NY State Senate Bill S5969

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Introduced
In Committee
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Actions

view actions (2)

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2018	referred to codes
May 09, 2017	referred to codes

S5969 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §270.20, Pen L

S5969 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the unlawful wearing of body vests.

S5969 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

 BILL NUMBER:  S5969

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to the unlawful wearing of
a body vest

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 of this bill would amend Penal Law Section 270.20 to expand
the circumstances under which a defendant may be charged with Unlawful
Wearing of a Body Vest, a class E felony. The current statute provides
that the felony is committed when a person wears the body vest in the
course of and in furtherance of committing a violent felony and while
possessing a firearm, rifle, or shotgun. The bill would expand the
circumstances under which wearing the body vest would constitute a
felony to include instances where a person commits a class A felony,
other than a felony contained in Penal Law Article 220 involving
controlled substances, or any degree of assault or reckless
endangerment, while possessing or appearing to possess a firearm,
rifle, shotgun, deadly weapon, dangerous instrument, or ammunition.

In addition, the bill would amend Section 270.20 to make it a Class E
felony to wear a body vest while committing a violent felony offense
or a class A felony, other than a felony contained in Penal Law
Article 220 involving controlled substances, having been convicted

within the prior ten years of any such offense.

 REASONS FOR SUPPORT :

The City is committed to preserving and continuing longstanding
overall reductions in major felony crime in New York City. As the City
continues its commitment to achieve even greater crime reductions, it
recognizes the need for increased vigilance in protecting those who
have contributed most directly to crime's overall decline -- police
officers. Despite the drop in the City's crime rate, police officers
remain vulnerable to persistent threats to their safety, as evidenced
by recent tragedies. Disturbing incidents of persons attacking police
officers abound, and individuals with criminal intentions are armed
with an escalating level of firepower. Some of these individuals take
advantage of the protection offered by bullet-resistant vests and
other body armor, wearing them during the commission of violent crimes
in order to facilitate their crimes and evade apprehension by
responding police officers.

The increased levels of aggressiveness and confidence that wearing
body armor fosters in those with violent criminal intent place police
officers, and the public at large, in serious danger. This bill
strengthens the deterrent effect of the current prohibition contained
in the Penal Law by expanding the circumstances under which the
wearing of a body vest is a felony crime to include circumstances that
are not covered by the current law. For example, if the perpetrator of
a hatchet attack on a police officer were to wear a body vest, wearing
the vest would not be a crime under current law since a hatchet,
despite being readily capable of causing death, is not a "firearm,
rifle or shotgun."

This legislation accounts for the many dangerous circumstances in
which an individual intent on committing a crime might seek the
advantage of wearing a body vest. The bill also prohibits an
individual who has previously committed a violent crime from wearing a
body vest in order to facilitate committing another violent crime.
Body armor should be reserved for those who need it for lawful
protection, such as police officers and others who reasonably fear
bodily harm, rather than those who use it to help them hurt others.

S5969 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf


                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  5969

                       2017-2018 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                               May 9, 2017
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  GOLDEN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes

AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to the unlawful wearing of  a
  body vest

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Subdivision 1 of  section  270.20  of  the  penal  law,  as
amended  by  chapter  317  of  the  laws  of 2001, is amended to read as
follows:
  1. A person is guilty of the unlawful wearing  of  a  body  vest  when
acting  either alone or with one or more other persons he OR SHE WEARS A
BODY VEST AND:
  (A) commits any violent felony offense defined in  section  70.02,  OR
ANY CLASS A FELONY OFFENSE OTHER THAN ONE DEFINED IN ARTICLE TWO HUNDRED
TWENTY,  OR  COMMITS  ASSAULT OR RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT AS THOSE OFFENSES
ARE DEFINED IN ARTICLE ONE HUNDRED TWENTY, while possessing OR APPEARING
TO POSSESS a firearm, rifle [or], shotgun [and in the course of  and  in
furtherance  of such crime he wears a body vest], DEADLY WEAPON, DANGER-
OUS INSTRUMENT OR AMMUNITION; OR
  (B) COMMITS ANY VIOLENT FELONY OFFENSE AS DEFINED IN SECTION 70.02  OR
ANY CLASS A FELONY OFFENSE OTHER THAN ONE DEFINED IN ARTICLE TWO HUNDRED
TWENTY,  HAVING PREVIOUSLY BEEN CONVICTED WITHIN THE PRECEDING TEN YEARS
OF ANY SUCH OFFENSE.
  § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
have become a law.



 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD11530-01-7

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The New York State Senate

senate Bill S5969

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

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S5969 (ACTIVE) - Details

S5969 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S5969 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S5969 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

senate Bill S5969

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Sponsored By

Martin J. Golden

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Your Voice

Actions

S5969 (ACTIVE) - Details

S5969 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S5969 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S5969 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments