Senate Bill S2749

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S2749

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to the unlawful disclosure
of personal information concerning a police officer


 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :
This proposal would amend Section 240.30 of the Penal Law, Aggravated
Harassment in the Second Degree, by adding a new subdivision five
thereto. This new subdivision would make it a class A misdemeanor to
disclose or disseminate, with intent to harass, annoy, threaten or
alarm, the residence address, private telephone number or any other
information identifying a police officer if the person disclosing the
information has no legitimate purpose and knows, or reasonably should
know, that his or her conduct is likely to cause reasonable fear of
material harm to the physical health, safety of propel1y of such
officer. a member of such officer's family, or a third party with whom
such officer is acquainted.

 JUSTIFICATION :
A police officer's job is a dangerous and stressful one. In the course
of their jobs, officers routinely issue summonses and arrest
offenders, as well as stop, warn or otherwise prevent individuals from
committing criminal acts or quality-of-life offenses. Every such
encounter is potentially dangerous. Police officers know that while
              

they are on the job they may be the target of those who have contempt
for authority or a personal dislike of police. Police officers accept
this every day they report for duty, hut it goes far beyond the
reasonable demands of the job for officers and their families to be
placed in fear of someone disclosing their home addresses, phone
numbers or other identifying information in order to harass, annoy,
alarm or threaten them, either by direct disclosure or by passing such
information on to others. Further, in this new age of technology, the
threat becomes ever more dangerous, when simply posting such
information on a website can instantly disseminate it widely.

The harassment of police officers, including police officers
identified as undercover officers, by the disclosure of personal
information about them and their families, is not a theoretical
problem. It actually occurs, and the victims have very limited
recourse because of a gap in the law. It is urgent to address this
problem as soon as possible.

State law currently recognizes the need to protect the confidentiality
of a police officer's personal information in certain circumstances.
Civil Rights Law § 50-a permits the disclosure of personnel records
only upon the consent of the officer or upon a lawful court order.
Public Officers Law § 89(7) exempts government disclosure of the home
address of a public employee pun:uant to the State Freedom of
Information Law.

In the context of discovery in criminal proceedings, Criminal
Procedure Law § 240.50(4) provides that "the personal residence
address of a police officer...shall not be required to be disclosed
except pursuant to an order issued by a court following a finding of
good cause." All of these laws are designed to protect the privacy of
police officers' personal information.

Yet apart from these circumstances, the law does not address the
situation where a person discloses personal identifying information
about a police officer for no legitimate purpose. but instead to
harass, threaten or alarm the officer. his or her family, or even
other police officers.


New York courts have made clear that the use of the language "no
legitimate purpose" is appropriate for the prohibition of
harassment-based crimes, such as stalking, in circumstances where
there is an "absence of reason or justification to engage someone,
other than to hound, frighten, intimidate or threaten." See People v.
Stuart, 100 N.Y.2d 412 (2003). Such language is similarly appropriate
for the comparatively serious problem of police officer harassment
addressed by this bill.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
New bill.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
90 days after it becomes law.