Senate Bill S6724

                                BILL NUMBER:S6724

TITLE OF BILL:

An act
to amend the penal law, in relation to criminal trespass and burglary
upon the premises of a pharmacy

PURPOSE:

Increases the criminal penalties for criminal trespass and burglary
committed in pharmacies.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends §140.00 of the penal law by adding a new subdivision
six defining pharmacies for the purpose of the article to mean the
area within a building where the practice of pharmacy as defined in
the education law is practiced.

Section 2 amends subdivision 2 of §140.15 of the penal law to include
pharmacies.

Section 3 amends subdivision 2 of §140.25 of the penal law to include
pharmacies.

              

Section 4 amends the opening paragraph of §140.30 of the penal law by
adding a reference to pharmacies.

Section 5 provides for an effective date on the first of November next
succeeding the date on which the bill shall have become law.

JUSTIFICATION:

On June 19, 2011 four people, including a pharmacist, a 17-year old
clerk, and two customers, aged 71 and 33, were executed in a pharmacy
in Medford, Long Island by two suspects that robbed the pharmacy in
order to get their hands on hydrocodone pills. On December 31st,
2011, an off-duty Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATM)
agent and an alleged robber were killed when an attempted robbery at
a pharmacy in Seaford, Long Island ended in a shoot-out. The robber
is said to have demanded money and oxycontin from the pharmacists.
These two deadly incidents are just two of the most shocking cases
highlighting the increase in crime and violence directed towards
pharmacies that have resulted from the growing epidemic of
prescription drug abuse.

The increase in crimes against pharmacies has been nationwide. Between
2006 and 2010, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA), robberies rose from 380 to 686, an increase of 79%. The number
of pills went from 706,000 to 1.3 million. In New York State,

according to the DEA, the increase
in pharmacy robberies was from 4 in 2006 to 30 in 2010. The increase
in violence has driven some pharmacies to stop stocking opioid
analgesics and posting signs on their windows advertising this to
deter criminals.

This bill would raise the criminal penalties that individuals could be
charged with if they commit certain crimes inside of pharmacies. In
particular this would raise the penalties for entering without
permission into any part of a building in which the profession of
pharmacy is conducted in order to commit a further crime, such as
larceny. This bill only applies to those section of a building in
which pharmacy is practiced, so it would not apply to actions carried
out in other parts of multi-purpose establishments that may contain a
pharmacy area as part of their services.
This bill would treat the pharmacy section of buildings similarly to
private dwellings with regards to the crime of burglary. Increasing
criminal penalties will give prosecutors greater leverage against
criminals who target pharmacies and also will help deter attempts to
burglar pharmacies in the future.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the state.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding
the date on which the bill shall have become law.