BILL NUMBER:  S2617

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to designating
as peace officers dog control officers of the city of Utica


 PURPOSE :

To provide for improved and more efficient enforcement of laws
regarding animal cruelty and the licensing, identification and control
of dogs in the city of Utica.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

This bill would add a new Subdivision 83 to Section 2.10 of the
Criminal Procedure law to designate dog control officers in the City
of Utica as peace officers. The bill also specifies that nothing in
this new subdivision shall be deemed to authorize such officer to
carry, possess, repair or dispose of a firearm unless the appropriate
license therefore has been issued pursuant to section 400.00 of the
penal law.

 EXISTING LAW :

              

Laws have been enacted at the request of various local municipalities
to have their dog control officers designated as peace officers.

 JUSTIFICATION :

In their regular course of business, dog control officers may
encounter violations of New York State laws which prohibit cruelty to
animals. However, these public servants do not currently have the
authority to issue appearance tickets, serve summons or make arrests
for such violations. This situation has hindered the enforcement of
these laws, which are intended to help protect animals.

Dog control officers are currently authorized by State law to issue
appearance tickets or serve a summons for violations involving Article
7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law, which relates to the licensing
identification and control of dogs. However, they do not have similar
authority in regard to violations of Article 26 of the Agriculture and
Markets Law, which includes several provisions that prohibit cruelty
to animals.

For these types of violations and crimes, municipalities must rely
either on local police or on the efforts of local societies for the
prevention of cruelty to animals (SPCA). Officers or agents of an SPCA
are already designated in State law as peace officers, and they may
enforce Article 26 of the Agriculture and Markets Law.

However, these two options are of limited benefit in the City of
Utica.  First, the police department is faced with many enforcement
issues and is limited in the resources it can devote to these types of
crimes. Second, while SPCAS are able to help enforce the laws in
several parts of the State, this is not an option in Oneida County, as
there is no local SPCA.

This bill recognizes that it would be much more effective and
efficient to enable dog control officers in the City of Utica to
enforce these laws directly. This would be consistent with laws that
were recently enacted at the request of three communities to provide
similar peace officer designation for their dog control officers.


Like all peace officers, these dog control officers would have to
fulfill special training requirements and would have to operate in
accordance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law.
Furthermore, this bill specifies that peace officer status does not,
in and of itself, give these officers the right to carry firearms.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2007-A.8386-Veto Memo 117

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediate.