviously

18 the two biggest issues with contraband are

19 the package room and the visiting room.

20 Your idea would be excellent. Now, if

21 we can get the -- they're looking at working

22 on a central location where this stuff comes

23 from. We're waiting --

24 SENATOR GALLIVAN: But still no

584

1 movement on getting over the hump on that.

2 NYSCOPBA SECRETARY DILDINE: Still no

3 movement. We've been waiting for a couple of

4 years for it to come through. It would

5 surely help.

6 PRESIDENT POWERS: To give you an idea

7 as to how that would happen, typically

8 through the package room, a package is sent

9 in through a family member of the offender or

10 the inmate, and then it's dispersed on back.

11 Sometimes -- not sometimes, a good large

12 aspect of the contraband that comes into our

13 facilities comes through in package rooms.

14 And I think you'd be quite surprised and

15 amazed at the innovative ways in which some

16 people look to introduce contraband into

17 these facilities through the package room.

18 And what Mike was alluding to was

19 through the centralized packaging commissary,

20 the commissary aspects of the operations in

21 the correctional facility, it would decrease

22 significantly because it comes from a vendor,

23 where the inmate places his order for a

24 package through a vendor instead of having

585

1 his family come in and having the potential

2 of having the outside contraband come in

3 through an outside criminal entity.

4 SENATOR GALLIVAN: The inspector

5 general's report recommendations included

6 training, didn't they? I don't recall all

7 the recommendations. So you mentioned the

8 need for training, or lack of post-academy.

9 What should there be? What would you like to

10 see training in? What do you feel that

11 training should be in?

12 PRESIDENT POWERS: Well, here's a

13 perfect example. A lot of our members that

14 have to physically get involved in a

15 potential serious physical injury incident

16 get -- you know, we find that they're being

17 disciplined by the department. And, you

18 know, they're fighting for their livelihoods

19 over certain instances that happen.

20 And basically just to move past that,

21 we're starting to see -- I apologize, I lost

22 track of your --

23 (Unintelligible cross-talk.)

24 SENATOR GALLIVAN: The training. You

586

1 mentioned a lack of training, a lack of

2 in-service training.

3 PRESIDENT POWERS: The use of force,

4 the use of force training. The department

5 actually backed off the hands-on training

6 since graduation from the academy.

7 More importantly, from what we've

8 discovered recently, is they've backed --

9 instead of four hours of annual training that

10 I would receive, or any one of us here at the

11 table, if we were still in the facility -- or

12 former correction officer Assemblyman

13 Jones would receive in the facility -- would

14 be four hours of annual training. They've

15 reduced that to two. And --

16 EXEC. VP SAWCHUCK: Defensive tactics.

17 PRESIDENT POWERS: Yeah, I'm 51 years

18 old. I haven't used defensive tactics, you

19 know, or had a lengthy period of training in

20 baton use or defense tactics or the

21 dispensing of chemical agents, if needed, or

22 anything of that nature. It's minimal, at

23 best. And, you know, it's to stay within the

24 guidelines of their training curriculum.

587

1 Which is not effective for our 25-year

2 correction officer who's still in the field.

3 NYSCOPBA SECRETARY DILDINE: Our

4 requirements, we get 40 hours, basically, a

5 year for training. Much of that when I

6 began, 29 years ago when all of us had a lot

7 of time on the job, a lot of that training

8 was security training -- teach you how to

9 deal with the inmates when they're violent,

10 teach you how to try to quell a

11 disturbance -- most of that has gone away.

12 Because now we're under court-mandated

13 trainings, we're under commissioner's

14 initiatives, all those things. We get no

15 hands-on training in those issues that are

16 near and dear to everyone. Everyone would

17 agree. You know, the violence in the prisons

18 are up.

19 So we actually, I think, put a

20 proposal in that would double our training

21 hours to 80 hours, because in reality that's

22 what needs to happen. We need hands-on

23 training. The department is reluctant to do

24 it. You know, they cite workers' comp, they

588

1 cite all these different reasons, but it all

2 comes down to money.

3 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Well, I look

4 forward to working with the new chairman of

5 Corrections, my colleague in the Assembly,

6 Assemblyman Weprin, and I'm hopeful we can

7 make some progress and continue to make the

8 prisons safer for you and everybody in there.

9 Thank you for your testimony.

10 PRESIDENT POWERS: Well, we look

11 forward to working with all of you. And more

12 importantly, anything you need from us, by

13 all means, don't hesitate to reach out.

14 SENATOR GALLIVAN: I know that. Thank

15 you.

16 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you so much.

17 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you very much.

18 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Mr. Oaks.

19 ASSEMBLYMAN OAKS: No, no, that's

20 okay. Actually Senator Gallivan asked the

21 questions I wanted to.

22 So just thank you for being here and

23 for your service.

24 EXEC. VP SAWCHUCK: Thank you.

589

1 PRESIDENT POWERS: Thank you.

2 Appreciate it.

3 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Next, Executive

4 Director Jonathan Gradess, New York State

5 Defenders Association.

6 MR. GRADESS: Hi.

7 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Great to see you.

8 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GRADESS: Well, I

9 made it before my bedtime, and I'm grateful

10 for you staying.

11 Thank you, Chairperson Young and

12 Chairman Farrell and members of the joint

13 committees. I'm here with Art Cody. I am

14 Jonathan Gradess, the executive director of

15 the Defenders. And Art Cody is with me; he

16 is the deputy director of our Veterans

17 Defense Program.

18 I hope we can bring you a little bit

19 of more cheery news than some of what you've

20 been hearing. It is a request for money, but

21 I also want to talk to you about some of the

22 issues you were talking about this afternoon.

23 So I'm going to yield first and let Art

24 describe the needs that NYSDA has for its

590

1 Veterans Defense Program, and then I will

2 talk some about the status of public defense

3 generally in New York.

4 DEPUTY DIRECTOR CODY: Thank you.

5 Good evening, and thank you for the

6 opportunity this evening to talk about the

7 most vulnerable of New York State's veterans.

8 Virtually all of the veteran clients that the

9 VDP, the Veteran Defense Program, works with

10 are afflicted with significant mental health

11 issues. Predominantly those issues take the

12 form of posttraumatic stress.

13 Having served in Afghanistan, I can

14 tell you that what our servicemen and

15 servicewomen are exposed to stays with them

16 when they leave Afghanistan and stays with

17 them for the rest of their lives, and often

18 results in criminal justice involvement.

19 With respect to veterans, the VDP

20 fulfills NYSDA's mission of promoting

21 indigent defense in two primary ways, the

22 first of which is training. Since we opened

23 our doors a little less than three years ago,

24 we've trained over 900 attorneys. But for

591

1 us, the training is only the beginning of our

2 commitment to veterans and to the defense

3 community.

4 The second way that we serve veterans

5 is through direct assistance. Very commonly,

6 in the wake of one of our training sessions,

7 we will receive numerous calls for direct

8 assistance, and this is really due to our

9 expertise. We're able to interpret the

10 military documents, talk to the veteran

11 client, talk to his or her chain of command,

12 and understand that veteran's story.

13 I think it's important to understand

14 that currently, only 7 percent of the United

15 States population are veterans. So we have

16 this somewhat strange world that our

17 New Yorkers have been immersed in, and it can

18 be very difficult for a civilian judge, a

19 civilian jury, even a civilian defense

20 attorney, to understand and be able to

21 explain.

22 At core, every veteran deserves to

23 have his or her story told. But to do that

24 right is very intensive and it takes time.

592

1 As I mentioned during my testimony here last

2 year, the Veterans Defense Program will never

3 turn a veteran away. We don't say no. But

4 with a staff of two attorneys for the State

5 of New York, we're stretched a little thin.

6 We can no longer provide the kind of

7 investigation and the kind of presentation

8 that each and every veteran needs and

9 deserves.

10 We're seeking funding for additional

11 attorneys, caseworkers, and support staff,

12 both for the already overburdened Western

13 New York office, and also to establish a

14 downstate office to better serve our veterans

15 in those counties where there's a more heavy

16 concentration of veterans downstate.

17 Thank you.

18 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GRADESS: Thank

19 you, Art.

20 So we are here asking for money, a

21 total of $1.4 million additional funds. I'll

22 take a page from Mr. Tembeckjian's book that

23 we've had seven years of flat funding. The

24 Governor cut us 60 percent from the

593

1 appropriation that you ended up with last

2 year, and an additional 5 percent of what he

3 even put in last year. When Bob said that

4 flat funding is a cut, he's not kidding.

5 And we are now as deeply ingrained in

6 the improvement of quality as we have ever

7 been. Hurrell-Harring gave us obligations in

8 the Hurrell-Harring counties with our public

9 defense case management system. We're now

10 performing 40 training programs a year. We

11 have the case management system up and

12 running in 69 programs in 45 counties. And

13 you can't cut that.

14 So we need to be restored, and we need

15 to be increased, and we need your help to do

16 it.

17 I want to go back, however, to the

18 context in which our backup center creates

19 services. We've had a -- I was hoping to

20 come in here at this point and give you a

21 great big thank you for each of your votes

22 last June 17th on the Fahy-DeFrancisco bill.

23 I thought maybe I could come in for once, say

24 thanks for what you did, thank the Governor

594

1 for signing it, and here's what we need in

2 the way of money.

3 Unfortunately, that is not the case,

4 so I want to ring through a couple of things

5 that I think are important. One is I would

6 like you to reintroduce the DeFrancisco bill

7 in the Senate. The Fahy bill has already

8 been reintroduced. I'd like you to pass it.

9 I'd like you to be prepared to override

10 another veto.

11 Why is that? Because what that bill

12 was doing was essentially not mandate relief,

13 not public defense reform, it was mandate

14 fulfillment. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1963

15 put the obligation for public defense

16 services on the State of New York. Our Court

17 of Appeals in 1972 put the obligation for

18 parental defense on lawyers in New York.

19 Those obligations have been incorporated in

20 statute, and the counties are dying under the

21 combined burden of that mandate, which is the

22 state's, and the property tax cap.

23 So while a lot of people read the bill

24 as mandate relief and others read it as

595

1 improvement to justice, it came to be called

2 the Justice Equality Act because it would

3 have done all of those things and more.

4 Now, the Governor's bill at this

5 point -- and I'm very happy to see the bill.

6 But you know, it does bring up the idea that

7 the devil is in the details. And those

8 details include the following. You cannot

9 allow the Governor's proposal to undermine

10 the independence of the Indigent Legal

11 Services Office. The Division of the Budget

12 should not have, does not need, does not

13 require and would undermine best practices if

14 you take away the independence of that

15 office. That office, as an independent

16 entity, is at the core of the Hurrell-Harring

17 settlement. It was trusted enough by the

18 State of New York to do the job in the

19 Hurrell-Harring counties.

20 And those counties, please recall,

21 were not the original defendants in that

22 lawsuit. That lawsuit was failed against the

23 State of New York. New York was the sole and

24 exclusive defendant. It was filed by the

596

1 Civil Liberties Union, and it used examples

2 from the five counties as exemplars of what

3 is wrong in each of the counties. The

4 Civil Liberties Union could have taken out a

5 dart, blindfolded themselves and thrown it at

6 a map of New York and picked five other

7 counties from which to draw examples. Right?

8 It was the state that moved at -- and

9 perhaps they were choosing strategically,

10 long before we realized it -- it was the

11 state that added those five counties, moved

12 to add them, said they have to be defendants.

13 And then when the state came to settle, they

14 were able to settle only for those five

15 counties.

16 The act of passing the

17 DeFrancisco-Fahy bill last year was a great

18 step forward for this Legislature and for

19 this state, and each of you, all

20 187-to-nothing voters for that bill, are to

21 be commended.

22 I would urge you to repeat what you

23 did. I would urge you very strongly, in the

24 strongest terms you can. If that is not

597

1 doable, or if you do it and that fails, you

2 cannot allow for the Division of the Budget

3 to be engaged in overseeing this office.

4 The state is in the business of

5 running parole. As you've just heard, it's

6 in the business of running corrections. It's

7 in the business of running the State Police.

8 The State Police spend their time arresting

9 our clients and seeing to it that they're

10 sentenced to probation, which the state runs,

11 or to parole or to prison.

12 The Executive runs those agencies.

13 There is a direct conflict of interest.

14 Public defense services are really hard to

15 appreciate. The government has a

16 6th Amendment obligation to fund and support

17 them, but it can't be meddling in them. And

18 the Division of the Budget would be meddling.

19 That's one.

20 Two, the bill is sneaky, the

21 Article VII, because it doesn't really match

22 what Hurrell-Harring did. Hurrell-Harring

23 said you won't have to spend a dime until we

24 give you the money. The Article VII is a

598

1 reimbursement bill. So let me tell you

2 how that's going to work in the defective

3 public defense system that we have.

4 Let us just say your public defender

5 system is a million-dollar budget, for the

6 sake of math, and the quality

7 improvements are going to cost $250,000. You

8 are then going to say, as a county official

9 with a tax cap, where do I get this money?

10 Let me look at my indigent defense line. Let

11 me make the cuts in indigent defense that are

12 necessary so that I can come up with the

13 $250,000 to do the new mandated services, and

14 let me end up with that same $1 million

15 budget again.

16 So really, the idea that this is an

17 extension of quality as a reimbursement

18 program doesn't work.

19 So if you engage in the second-tier

20 fix, the Governor's Article VII, and not in

21 the re-passage of Fahy-DeFrancisco to build

22 the base, if you focus only on the second

23 floor and not the foundation, because you

24 have to, you've got to make those two

599

1 conditions, that the accepted best practice

2 of independence is within the bill and the

3 Division of the Budget is cut out, and

4 secondly that the money is up-front.

5 And I think Senator DeFrancisco

6 alluded to this in the question, Where's the

7 money? And there really isn't any, and there

8 needs to be.

9 So with that, and with my request that

10 though I'm committed on this overall issue, I

11 hope you'll recall our budget request, I'd be

12 happy to answer any questions if you have

13 them.

14 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

15 Questions?

16 SENATOR KRUEGER: You were very

17 thorough.

18 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GRADESS: Thank you

19 very much.

20 SENATOR KRUEGER: Senator Bailey.

21 SENATOR BAILEY: Let me find my

22 questions.

23 Thank you for your testimony. I just

24 have one question. Concerning the Raise the

600

1 Age, how do you anticipate that the Raise the

2 Age proposal as currently -- as we currently

3 today -- I don't want to project any changes

4 to it -- but as currently enacted today, how

5 will that affect what you do?

6 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GRADESS: Well, I

7 think there's a lot of questions that are

8 unanswered in Raise the Age. I don't know

9 anyone who does not support the idea of Raise

10 the Age, but I think Raise the Age in its

11 current form has a very Manhattan-centric,

12 New York City-centric view of how the world

13 works.

14 When you get up to Essex County and

15 you're a 16-year-old and you're arrested, and

16 instead going into a part in New York City,

17 you go to a village court, and that village

18 court is run by a former state trooper or by

19 someone who's not a lawyer, and there is no

20 available probation department, no available

21 part, a lot of the questions that we have and

22 that remain unanswered -- I'm not sure how it

23 would affect things.

24 I do know there's a question as to who

601

1 would do the work. I do know that if it

2 becomes a -- some of these things are an

3 additional burden, the work will not be done

4 well, because right now we're underfunding

5 the public defense system.

6 A lot of questions we have to look at.

7 I've prepared a lot of those questions.

8 Don't have answers for them, but I'd be happy

9 to share them with you.

10 SENATOR BAILEY: Certainly. Thank you

11 for your time.

12 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GRADESS: Thank you

13 all very much.

14 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

15 New York State Coalition Against

16 Domestic Violence, Connie Neal, executive

17 director.

18 And the next one is going to be Victor

19 Antonio-Perez and company. Would you move

20 down so that when you come, it won't take

21 time? You know, if you could get up close.

22 Thank you.

23 Good evening.

24 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NEAL: Good

602

1 evening. My name is Connie Neal, and I'm the

2 executive director of the New York State

3 Coalition Against Domestic Violence. On

4 behalf of the coalition, I want to thank you

5 for the opportunity to speak to you tonight

6 on the proposed New York State budget and its

7 implications for victims of domestic violence

8 in New York.

9 The coalition is a statewide nonprofit

10 membership organization of local domestic

11 violence service providers and allied

12 organizations. In New York there are nearly

13 250 residential and non-residential domestic

14 violence programs across the state, and

15 together we share a commitment to support the

16 social change necessary to prevent and end

17 domestic violence.

18 New York State has a long and storied

19 history as a national leader. However, being

20 number one isn't always something to be proud

21 of. According to the National Census of

22 Domestic Violence Services, coordinated by

23 the National Network to End Domestic

24 Violence, New York has the highest demand for

603

1 domestic violence services in the country.

2 The national Census provides a one-day,

3 unduplicated count of adults and children

4 seeking services from domestic violence

5 programs in all states and the U.S.

6 territories.

7 So data from the most recently

8 compiled census indicate that on one day,

9 6,950 victims of domestic violence received

10 services in New York. Of those services,

11 over 3200 victims, including adults and

12 children, received critical non-residential

13 services, including counseling, legal

14 advocacy, and children's support groups. On

15 that same day, nearly a thousand requests for

16 domestic violence services went unmet because

17 of critical funding and staffing shortages.

18 We also know that domestic violence

19 programs in New York reported that 148

20 individual domestic violence services for

21 survivors were reduced or eliminated during

22 2015. And finally, domestic violence

23 programs reported that 115 staff positions,

24 most of which were direct service advocates,

604

1 were eliminated in that same time period. As

2 a result, there are fewer advocates to answer

3 calls for help.

4 The staggering demand for domestic

5 violence services in New York shows us that

6 we must do more. This is a call to action

7 for New York State, and at the same time,

8 this is an opportunity to create the

9 strongest domestic violence coalition and

10 network of domestic violence programs in the

11 country. Simply put, a meaningful investment

12 in domestic violence services and primary

13 prevention must be a top public protection

14 priority in our state.

15 The New York State Executive Budget

16 proposal contains little state-originating

17 funding to support domestic violence

18 services, and relies heavily on federal

19 funding sources. Federal funding is simply

20 not enough.

21 So today we are asking that you ensure

22 the following items are prioritized in the

23 final budget. First, to address

24 long-standing gaps in funding for local

605

1 domestic violence programs across the state

2 as a result of years of flat or reduced

3 investments by providing $6 million in

4 funding from the TANF sources for

5 non-residential domestic violence services,

6 and providing at least a 3 percent increase

7 in the domestic violence shelter per diem

8 rate.

9 Non-residential domestic violence

10 services are mandated by New York State

11 social service regulations, and they are also

12 essential to New York State's response to

13 domestic violence. The State Budget provides

14 only one dedicated stream to support these

15 services, and it's incumbent upon the

16 Legislature to increase funding to

17 $6 million.

18 Similarly, because the per-diem rate

19 for shelters has been flat for years,

20 domestic violence residential programs are in

21 critical need of additional support as well.

22 Secondly, we support the need to

23 stabilize and increase civil legal services

24 funding for domestic violence victims

606

1 statewide. Legal services for victims is

2 always a top priority issue, and we are in

3 need of consistent and effective access to

4 funding to support their legal services

5 needs.

6 Third, to provide $4.5 million in

7 funding for local domestic violence programs

8 to collaborate with colleges and universities

9 to implement the recent "Enough is Enough"

10 campus policy mandates for dating violence,

11 domestic violence, and stalking services.

12 This support for domestic violence programs

13 is intended to complement the $4.5 million

14 already provided for rape crisis programs in

15 each of the past two years for their work to

16 prevent sexual assault.

17 I encourage you to support domestic

18 violence programs so that they can adequately

19 implement this initiative by addressing,

20 again, those components of the legislation

21 which have to do with dating violence,

22 domestic violence, and stalking, and their

23 work in conjunction with and in coordination

24 with colleges and universities across the

607

1 state.

2 And finally, to create a primary

3 prevention funding stream for domestic

4 violence programs in New York by establishing

5 a $17.25 million fund to be dispersed through

6 coordinated support to the coalition and

7 local domestic violence programs statewide.

8 The consequences and costs of domestic

9 violence homicides can be devastating not

10 only for the victims and their families, but

11 also for neighborhoods and communities in

12 which the murders occur. The average cost

13 per homicide can exceed $17.25 million when

14 considering all medical care costs involved,

15 lost future wages, public program costs,

16 police responses, property damage and losses,

17 and really the negative impact on the quality

18 of life in communities.

19 Primary prevention goes beyond raising

20 awareness of domestic violence and works to

21 promote the behaviors we want to see adopted

22 in communities across our state. This is a

23 relatively new concept for many working to

24 end domestic violence, whose main focus has

608

1 previously been responding to the needs of

2 victims. However, it's clear that we must

3 increasingly focus our efforts on stopping

4 potential perpetrators before they commit

5 their first act. This includes promoting

6 social change through activities, programs,

7 and policies that change the attitudes,

8 behaviors and social norms that allow

9 domestic violence to thrive.

10 Since the cost of a single homicide

11 can be well over $17.25 million, as I just

12 mentioned, we're requesting funding at this

13 level to demonstrate New York State's

14 commitment to preventing the far-reaching

15 tragedies of domestic violence homicides.

16 The challenge in front of us today is

17 to send a clear message that the Legislature

18 will do more to help protect survivors of

19 domestic violence and, equally important,

20 take significant steps toward understanding

21 that we also have to work toward preventing

22 domestic violence before it occurs in the

23 first place.

24 In conclusion, New York should not be

609

1 the number-one state in the country with the

2 highest demand for domestic violence

3 services. We must affirm our collective

4 commitment to ending domestic violence by

5 increasing investments in these vital,

6 life-saving programs. In doing so, we will

7 become the national model for primary

8 prevention services in the country. We ask

9 that you work with your fellow legislators

10 and the Governor to ensure no survivor of

11 domestic violence is ever turned away from

12 the services they seek, and that New York

13 State meaningfully invests in primary

14 prevention so we can stem the tide of

15 domestic violence once and for all.

16 I look forward to working with you to

17 create and sustain the strongest statewide

18 domestic violence coalition, network of

19 services, and primary prevention initiatives

20 in the country, and want to thank you again

21 for the opportunity to present this

22 testimony.

23 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

24 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Any questions?

610

1 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Any questions?

2 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you for

3 coming.

4 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NEAL: Okay, thank

5 you very much.

6 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Next up we have

7 senior parole officer -- actually, we have a

8 group, which is great. So we have the

9 New York State Public Employees Federation.

10 And if I miss someone's name, please announce

11 yourself. But what I have so far is Victor

12 Antonio Perez, senior parole officer; Penny

13 Howansky, council leader; Steven Drake,

14 statewide labor management chair; VP Nikki

15 Brate; and Assistant Council Leader Jeff

16 Smith. Did I get everybody? Is that right?

17 Where did I go wrong?

18 MS. HOWANSKY: We have Nikki Brate in

19 the back.

20 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: There's Nikki. Hi.

21 So thank you so much for joining us.

22 Sorry about the lateness of the hour.

23 Obviously this is a very important topic

24 area. But we appreciate everything that PEF

611

1 does, so we look forward to your testimony.

2 MR. ANTONIO PEREZ: Thank you. I

3 started mine as "Good morning," but changed

4 to "Good afternoon" and now it's "Good

5 evening."

6 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: At least it's not

7 "Good morning" again.

8 MR. ANTONIO PEREZ: It's not "Good

9 morning" again, that's right. We always have

10 to look at the positive side.

11 Chairwoman Young and Chairman Farrell

12 and the distinguished members of the

13 Legislature, my name is Victor Antonio Perez.

14 I'm presenting today on behalf of Division

15 Council Leader 236 Paul Rigby, who testified

16 here last year, I was right behind him. He

17 couldn't be in today, he's had to be called

18 out of town on a family emergency. But I am

19 the former council leader of PEF Division

20 236, and I presently hold the position of

21 statewide chair of health and safety for

22 community supervision in my PEF division,

23 which represents 938 members made up of

24 parole officers, senior parole officers,

612

1 parole revocation specialists, and

2 administrative law judges. I'm also the

3 president of the Fraternal Order of Police

4 Lodge 27, representing New York State parole

5 officers. Currently I am a senior parole

6 officer at the New Rochelle area office that

7 covers southern Westchester County. And I've

8 been with the state for 28 years; 25 of those

9 years, I have been on the parole side.

10 It's important to note I've worked on

11 both sides of the double razor wire fence, as

12 we call it, so I was very involved in

13 preparing parole board hearings for about

14 eight years, and actually about 13 years in

15 the field operations. I worked in Taconic,

16 Bedford Hills, Lakeview Shock, on that side,

17 and I've worked in Rochester, I worked in

18 Western New York, yes, where I lived in

19 Chautauqua County for a number of years.

20 That's where Lakeview Correctional Facility

21 is, yes. I came back to the Bronx -- that's

22 a whole different story. And like I said,

23 I'm now in New Rochelle. I worked in the

24 Bronx for about 10 years.

613

1 A couple of things about the budget as

2 it pertains to community supervision, quite

3 disturbing. The obvious one, there's no

4 increase in FTEs for community supervision.

5 Just to give you some perspective of the

6 $2.85 billion budget that's allocated to the

7 Department of Corrections and Community

8 Supervision -- which represents almost

9 69 percent of the entire public safety budget

10 for public protection -- can anybody guess

11 how much of that goes to community

12 supervision? Take a guess. Four-point-eight

13 percent.

14 And when people talk about releasing

15 prisoners from state correctional facilities,

16 they don't disappear, folks, they land up on

17 our front step and we have to deal with it.

18 And we have to deal with quite a lot on our

19 plate. We have sex offenders and -- I'm so

20 glad to hear that everybody has applauded the

21 recent allocations to supervising the

22 severely mentally ill. And so what we have

23 now is 36,000 parolees being supervised by

24 650 parole officers throughout the State of

614

1 New York. And that comes down to about a

2 55-to-1 ratio, as opposed to the 2.5 per

3 correction officer on the inside.

4 The 650 is about 55 to 1, but if you

5 take away -- and rightfully so, we have to --

6 we supervise the severely and persistently

7 mentally ill, which is a caseload of 15 to 1.

8 We supervise sex offenders at the ratio of 25

9 to 1. We supervise the other mentally ill at

10 the ratio of 25 to 1.

11 And those are dedicated officers and

12 very skilled officers and do an excellent job

13 in what they do. Had we had that back in the

14 St. Hubert incident, maybe we would have

15 saved a life. But we didn't.

16 I share that with you because the

17 ratio of 55 to 1 is not a real ratio. When

18 you take out the other specialized caseloads,

19 that ratio goes up to 65 to even 75 to 1. So

20 we are talking about -- there was a lot of

21 mention of violent felony offenders, how many

22 violent felony offenders are in state prison.

23 Acting Commissioner Annucci testified earlier

24 this morning, they're at about 64 percent.

615

1 So it looks about right. He might be off by

2 a percentage or two, according to our

3 figures.

4 But by the time they get out on

5 parole, there are incentives for those who do

6 well for nonviolent felony offenders, so the

7 average parole officer actually supervises a

8 caseload of -- approximately 75 percent of

9 their caseload is violent felony offenders.

10 Not to say all violent felony

11 offenders are bad. If you give me a caseload

12 of murderers, I would take that over anything

13 else that you would give me. Why? Because

14 they've served 25, 30, 35 years in prison.

15 They're not going back. They're not going

16 back. Does that mean they don't need any

17 supervision? And they come out as a COMPAS

18 Level 4, the least likely to recidivate.

19 No, they need to know what a cellphone is. I

20 just remember this guy staring at me after 36

21 years in prison and I'm on my phone doing an

22 email, and during it he was just staring at

23 me. I didn't know what he was staring at.

24 And obviously he had never seen a smartphone

616

1 before.

2 He needs to know, you know, how he

3 gets his medicine. He needs to know, you

4 know, where to go. Thirty-six years in

5 prison, you can imagine what a welcome back

6 to society looks like. Do they need

7 supervision? Are they going to recidivate?

8 No. But do they need supervision?

9 Absolutely. Absolutely. Because again, we

10 wear the two hats. We wear the social worker

11 hat and we wear the law enforcement hat.

12 Quickly talking about staffing ratios

13 and the decrease in parole officers, in 2000

14 we had 1400 PEF members, 1113 of whom were

15 parole officers and senior parole officers.

16 We go 17 years later, we have 938 PEF people,

17 and 760 are parole officers and senior parole

18 officers.

19 So to just give some relativity to

20 that, the inmate population has decreased by

21 about 25 percent, and so has the parolee

22 population, but the parole officer population

23 has decreased 33 percent.

24 So again, we're burdened with all of

617

1 these other people that are coming out of

2 prison, now violent felony offenders. And

3 when I started this job, you know, some 20

4 years ago, that was not the case. That was

5 the case where you had your people selling

6 two vials of crack cocaine to an undercover

7 cop, and he had a supervisor when he came

8 out. That's not the case today.

9 I want to talk a little bit about the

10 COMPAS risk tool. We all know what that is.

11 Even though the risk assessment tool itself

12 seems to be maybe an accurate predictor of

13 who is going to perhaps violate parole or

14 recidivate, what it doesn't do is the 25 to 1

15 ratio and the 40 to 1 ratio and the 80 to 1

16 ratio -- and you heard the commissioner say

17 160 to 1 ratio -- the way we are supervising,

18 in the last four years it has not produced

19 any differences in the recidivism rate. If

20 you look at the recidivism rate, depending on

21 who you listen to, it's anywhere from

22 42 percent to 52 percent. So obviously the

23 program is not working.

24 I do want to talk quickly -- and I

618

1 don't want to take everybody's time up, but

2 the two things in the budget today that -- of

3 the 2017-2018 budget that are very disturbing

4 is the move to take the responsibility that

5 was once assigned to the Board of Parole and

6 give it to the commissioner of the Department

7 of Corrections.

8 I want to remind everybody that when

9 this agency was consolidated back in 2011, it

10 was distinctly said in that consolidation

11 summary, and I quote, "The Parole board will

12 continue as an independent body, with the

13 Administrative Law Judges and the Board's

14 Counsel's Office answering directly to the

15 Parole Board." The Parole Board will

16 maintain its existing functions, which

17 includes release decisions. There will be no

18 change in the Parole Board's role in setting

19 an offender's release conditions.

20 That was the basis on which this

21 consolidation was made, and today you heard

22 the commissioner state that -- he said, Never

23 mind, I want that power back.

24 We're treading in a very, very

619

1 dangerous area. I want to remind everybody

2 in 1930 the Division of Parole was

3 established in the Executive Department. In

4 1971, the Division of Parole was consolidated

5 with the Department of Corrections to form

6 the Department of Correctional Services. In

7 the wake of the Attica prison riots and

8 demands from the courts and other quarters

9 that the procedural rights of parolees be

10 protected, and as part of the recommendation

11 of the McKay Commission, Parole in 1977 was

12 again established as an autonomous agency

13 within the Executive Department. That was

14 made for a reason, folks. That was made for

15 a reason because if you give too much power

16 to one person or one set of people that

17 control the freedom of another individual,

18 you have the danger of creating a situation

19 where absolute power corrupts absolutely.

20 Let's not go there. We have been there,

21 we're trying it again, and the proposal in

22 the budget is to amend the Executive Law 259

23 to go exactly where we've been before and

24 it's prevailed.

620

1 I'm just going to hold on to any other

2 comments. And I know some of my colleagues

3 would like to speak, so thank you for your

4 attention.

5 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

6 Senator?

7 SENATOR KRUEGER: Was anyone else

8 going to talk?

9 MS. HOWANSKY: Yes, we were.

10 SENATOR KRUEGER: Can we let them all

11 present first? Okay, thank you.

12 MS. HOWANSKY: Okay, thank you.

13 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: We'll be here until

14 11 o'clock.

15 SENATOR SAVINO: Not me.

16 MS. HOWANSKY: Actually, I have

17 provided some very comprehensive testimony,

18 so I'll hope that you'll read it at that

19 time. I won't sit here and read it to you,

20 okay? So what I will do at this point is

21 take up a couple of points after the

22 testimony that we heard earlier today from

23 ITS. Okay?

24 So one of the things that really

621

1 puzzled me, and I'm sure it puzzled you as

2 well, is the fact that you had asked her on a

3 couple of different occasions what experience

4 is lacking or what roles are these 250 SE

5 positions going to play. And we clearly did

6 not get an answer on that. So being that she

7 doesn't know what it is that she wants these

8 people to do, how does she know that her

9 current workforce doesn't have these skills?

10 Because she doesn't know what she wants,

11 correct?

12 The other comment she made was quite

13 misleading as far as we were concerned. The

14 comment was that the only way that people can

15 enter the state at a higher level position is

16 through entry-level positions. However, it's

17 quite clear that we have many examinations

18 out there on upper-level IT positions on the

19 eligible lists, and there's thousands of

20 people on these lists. Thousands of people.

21 And guess what? They have experience, they

22 have skills. They passed the exam.

23 In fact, back in 2009 when we had the

24 legislation, I think that in the end they

622

1 only hired maybe a little over a hundred, so

2 there was a very few amount of people that

3 even wanted these state positions. That was

4 an issue that we had. Many of them scored

5 very low, and some of them even didn't pass

6 the exam, so today they're not even on the

7 list, so they couldn't even have a job.

8 Furthermore, ITS is already using a

9 mechanism to get specialized-expertise people

10 on board, and that's through the use of

11 project items. If you read the language to

12 obtain a project item, it's very similar to

13 the language that is written in the

14 legislation for the special expertise. The

15 caveat that's there is that the project items

16 last for 18 months, and SEs would last for

17 five years. Hence, it would be a task on ITS

18 to have to renew these positions every

19 18 months. But for many years they've been

20 doing it, so why stop now?

21 So we go back to eight years ago, and

22 we have to ask ourselves, did it really work?

23 Where are these people today? How have we

24 improved in ITS? What knowledge did we gain?

623

1 Where was the succession planning? Where is

2 the knowledge we gained? Where was the

3 training we had? So I think that those are

4 some very serious questions that need to be

5 asked, and you'll find some of those

6 responses in our testimony as well.

7 ITS also explained today -- which was

8 very concerning, and should be very

9 concerning for all of us -- that the 250

10 people that they're proposing to hire are

11 current contractors. Well, how is that fair?

12 How does that say that we would get

13 preference if they've already determined that

14 they're going to hire contractors that are

15 already there? That kind of defeats the

16 whole civil service merit and fitness system.

17 Furthermore, I would have to state

18 that the legislation itself at this point is

19 fundamentally flawed. Why? Because bias is

20 already there. Let's refer back to the

21 testimony that you received from the acting

22 commissioner of Civil Service, where she

23 already stated we don't have the skills, we

24 don't have the talent. So how can they state

624

1 they would propose to have 250 SE positions

2 and actually hire them fairly?

3 One other outstanding thing -- just

4 one last thing, if you would entertain me --

5 is the training. And I'm sorry, because I

6 did have this big thing here. But in the

7 end, they have a training budget this year

8 where they're proposing $2 million. Out of

9 that $2 million, $1.6 million goes to

10 salaries and benefits. Out of that

11 $2 million budget, $313,000 will actually go

12 to training, $313,000. That's 15 percent of

13 the $2 million that they propose.

14 How are we going to get trained?

15 Well, thank goodness for us, because we did

16 have an ITS PEF member who developed a very

17 comprehensive plan, worked with us. And he

18 applied for some grants, and through the

19 collective bargaining agreement, we were

20 awarded $200,000 that will train 300 PEF

21 members in the ITIL skills and to get them

22 certified. And that training will be

23 targeted to the 160 people who have already

24 been displaced by the outsourcing of the help

625

1 desk. That is two-thirds of what ITS is

2 planning to do even today.

3 And lastly, they had put in

4 legislation back in the fall where it

5 included monies for training. I find it

6 ironic that now the only thing they want from

7 us is 250 SE positions, no provisions for

8 training, but just 250 positions that they

9 can appoint at their discretion. That should

10 be concerning to all of us. It should be

11 concerning to the New York State taxpayers,

12 the people that you represent. We are

13 qualified IT people. We do our jobs. We are

14 ITS, and we, the PEF members at ITS, are the

15 New York State geeks.

16 That was for you, Diane.

17 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you. Thank

18 you for that. Thank you, I appreciate it

19 very much. Both of you gave great testimony.

20 And as far as the IT situation goes,

21 you heard me ask Ms. Miller today about

22 career ladders, and she seemed perplexed by

23 that. Because I remember we had an extended

24 conversation about that last year, and she

626

1 did say that there was a lot of training

2 going on. But you're saying that that's

3 really not the case and that they're not

4 bringing people along to fill those

5 positions.

6 MS. HOWANSKY: They have provided

7 training. Much of that training has been in

8 soft skills, like working in team

9 environments, learning how to be a better

10 leader, situations like that. We have

11 mandatory training where she said that we had

12 many trainings -- well, much of that training

13 is based on discrimination in the workplace,

14 sexual harassment.

15 They also do provide us -- and it's a

16 nice tool that they provide us -- it's called

17 Lynda.com, where we can go on there and take

18 self-training.

19 But as far as set -- there is no

20 workplace development plan. There is no

21 strategy. So haphazardly we can take all the

22 trainings we want, but we will never know, we

23 will never ever know if we are meeting the

24 vision of the department, because we don't

627

1 know what it is. There's no strategy.

2 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you for that.

3 So thank you for all that you do, and thank

4 you for the parole officers too. They

5 certainly have a very difficult job, and they

6 are so crucial to keeping us safe, so

7 appreciate that.

8 Anybody on the Assembly side first?

9 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Nope.

10 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Okay. Senator

11 Gallivan.

12 SENATOR GALLIVAN: Thank you all for

13 your testimony and, it goes without saying,

14 the work that the people you represent do on

15 a daily basis.

16 I have two questions for Officer

17 Perez. You testified about the reduction in

18 parole officers and senior parole officers

19 over time, starting -- you give some data in

20 the written testimony, and some verbal --

21 from 2000 now to 2010 to 2016. And obviously

22 the reduction is dramatic, and it's clearly

23 greater than the parolee population, the

24 decrease in the parolee population.

628

1 My question with that, the number

2 right now that is around 750, are there

3 vacant positions or have all those positions

4 been eliminated?

5 MR. ANTONIO PEREZ: The 750 includes

6 senior parole officers, which make up about a

7 hundred people, who do not directly supervise

8 parolees. So that number has decreased to

9 about 650. And they're running -- the

10 Department of Corrections and Community

11 Supervision is going to be running a class, I

12 believe in April. They start out with 50.

13 Not everybody makes it out of the class.

14 Nine people didn't make it, and probably for

15 very good reasons. So we don't always get

16 all those people. But those are positions

17 that are presently vacant now and will be

18 filled.

19 The problem, like everybody testified

20 today, is whether or not our hiring rate can

21 keep up with our attrition rate. We, like

22 the correction officers, have a problem that

23 people are getting out, not because of the

24 death benefit, but because we can't get

629

1 line-of-work injury compensation.

2 SENATOR GALLIVAN: So the combination

3 of senior parole officers and parole

4 officers, do you know what the authorized

5 strength is? So what you have plus your

6 vacancies.

7 MR. ANTONIO PEREZ: I don't have the

8 exact FTEs. The FTEs for the entire division

9 is 1335, but I don't have the FTEs --

10 SENATOR GALLIVAN: That's okay, we can

11 find that.

12 MR. ANTONIO PEREZ: Right.

13 SENATOR GALLIVAN: But along those

14 lines -- and you talked about the ratios, the

15 caseload ratios -- are there any national

16 standards? I mean, is there a national

17 organization or, you know, best practices

18 somewhere, an accreditation agency that makes

19 recommendations as to what should be the

20 optimum standard --

21 MR. ANTONIO PEREZ: I've been told

22 that each state has -- based on their

23 population, has different standards. And

24 some people who do use the COMPAS standard

630

1 have similar to ours.

2 I also have been told that other

3 municipalities and states have rejected the

4 COMPAS standards because they don't meet

5 their needs.

6 Our major problem, as Acting

7 Commissioner Annucci testified -- or didn't

8 testify to, I should say -- is the problem in

9 our ratios are the 160 to 1. If we can

10 eliminate that Level 4, that makes sense. We

11 could work it with that as a ratio. Of

12 course that means that they'd have to hire

13 another 200 parole officers, which are not --

14 it's not inconceivable. And I think we could

15 at least begin to deliver some of the

16 services that the parolees need, you know,

17 upon arriving from doing anywhere from 5 to

18 36 years in state prison.

19 SENATOR GALLIVAN: And the Level 4 is

20 the worst, the ones that --

21 MR. ANTONIO PEREZ: No, the Level 4 is

22 the least --

23 SENATOR GALLIVAN: I'm sorry, the ones

24 that need presumably the least amount of

631

1 supervision. Typically, at least according

2 to your testimony, they're those that have

3 been in prison for a much longer period of

4 time.

5 MR. ANTONIO PEREZ: Typically those

6 who have done a lot of time in prison.

7 They're generally older, they come out at 50,

8 60 years old, some need medical attention.

9 People do age out of crime.

10 The problems we have are generally

11 with the younger youth who we have to spend a

12 lot of time with and chase, you know, a lot

13 of times when they're not doing the right

14 thing.

15 We also engage in a lot of activities

16 with -- it's too bad Senator Bailey left. I

17 wanted to let him know that we were working

18 with the Mount Vernon Police Department to

19 address their gang problem, because many of

20 them are on parole. And just because they

21 come out and they complete all these

22 correctional services doesn't mean that they

23 don't go back to a life of crime, as seen by

24 our recidivism rate.

632

1 So we do engage in those activities as

2 well. There's a -- I mean between family

3 intervention, between making sure they get

4 into programs, making sure all the diversion

5 programs are utilized -- and if I may,

6 there's one thing I didn't bring up. The

7 commissioner has wanted to -- he has a

8 proposal to eliminate three months of parole

9 for every six months that a parolee does

10 without being violated.

11 Let me tell you something. Just

12 because somebody has been on parole for six

13 months without being violated does not mean

14 they're doing well. Trust me. Chances are

15 they've relapsed, we've put them in a

16 diversion program, they might have been

17 arrested for some minor offenses. We haven't

18 violated them, we continue to work with them.

19 That's what we do.

20 And so they have domestic violence

21 problems, we continue to work with them.

22 That's what a parole officer does. It

23 doesn't mean that he doesn't do well {sic}

24 and he should be rewarded for, again, having

633

1 three months left of supervision.

2 SENATOR GALLIVAN: And if I recall

3 correctly, there already is a mechanism to

4 reward a parolee.

5 MR. ANTONIO PEREZ: Yes, we have --

6 those mechanisms are in place. Thank you for

7 bringing that up. We have a year discharge

8 for those nine violent felony offenders, we

9 have a merit discharge for them, and many of

10 them achieve them. We have a three-year

11 discharge for those people who do three years

12 on parole. And even if you're not eligible

13 for that, if you do well, even the COMPAS

14 reassessment program is saying that if you do

15 well after a year or two, you don't have to

16 report as often. Instead of every two weeks,

17 every other month, and then eventually every

18 four months.

19 Those mechanisms were already in

20 place. We don't need any more. We need more

21 supervision for some of these guys, not less

22 supervision.

23 SENATOR GALLIVAN: All right. Thank

24 you all.

634

1 MR. ANTONIO PEREZ: Thank you.

2 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you. Anyone

3 else?

4 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

5 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you very

6 much. Thanks for coming.

7 Next on the schedule is District

8 Council 37. They have decided not to

9 participate today, but they have sent in

10 written testimony, which we will read.

11 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: They get extra

12 credit for that.

13 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Extra credit,

14 that's right.

15 We also have Grant Cowles, senior

16 policy and advocacy associate for youth

17 justice, from the Citizens' Community for

18 Children.

19 Welcome.

20 SENATOR KRUEGER: And is it Citizens'

21 Committee for Children?

22 MR. COWLES: Yes, it's Citizens'

23 Committee for Children.

24 SENATOR KRUEGER: Okay, because I know

635

1 that group.

2 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: I'm sorry.

3 MR. COWLES: No, it got misplated.

4 It will be really, really short, I

5 promise.

6 So I'm Grant Cowles, and I just want

7 to say thank you again for our being here.

8 I'm the senior policy associate for youth

9 justice of the Citizens' Committee for

10 Children. We don't accept any government

11 funds, we just advocate for children and

12 families.

13 And I'm going to keep it really,

14 really short. I think I'm going to do three

15 minutes or less, because it's really simple

16 and it's really straightforward and common

17 sense. We're asking you to Raise the Age.

18 So CCC is extremely pleased that

19 Governor Cuomo has once again included a

20 comprehensive plan to raise the age of

21 criminal responsibility in the Executive

22 Budget. As one of only two states in the

23 country that prosecutes all 16- and

24 17-year-olds as adults, regardless of the

636

1 crime, these changes are long past due.

2 Raising the age is smart on crime and

3 is good for the kids. Criminology research

4 has demonstrated that raising the age would

5 reduce recidivism by 34 percent. One study

6 that compared New York kids with New Jersey

7 kids -- everything else being equal except

8 for the New Jersey kids were in juvenile

9 court and the New York kids were in adult

10 court -- found that the New York kids were

11 100 percent more likely to be rearrested for

12 a violent offense and 47 percent more likely

13 to be rearrested for a property offense.

14 There's a lot of other similar

15 findings in research about how 16- and

16 17-year-olds in the adult system actually

17 decrease public safety.

18 Also, the medical research shows that

19 16- and 17-year-olds' brains are not fully

20 developed until they are in their mid-20s.

21 The frontal lobe is the part that develops

22 last, and that's the part responsible for

23 reasoning, impulse control, and understanding

24 long-term consequences. And while this

637

1 immaturity of the adolescent brain may lead

2 to risky behavior, it also makes an

3 adolescent highly receptive to positive

4 change.

5 But we know that research shows that

6 the criminal justice system is actually going

7 to change them for the worse, while the

8 juvenile justice system can provide the

9 services needed for pro-social development.

10 The United States Supreme Court has

11 recognized this with a series of decisions

12 recognizing that youth are less capable than

13 adults because of their brain development,

14 and nearly every law already in New York

15 recognizes that young people are different

16 than adults. You've got to be 21 to drink

17 alcohol, 18 to get married without parental

18 permission, 18 to join the military, 18 to

19 vote, 18 to sit on a jury, 17 to see an

20 R-rated movie without an adult, and 18 or

21 even 21 to purchase cigarettes. It's well

22 past time that the criminal justice laws

23 reflect this difference in adolescents.

24 CCC is a lead member of the Raise the

638

1 Age NY campaign, which represents over 100

2 organizations. And as such, we believe that

3 there are seven core requirements that must

4 be included in comprehensive legislation.

5 These include -- I won't read them all, but

6 these include raising the overall age of

7 juvenile jurisdiction to 18.

8 Regarding the courts and laws, that we

9 should originate as many cases of 16- and

10 17-year-olds in Family Court as possible and

11 create youth parts for the 16- and

12 17-year-olds tried in adult court, and apply

13 the Family Court Act to as many of these

14 youth as possible, regardless of what

15 courthouse they're in.

16 Ensure no youth who is 16 or 17 years

17 old is placed in adult jails or prisons,

18 ensure parental notification and juvenile

19 interview practices for all 16- and

20 17-year-olds, better address collateral

21 consequences of court involvement and expand

22 YO, and increase investments in the front-end

23 diversion services that keep youth out of the

24 system altogether.

639

1 So in conclusion, passing Raise the

2 Age legislation in this budget is critical

3 for the youth, families and communities

4 throughout New York State. We understand

5 that there are no costs to localities in the

6 upcoming fiscal year because of the phase-in

7 of the legislation, and that the budget

8 includes $110 million for the capital needs.

9 We urge the Governor and the Legislature to

10 adopt a budget that includes comprehensive

11 Raise the Age legislation and ensures that

12 both the state and the localities will have

13 the resources necessary to effectively raise

14 the age of criminal responsibility.

15 The time is now to finally raise the

16 age of criminal responsibility in New York.

17 Every year we wait, more youth become

18 ensnared in the adult criminal justice

19 system, including 27,000 New York 16- and

20 17-year-olds who were arrested in 2015.

21 Children only get to be children once, and

22 today's 16- and 17-year-olds need us to

23 implement smart policies as soon as possible.

24 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you. Thank

640

1 you for your participation. We really

2 appreciate you waiting so long.

3 Any questions?

4 SENATOR KRUEGER: I appreciate your

5 testimony.

6 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

7 MR. COWLES: Thank you.

8 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: The next speaker is

9 Anne Erickson, president and CEO of the

10 Empire Justice Center, who Senator Krueger

11 just told me had to leave.

12 After that it's Executive Director

13 Blair Horner, New York Public Interest

14 Research Group. He's coming from the top.

15 Hi, Blair.

16 SENATOR KRUEGER: Good evening.

17 MR. HORNER: Hi, everybody. Senators,

18 Assemblymembers, good to see you all. I have

19 submitted a testimony that focuses on the

20 Governor's reform package, his proposals on

21 campaign finance, ethics, voting, and

22 openness. It's pretty detailed testimony.

23 It's 18 pages long. I think I'll read every

24 word -- just kidding, just kidding. I will

641

1 summarize the comments and try to go through

2 them quickly.

3 I know that it's not really a lot of

4 what's been discussed tonight, but this

5 particular package that the Governor advanced

6 didn't seem to have any particular place for

7 it to go, and so we choose to discuss it

8 today.

9 So my name is Blair Horner, I'm the

10 executive director of NYPIRG, New York Public

11 Interest Research Group. The Governor offers

12 a package of reforms in four major areas; as

13 I mentioned earlier, ethics, openness,

14 campaign finance, and voting rights. I'm

15 going to just touch on some comments in each

16 of those areas and then wrap it up in case

17 you have any questions.

18 The first area that I'll mention is in

19 the area of voting. New York has had a long

20 and lousy record of voter participation. In

21 the most recent elections in 2016, according

22 to the U.S. Elections Project, New York State

23 ranked 44th in voter participation in terms

24 of turnout.

642

1 The Governor in his package offers

2 some best practices, one of which is Election

3 Day registration. When we looked at the

4 states that had allowed voters -- well,

5 would-be voters to register and vote on the

6 same day, the states that had the highest

7 voter turnouts were states that had that.

8 The states with the four highest voter

9 turnout rates in the 2016 election all

10 allowed Election Day registration. None of

11 the 13 states that had it had lower than the

12 national average in terms of voter turnout.

13 So we like that idea.

14 In terms of campaign finance, New York

15 is a system that is marked by a reliance on a

16 small number of very large donors. The

17 Governor's proposals, particularly in the

18 area of creating an involuntary system of

19 public financing, reversed that, to create a

20 system that we believe is preferable, which

21 is to rely on a large number of small donors.

22 We think that that makes sense.

23 The Governor adds in his package a

24 pay-to-play recommendation which would ban

643

1 campaign contributions from those seeking or

2 receiving government contracts. We think

3 that's likely in reaction to what's been

4 happening in the executive branch.

5 And one of the reasons why this issue

6 has even been coming up is because of the

7 really -- I've been here a long time,

8 30-some-odd years -- the unprecedented

9 scandals that we've all seen, both in the

10 legislative but also in the executive branch

11 at the top level. So I think in some

12 reaction to that, the Governor offers this

13 package.

14 New Jersey has a very robust law in

15 this area. We recommend that you take a look

16 at that.

17 The third issue is dealing with

18 openness. The Governor offers some Freedom

19 of Information Law requests. We think the

20 proposal is too narrowly drafted -- in fact,

21 in some ways makes the law worse. The

22 specific exemption for critical

23 infrastructure we think is unneeded. In

24 fact, the head of the Committee on Open

644

1 Government says it's absolutely unnecessary,

2 the current law would cover any issues that

3 relate to that.

4 Anytime you weaken the Freedom of

5 Information Law, it gets our attention, and

6 this administration has been noticed more for

7 its opacity than openness. And so we would

8 urge and we make specific recommendations in

9 the testimony on how to strengthen FOIL.

10 Lastly, in the area of ethics, we like

11 the Governor's proposal on limiting outside

12 income, but we think that the single biggest

13 problem in his package is what he misses. He

14 makes -- the Governor, in reacting to I guess

15 the executive branch investigations, makes

16 recommendations for the creation of various

17 inspector generals, all of whom report to

18 him.

19 We think that what's needed is

20 independent oversight of both contracting and

21 ethics. And the state creates, through its

22 constitution, someone to do that: The State

23 Comptroller, who's seen his powers actually

24 cut back over the past number of years.

645

1 We think the Comptroller's role should

2 be strengthened. And since he's an

3 independently elected official, he should be

4 independently elected to the people of the

5 State of New York, not the Governor.

6 We also make specific recommendations

7 on the issue of ethics oversight. We don't

8 think that the state should have an ethics

9 oversight board filled with appointees from

10 the executive and legislative branches

11 directly. We don't think that the staff of

12 the ethics watchdog should come from the

13 staff of the Governor. We don't think that

14 that's the kind of independent ethics

15 oversight that New Yorkers deserve.

16 So I'll stop there.

17 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Any questions?

18 Thank you.

19 MR. HORNER: Thank you.

20 ASSEMBLYMAN OAKS: Thank you.

21 SENATOR KRUEGER: I memorized it,

22 thank you.

23 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Next we have

24 Prisoners' Legal Services, Karen Murtagh and

646

1 Tom Curran.

2 Okay, thank you. Welcome.

3 MS. MURTAGH: Thank you.

4 Unfortunately, former Senator John Dunne was

5 not able to join us this evening, but he

6 sends his regards.

7 I think Tom will begin.

8 MR. CURRAN: Hi, my name is Tom

9 Curran. I'm a board member of Prisoners'

10 Legal Services, which was established in 1976

11 arising out of the 1971 Attica rioting.

12 Prisoners' Legal Services was designed

13 as, for want of a better way of putting it, a

14 pressure valve, its purpose to provide a

15 professional voice to the legitimate concerns

16 of New York State's 51,000 inmates. And with

17 a staff of 15 lawyers, it provides real,

18 demonstrable affirmation to these inmates

19 that the system that incarcerated them is

20 just and provides nonviolent, meaningful

21 recourse for legitimate concerns.

22 PLS does this on a lean budget that

23 makes the most of every dollar it gratefully

24 receives and is indeed creative in stretching

647

1 every dollar through community partnering,

2 law schools, pro bono programs and the like

3 that Karen can speak to far better than I.

4 This is an organization that has never

5 been sanctioned for frivolity by any

6 tribunal. These are serious people dedicated

7 to doing serious work, and they do so.

8 There's no cupcake litigation here. They

9 can't cover the cases that are referred to

10 them.

11 Just having sat here and listened to

12 the various law enforcement communities, I

13 want to assure you all that I feel that I

14 have significant law enforcement bona fides.

15 I am a third-generation former prosecutor in

16 New York. My grandfather and namesake was

17 the Secretary of State of New York. My

18 father was a member of the Legislature from

19 Manhattan for three terms. I can assure you

20 that these forebears were not light on crime.

21 I know, as one of -- uniquely, on behalf of

22 my four sisters and two brothers, I can tell

23 you that my father was not light on offenses.

24 That's not what PLS is about. PLS is

648

1 about providing fairness for people that

2 we've put in jail because of their violations

3 of the social compact. And it would be

4 perverse for us to violate the social compact

5 in our treatment of them.

6 I really appreciate the opportunity of

7 coming up here every year. It means a lot to

8 me, and I know that my mother will be happy

9 about it too. Thanks so much.

10 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Tell your father I

11 said hello.

12 MR. CURRAN: Oh, he's gone now,

13 Senator {sic}. My father, Paul, died in

14 2008.

15 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Oh, I'm sorry, I

16 thought you were Karen Murtagh.

17 (Laughter.)

18 MR. CURRAN: Well, I've been called

19 worse. But this is Karen Murtagh, yes.

20 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Oh, yes.

21 MR. CURRAN: I'm Tom Curran, Senator.

22 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: I'm sorry. Didn't

23 look at the name.

24 MS. MURTAGH: Chairman Farrell,

649

1 Chairman Weprin -- welcome to the chair of

2 Corrections. I look forward to working with

3 you -- and esteemed members of the Assembly

4 and Senate who have stayed, thank you very

5 much.

6 I'd like to speak just for a few

7 minutes about the actual work that PLS does

8 and focus on four areas -- solitary

9 confinement, the work we do for juveniles,

10 jail team and sentencing work, and the

11 medical and mental health work that we do.

12 When it comes to solitary confinement,

13 we receive literally thousands of requests

14 every year to review disciplinary hearings

15 that are held against people in prison. We

16 can't take anywhere near the number of cases

17 that we get. We are able to accept about

18 20 percent of the requests we receive.

19 Out of the 20 percent of cases that we

20 accept, after we review them and choose those

21 that we believe have merit to litigate or to

22 advocate on, we are successful in over

23 70 percent of those cases. Last year alone,

24 we saved or had expunged from prisoners'

650

1 records 61 years of solitary confinement

2 time. That is an incredible figure.

3 If you put it together with the past

4 two years, it was 144 years of solitary

5 confinement time. Which should concern this

6 body, because if PLS only has the capacity

7 and the resources to take 20 percent of these

8 cases, how many people are languishing in

9 solitary confinement that should not be, but

10 they do not have an attorney to represent

11 them on an appeal of their case?

12 Another area where we've done

13 significant work over this past year is with

14 respect to juveniles. We filed the case of

15 Cookhorne v. Fischer a few years ago, and as

16 a result of that, we settled the case and now

17 juveniles in New York State cannot be subject

18 to solitary confinement.

19 We still think there's a long way to

20 go, because the definition of solitary

21 confinement is 23 hours a day in your cell,

22 and juveniles are still confined for 19 hours

23 a day in their cell. So we are still working

24 on that. But as part of the Cookhorne

651

1 settlement, we also were able to effect a

2 change in the regulations so that age is now

3 a mitigating factor, per se, when a 16- or a

4 17-year-old appears before a hearing officer

5 to be disciplined in prison.

6 We also were able to settle with the

7 Department of Corrections on a transition

8 program for juveniles, so there's an effort

9 to transition them out of their separation

10 unit -- it's not called solitary confinement,

11 because it's less than 23 hours, but it still

12 is a significant long-term confinement for

13 them being away from people. And there's an

14 effort to transition them out.

15 And finally, we are monitoring the

16 juvenile facilities, which now in New York

17 State are really only at Coxsackie and at

18 Hudson Correctional Facility. So as part of

19 our settlement, we go in once a year, we tour

20 the facilities, we interview all of the

21 juveniles that are in the facility, and then

22 we meet with the Department of Corrections

23 and give them what I would say is very

24 valuable feedback about needed improvements

652

1 at both facilities.

2 We also do significant jail time and

3 sentencing work. Somehow, jail time and

4 sentencing credits gets messed up all the

5 time. And we accept those cases, we

6 advocate -- typically, we don't even have to

7 litigate. But last year we saved over

8 17 years of jail time, which means people go

9 home sooner.

10 And we do significant medical and

11 mental health work. Commissioner Annucci

12 said earlier today that their estimate is

13 that 20 percent of the population is mentally

14 ill. We believe that estimate to be quite

15 low. Most of the clients who write us suffer

16 from some form of mental illness. We focus

17 on veterans and juveniles, which have the

18 highest rate of mental illness.

19 And this past year we also were

20 able -- we filed a case in federal court that

21 DOCCS settled to change the way hepatitis C

22 treatment is provided to prisoners in New

23 York State.

24 I would also like to note that -- you

653

1 know, I don't always like making this

2 argument, but PLS is an economically sound

3 investment. For every dollar that you spend

4 on PLS, the state saves $2 to $3. If you add

5 up the solitary confinement time, the jail

6 time, the sentencing team and the good time

7 and then you look at the cost of housing a

8 prisoner, which is $60,000 a year, last year

9 PLS saved the state $4 million, and we were

10 funded at $2.45 million.

11 Which brings me to why we're here

12 today. We are in the Governor's budget for

13 $2.2 million, which would be a cut from last

14 year. We are asking for an add from this

15 body of $1.3 million. The Legislature has --

16 and I meant to say this in the beginning:

17 thank you, thank you, thank you -- has always

18 been there for PLS. If it wasn't for the

19 Legislature, we would have ceased to exist 20

20 years ago.

21 For 15 years, from 2001 to 2015 --

22 sorry, 14 years -- the Legislature funded us

23 at $1.2 million in the later years, and in

24 the earlier years $2.285 million. So the ask

654

1 of $1.3 million is not, you know, some

2 far-fetched number that we came up with.

3 That number will begin to put PLS back to the

4 funding that we were at in the mid-'90s, and

5 it will allow us to accept another 1300

6 cases, reducing the unmet need by 34 percent.

7 So I urge this body to add, to

8 Governor Cuomo's appropriation for us of 2.2,

9 an additional 1.3, resulting in total funding

10 for PLS of $3.5 million.

11 And I'm happy to answer any questions

12 you may have.

13 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

14 Senator.

15 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you very much.

16 I always appreciate your coming and

17 testifying. You know, most of the world

18 doesn't really understand you exist or the

19 importance of the fact that you do exist and

20 continue to show that in a civilized society,

21 you recognize legal rights even for people

22 who have violated our laws and end up in

23 prison.

24 It's a trick question for you, because

655

1 I want you to be there and I want you to be

2 correctly funded. But you highlight that --

3 at least it sounds like on page 6, when you

4 talk about your work, that one of the biggest

5 issues you work on is incorrect calculation

6 of jail time, sentencing credit, merit time,

7 good time, solitary confinement.

8 Is this just like an IT problem?

9 Should the state be doing something to

10 improve the IT tracking systems in our

11 prisons, which would help a lot of prisoners

12 if not decrease your caseload?

13 MS. MURTAGH: I don't know if it's an

14 IT problem.

15 And the -- I would want to separate

16 the good time and the SHU time, which is

17 something that, you know, only I would say an

18 organization like PLS can work on, because

19 it's a disciplinary hearing where

20 constitutional rights are sometimes violated,

21 we have to file an appeal and sometimes have

22 to file an Article 78. That's separate.

23 The jail time and sentencing time,

24 it's an issue in administration for sure.

656

1 You know, oftentimes you have somebody who

2 was arrested on one crime in one county and

3 then he's picked up in another county on a

4 second crime and then he's held for a year on

5 both crimes. And then he's sentenced on

6 those crimes, and he doesn't get any credit

7 for any time that he spent in jail.

8 And it's logistically a nightmare,

9 because just a letter from us to DOCCS isn't

10 enough. You have to have the sheriff of the

11 county certify that this person was indeed

12 here on these dates, being held on this

13 crime, and then you have to have the

14 sentencing minutes of the judge that it was

15 for the same crime.

16 And it -- yes, administratively I

17 think they could do much better. But it's

18 62 counties, many different jails, and then

19 trying to figure out the jail time statute as

20 it applies to all those times.

21 SENATOR KRUEGER: And there was some

22 testimony earlier today about the quote,

23 unquote, money spent and hopeful improvements

24 in both sort of the protocols and the

657

1 caseloads for mentally ill prisoners. Do you

2 have any positions on where the state's been

3 going with those changes?

4 MS. MURTAGH: Could you elaborate on

5 that?

6 SENATOR KRUEGER: Sure. So Probation

7 talked about -- or Parole, sorry, talked

8 about new protocols for working with mentally

9 ill prisoners. At least in the City of

10 New York there's a real effort, and we'll see

11 whether it's successful or not, to stop

12 treating our city jail basically as the place

13 of sometimes first resort for people

14 suffering mental illnesses. There's been

15 some changes in some of the facilities to set

16 up specialized units for people with mental

17 illness.

18 And I was just wondering whether from

19 your perspective you're seeing any concrete

20 improvements from these various reform

21 proposals.

22 MS. MURTAGH: Well, what we see is

23 what's happening inside the New York State

24 prisons with respect to the programs that

658

1 either DOCCS or OMH institutes for mental

2 health.

3 And there have been absolute major

4 improvements in the treatment of the mentally

5 ill in our New York State prisons. We have a

6 long way to go, but six or seven years ago we

7 were like in the medieval times. But the SHU

8 exclusion law that was passed that prevents

9 the Department of Corrections from placing a

10 seriously mentally ill person in solitary has

11 helped a great deal.

12 Then there have been behavioral mental

13 health units, a whole bunch of different

14 units that have been opened over the past

15 eight, nine years, where people are diverted

16 and are treated differently as opposed to --

17 you know, treatment as opposed to punishment.

18 But it's definitely not perfect. I

19 mean, we just recently had to file a lawsuit

20 for a client who came to prison at 19,

21 seriously mentally ill, was put in solitary

22 right away, was held for four and a half

23 years in solitary, has 11 more years of

24 solitary hanging over his head and attempted

659

1 suicide a number of times. And we, you know,

2 dealt with the Department of Corrections and

3 OMH over and over and over again to get him

4 out of solitary and get him in the proper

5 unit, and it failed, and then we finally had

6 to file a lawsuit.

7 So people fall through the cracks.

8 There's 51,000 prisoners, so people fall

9 through the cracks. So it's very important

10 to have an organization like PLS to find

11 those people and make sure that they're taken

12 care of.

13 SENATOR KRUEGER: And one last

14 question. I know I shouldn't be doing this

15 this time of night.

16 So we have an aging population in our

17 prisons. And how is that reflected in the

18 kind of cases you see or have to deal with?

19 MS. MURTAGH: We are actually in the

20 process of developing an elderly unit where

21 we specifically focus on elderly issues.

22 We don't see the disciplinary problems

23 with elderly prisoners. They kind of age out

24 of all of that. But we have issues like

660

1 people suffering from dementia, people that

2 need medical parole. We have done a number

3 of cases on medical parole.

4 So they present different issues,

5 maybe programming issues, but typically it's

6 medical issues that the elderly population

7 present.

8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you very much.

9 Assembly?

10 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Assemblyman Weprin.

11 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: Yes, Ms. Murtagh,

12 the Corrections staff speaks very highly of

13 PLS and the work that you do. And I look

14 forward to meeting -- I think we're meeting

15 in a couple of days --

16 MS. MURTAGH: Yes.

17 ASSEMBLYMAN WEPRIN: -- so I look

18 forward to that and going into -- more

19 in-depth at that meeting. Thank you.

20 MS. MURTAGH: Thank you very much.

21 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

22 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thanks very much.

23 MR. CURRAN: Thank you very much.

24 SENATOR KRUEGER: New York State

661

1 Dispute Resolution Association, Charlotte

2 Carter and Sarah Rudgers-Tysz.

3 MS. RUDGERS-TYSZ: Tish, very good.

4 Good try.

5 (Discussion off the record.)

6 MS. CARTER: Good evening, Senator

7 Young and honorable committee members. Thank

8 you for this opportunity to speak. We're

9 here on behalf of a --

10 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Is it "Ties," by

11 the way?

12 MS. RUDGERS-TYSZ: Tish.

13 MS. CARTER: Tish.

14 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: (Inaudible.)

15 MS. RUDGERS-TYSZ: That's okay.

16 Nobody gets it. It's a great telemarketers

17 check.

18 MS. CARTER: So we're here on behalf

19 of a statewide network of community dispute

20 resolution centers, or CDRCs. I'm Charlotte

21 Carter, and I'm the executive director of the

22 New York State Dispute Resolution

23 Association.

24 MS. RUDGERS-TYSZ: And I'm Sarah

662

1 Rudgers-Tysz, the executive director of

2 Mediation Matters, which is the community

3 dispute resolution center that covers Albany,

4 Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren and

5 Washington counties.

6 MS. CARTER: NYSDRA is a professional

7 association. We have public and private

8 members. We also administer statewide

9 mediation and arbitration programs under

10 contract with various state agencies. We're

11 part of a network of CDRCs who provide

12 services at little or no cost to residents in

13 every county in the state. Currently there

14 are 20 CDRCs, and they help people resolve

15 problems through a wide range of services.

16 We're here to ask the Legislature for

17 $1.7 million to fund a family services

18 initiative that would allow the CDRCs to meet

19 serious emerging needs of families across the

20 state. There are very complicated challenges

21 facing youth, their families, and the systems

22 that support them. And a lot of those

23 problems can't be adequately addressed in

24 traditional forums. The CDRCs, with

663

1 additional resources, could meet many of

2 those needs.

3 In 1981 the Legislature passed

4 legislation to establish the CDRC network,

5 with funding and oversight provided by the

6 Office of Court Administration. That funding

7 was initially a little over $500,000 for

8 17 counties, and it grew to a little over

9 $9 million in 2010. In 2011, the funding was

10 slashed by 44 percent, and it hasn't

11 increased significantly since then. State

12 funding for the CDRCs is only $5.4 million,

13 which has forced the CDRCs to focus on their

14 core court-based services and thus limit

15 their services to the broader community.

16 In the meantime, the CDRCs are facing

17 a staggering need for family services that go

18 well beyond the court-based work that OCA

19 funds. The support of the Legislature would

20 allow the network to deliver innovative

21 family services, including services to

22 veterans and their families, to young people

23 in schools, to elder adults and their

24 caregivers, and to people leaving the

664

1 correctional system.

2 Mediation provides a low-cost,

3 high-yield conflict management. A mediated

4 case costs the state just $336. Seventy-five

5 percent of mediations result in agreement.

6 Disputes are typically resolved within just a

7 couple of weeks, and 92 percent of

8 participants express satisfaction with their

9 experience.

10 We all benefit from the restoration of

11 important personal and business relationships

12 in our communities. Last year the network

13 served nearly 70,000 individuals and handled

14 over 28,000 cases. CDRCs match state funding

15 nearly dollar for dollar. They use

16 professionally trained community mediators

17 whose donated time has been valued at

18 $2.3 million annually.

19 MS. RUDGERS-TYSZ: The demand for our

20 work continues to grow, as do the costs for

21 providing the services. We are receiving

22 increasing requests from county offices,

23 partner nonprofits and schools, all seeking

24 our assistance with families in very unique

665

1 circumstances, such as a parent returning

2 home after military service. Or

3 grandparents, who have been the only stable

4 adults in grandchildren's lives, that are now

5 fighting to preserve that relationship and

6 that connection when the parent is released

7 from prison. Or maybe that same parent,

8 trying to reconnect with their children while

9 also reestablishing their position within the

10 community. Some families are seeing their

11 teenagers struggling with online bullying,

12 and the school has little ability to

13 intervene at that point. Or siblings

14 disagreeing over the care for an aging

15 parent, and then that puts their relationship

16 into jeopardy.

17 These are just a few examples where

18 our services can transform the lives of the

19 families within our communities. Those needs

20 are growing, and with only a small staff

21 spread throughout the six counties we serve,

22 we know that we cannot meet the vast number

23 of requests.

24 This situation is not limited to our

666

1 area. All across the state, the CDRCs have

2 vast skills and talents to help those

3 struggling within our community but can only

4 spread those resources so far. Through our

5 dedicated partnerships we can provide

6 seamless transitions for families in crisis

7 so that they do not have to add another step

8 when seeking assistance.

9 Conflict resolution services make our

10 communities safer, and they help individuals

11 feel empowered to resolve the issues in their

12 lives and repair their relationships. We

13 have been meeting with legislators in

14 district and here in Albany and have had a

15 great response on the ground. By supporting

16 the Family Services Initiative, the

17 Legislature will make a positive difference

18 for vulnerable families and a strong

19 investment in this vital community resource.

20 Thank you.

21 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

22 Any questions?

23 Thank you so much for joining us.

24 MS. CARTER: Thank you.

667

1 MS. RUDGERS-TYSZ: Thank you.

2 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Have a good

3 evening.

4 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: The next speaker is

5 Director of New York State Policy Sebastian

6 Solomon, Legal Action Center.

7 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: No answer? Nobody?

8 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Is Mr. Solomon

9 here?

10 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Going once --

11 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Apparently not. We

12 have his testimony.

13 After that, we have Director Terry

14 O'Neill, Esquire, the Constantine Institute,

15 Inc.

16 MR. O'NEILL: Good evening, ladies and

17 gentlemen. I thank you very kindly once

18 again for your patience and forbearance.

19 I've sat through hearings like this going

20 back 30 years now, so I know what it's like.

21 I have submitted written testimony,

22 which you can see goes on at length, with the

23 number of programs that we've been working on

24 over the years. But tonight the only thing

668

1 that I'm going to raise is something that

2 responds to a proposal that Governor Cuomo

3 has made in his budget, and it responds to

4 the national crisis in police-community

5 relations.

6 Now, I've been coming to these

7 hearings now for about 10 years promoting the

8 concept of community policing, which I have

9 all along thought is something that we really

10 should be promoting at the state level but

11 never have. This recent crisis that's

12 erupted, especially in the last couple of

13 years since the Ferguson, Missouri, incident

14 has gotten a lot of people talking about it.

15 And one of the results of my annual

16 appearances here has been that there is a

17 network of people all across upstate New York

18 who have heard of me as the person who has

19 been coming to keep the idea of community

20 policing before the Legislature, and looking

21 for the opportunity at some point for us to

22 pick it up and make it happen.

23 So in my written testimony you will

24 see described a proposal that would bring all

669

1 of these activists that we've been meeting

2 around the state together to work together

3 under the auspices of the Government Law

4 Center at Albany Law School, to develop a

5 comprehensive and coherent program to promote

6 community policing throughout the state. And

7 they would bring together not only the

8 activists that we're talking to, but also

9 academics who have studied the problem and

10 leaders in law enforcement who could use some

11 guidance in how to improve their relations

12 with people in their communities.

13 And one of the reasons why we look to

14 establish this in Albany is that I can tell

15 you, as a 35-year resident of this city and a

16 long-time student of what's going on in

17 policing in America, the Albany Police

18 Department about six years made a clean break

19 with its past and became the first municipal

20 police agency that I'm aware of in the State

21 of New York that has truly embraced the

22 community policing philosophy.

23 You may hear other departments such as

24 my distant cousin Jimmy, down in New York

670

1 City, talking about how he's going to

2 implement community policing in the NYPD.

3 There's a program out in Buffalo. And others

4 have used that term, but I don't think -- you

5 know, based on all of experiences that I've

6 had where I've seen this begin to take off

7 and be successful, is it's not something that

8 the police department can up and do on its

9 own.

10 So what Governor Cuomo has proposed to

11 do is to have a one-day conference bringing

12 together people such as I described. And I

13 really don't think that one day is enough to

14 get anything ignited here.

15 The other thing he's proposing is that

16 the problem of police-community relations

17 he's decided to hand to the Municipal Police

18 Training Council, and it would be addressed

19 by the council reviewing the statutory basic

20 and supervisory training that it's been

21 promulgating since 1959. That hasn't been

22 done in a long time.

23 And again, I think because the council

24 is predominantly law enforcement leaders,

671

1 you're not going to get any recommendations

2 that will effect a better -- more of a

3 partnership relationship between the police

4 and the community. We have to do that in

5 another way.

6 So you can take a look at what I have

7 proposed in there. It's very small, I don't

8 think it would cost very much at all, and in

9 the end we would put New York out front in

10 promoting this concept throughout the state.

11 So thank you very much. If there are

12 no further questions, I guess --

13 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

14 MR. O'NEILL: All right.

15 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Thank you.

16 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you for

17 staying.

18 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Our final speaker

19 is Elena Sassower, director of the Center for

20 Judicial Accountability.

21 You are not allowed to read all the

22 that.

23 (Laughter.)

24 MS. SASSOWER: Of course. I quite

672

1 agree.

2 Okay. May I? (Drinking water.) My

3 name is Elena Sassower. I am director and

4 cofounder of a nonpartisan, nonprofit

5 citizens organization called Center for

6 Judicial Accountability. But most

7 importantly, for purposes of this

8 presentation today, I am the author of and

9 individual plaintiff in a citizen taxpayer

10 action brought in the public interest and on

11 behalf of the people of the State of New York

12 against the Governor, against the Senate and

13 Assembly, Temporary Senate President

14 Flanagan, Assembly Speaker Heastie, the

15 Attorney General, the Comptroller, the Chief

16 Judge.

17 The lawsuit lays out the succession of

18 constitutional violations, statutory

19 violations, and violations of the Assembly

20 and Senate rules with respect to the

21 Judiciary Budget, Legislative Budget, the

22 Executive Budget. It presents 10 causes of

23 action.

24 And I think it is fitting to begin

673

1 this presentation by making reference to what

2 it is that I handed up, I have distributed in

3 support of this testimony, and that is

4 Article VII, Sections 1 through 7, of the

5 New York State Constitution, which define the

6 process by which the budget is fashioned and

7 enacted.

8 It is fitting to begin with this

9 because this is a hearing on public

10 protection. And our public protection, our

11 foremost public protection is in the New York

12 State Constitution and what it lays out. In

13 addition to Article VII, Sections 1 through

14 7, which pertain to the budget, is another

15 very important provision of the State

16 Constitution, which is Article III, Section

17 10: "Each house of the Legislature shall

18 keep a journal of its proceedings, and

19 publish the same ... The doors of each house

20 shall be kept open."

21 In sum and substance, what is

22 presented in the lawsuit is the

23 unconstitutionality of what's been going on

24 with your closed-door political conferences,

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1 which substitute for open committee

2 deliberations and votes on bills. You're not

3 voting on bills, you're not reconciling

4 bills.

5 And under the Constitution, except for

6 the legislative and judiciary budgets, the

7 other budget bills presented by the Governor

8 never go back to the Governor, they become

9 law immediately once the Senate and Assembly

10 pass the bills and reconcile their

11 differences.

12 So all of this talk about how we've

13 got to get an on-time budget, we have to put

14 together a deal, this is out of whole cloth.

15 This is violative of the constitution.

16 Now, so many of the speakers today

17 were pleading to you for money, and they

18 wanted appropriations from you. And you

19 needed to tell them the truth, and the truth

20 is that the Constitution restricts you --

21 unless what they were seeking is part of the

22 Judiciary Budget or Legislative Budget, you

23 are restricted by Article VII, Section 4,

24 which reads: "The Legislature may not alter

675

1 an appropriation bill submitted by the

2 Governor except to strike out or reduce items

3 therein, but it may add thereto items of

4 appropriation, provided that such additions

5 are stated separately and distinctly from the

6 original items of the bill and refer each to

7 a single object or purpose. None of the

8 restrictions of this section, however, shall

9 apply to appropriations for the Legislature

10 or the Judiciary."

11 In other words, with respect to the

12 judiciary and legislative budget bill, you

13 are free to change it however way you choose,

14 however is appropriate.

15 But Section 4 continues: "Such an

16 appropriation bill shall, when passed by both

17 houses, be a law immediately without further

18 action by the Governor, except that

19 appropriations for the Legislature and

20 Judiciary and separate items added to the

21 Governor's bills by the Legislature shall be

22 subject to approval of the Governor as

23 provided in Section 7 of Article IV."

24 So you needed to say, to all those who

676

1 were pleading for money, that you cannot

2 constitutionally add -- add to the

3 appropriations that are in the State

4 Operations budget or the Aid to Localities

5 budget or any budget bill other than

6 Judiciary and Legislature.

7 Now, the citizen taxpayer action I

8 alerted you to in advance of today. And I

9 begged and pleaded, to you and leadership and

10 the appropriate committees, to address the

11 violations that have been chronicled in the

12 lawsuit with respect to prior fiscal years so

13 that there wouldn't be a repeat this fiscal

14 year. Because as was clear already,

15 everything was repeating.

16 The only thing that is really

17 different -- and I want to commend Senator

18 Young, Assemblyman Farrell, Senator Krueger,

19 Assemblyman Oaks, that this year you have

20 permitted me to testify, as I have requested

21 to testify in each of the past three years,

22 but you have not permitted me ever since my

23 testimony on February 6, 2013.

24 And the reason that you did not permit

677

1 me to testify is because of the explosive

2 nature of my testimony then. And it is to

3 your credit, and I thank you, because the

4 only way to go now is forward.

5 And we have a real problem. Not only

6 is the budget off the constitutional rails in

7 toto, but we have a huge problem with respect

8 to the judicial pay raises that have been

9 paid out since April 1, 2012. And this as a

10 result initially of the report of the

11 Commission on Judicial Compensation, and that

12 have now been replicated and amplified by the

13 2015 Report of the Commission on Legislative,

14 Judicial and Executive Compensation.

15 There is probably paid out, now, in

16 excess of $200 million. I don't know the

17 exact amount, and it's nowhere in any budget.

18 And with respect to the Judiciary

19 Budget, the Judiciary Budget conceals that

20 there is a further pay increase that will

21 take effect April 1, 2017, unless you

22 override it. And embedded somewhere in the

23 Judiciary Budget are appropriations for that

24 pay raise, which they have not advised you is

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1 even there.

2 Apparently you -- "you," I mean the

3 Senate majority in its White Book, and the

4 Assembly majority in its Yellow Book -- had

5 some information and included in those books

6 that there is a $2.4 million salary increase

7 coming to the judges, but it is nowhere in

8 any kind of line item.

9 Let me very, very briefly, if I may --

10 I have just -- okay, I will just give -- let

11 me just read --

12 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: A sentence to

13 close.

14 MS. SASSOWER: I beg you, let me at

15 least read recommendations with respect to --

16 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Ma'am, you're out

17 of time. This has been a long day.

18 MS. SASSOWER: I've waited -- I've

19 waited -- I've waited since the beginning of

20 the hearing at 9:30.

21 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: But --

22 MS. SASSOWER: This is of sufficient

23 importance that you can give me five or 10

24 minutes.

679

1 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: But each speaker is

2 given a certain allotted amount of time. So

3 I'm sorry, please. Thank you.

4 MS. SASSOWER: Let me close --

5 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: Thank you.

6 MS. SASSOWER: -- let me then close

7 with a reference.

8 CHAIRMAN FARRELL: With a sentence.

9 MS. SASSOWER: I have -- I have -- I

10 have just -- I have just six -- six

11 recommendations that I would just like to

12 read very quickly. Please, let me just read

13 the recommendations.

14 CHAIRWOMAN YOUNG: Ma'am, you've been

15 on for two nights in a row. You've had your

16 allotted amount of time. It's over, we're

17 shutting down. Thank you very much.

18 (Whereupon, at 9:00 p.m., the budget

19 hearing concluded.)

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