Senate Bill S4550

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S4550

SPONSOR: PARKER
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the county law and the executive law,
in relation to requiring the attorney general to prosecute New York city
police officers charged with a criminal offense in violation of any of
the laws of this state

 
PURPOSE:

Provides for the State Attorney General to act as a special prosecutor
and prosecute crimes and offenses allegedly committed by polices offi-
cers employed by a city having a population of one million or more.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends the county law to provide for the prosecution by the
attorney general of crimes and offenses allegedly committed by police
officers employed by a city having a population of one million or more.

Section 2: Amends the county law to create a new duty for every district
              

attorney to inform the attorney general of any crimes or offenses
allegedly committed by police officers employed by a city having a popu-
lation of one million or more, for further action pursuant to subdivi-
sion ten-a of section sixty-three of the executive law.

Section 3: Amends the executive law by creating a new subdivision ten-a
that creates a duty for the attorney general to prosecute police offi-
cers employed by a city having a population of one million or more
charged with a criminal offense in violation of any of the laws of this
state.

Section 4: Provides that the act shall take effect on the first of
November next succeeding the date upon which it shall have become law.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Over the past twenty years, a number of high profile cases of alleged
official misconduct by officer of the New York Police Department (NYPD)
have resulted in requests or the appointment of special prosecutors to
investigate such misconduct. The list of the objects of such misconduct
include Abner Louima in 1997,* Reginald Bannerman in 1999,** Sean Bell
in 2006,*** Jateik Reed in 2012,**** Kimani Gray in 2013, ***** and the
subjects of the large numbers of cases annually sent to New York City's
civilian complaint review Board (CCRB) that were deemed "unsubstanti-
ated" based on an internal investigation at the NYPD (see also the case
of Detective Scarcella in 2013******).

In the case of the 2008 acquittal of the three NYPD officers charged
with misconduct in the shooting death of Sean Bell, a broad coalition of
civil rights advocates and public interest attorneys called for change
in the handling of police misconduct and brutality charges, and called
for the creation of a permanent state-level special prosecutor to inves-
tigate such cases.******* Norman Siegel of the New York Civil Liberties
Union (NYCLU) and Senator Eric Adams (a former NYPD Captain), in partic-
ular, called for the reinstatement of the state-level special

prosecutor's office that was abolished by gubernatorial action in 1993,
and originally created in the aftermath of the Knapp Commission.
In its 2010 report entitled "Revisiting Who's Guarding the Guardians,"
the United States Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) found that the
states' "prosecution of police misconduct has been criticized as being
infrequent and ineffective, in part, because local prosecutors are
reluctant to prosecute the officers upon whom they must rely for the
investigation and prosecution of criminal cases."**** **** Citing the
work of Professor Louis Schwartz, the USCCR concluded:

"the District Attorney's office has not been, and, in the nature of
things, could not be, an effective instrument for controlling police
violence. Local prosecutors' offices face "a hopeless conflict-of-inter-
est" in handling police violence complaints because, in most cases, the
district attorney's office must investigate the defendant's allegations
of brutality against the police while simultaneously investigating the
police charges against the defendant.  (Furthermore), the "symbiotic
relationship" that the police share with local prosecutors "virtually
guarantees that no local district attorney-in Philadelphia, Los Angeles,
or elsewhere-will pursue police brutality prosecutions vigorously."
*********

The inescapable logic of the need for objective investigation into
police misconduct where it is alleged, and the corresponding value of a
truly objective special prosecutor's investigation for finding the truth
and confirming or vacating charges of police misconduct necessitate the
reinstatement of state-level special prosecutor's function in New York
State. The Office of the Attorney General, one of the three independent-
ly elected state-level officers has the political legitimacy, independ-
ence and historic reputation for objectivity to undertake such a func-
tion and provide substantial justice.  This bill will allow a
state-level officer to once again perform this vital function.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017-18: S3433 - REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT:
2015-16: S.2526 - Referred to Local Government

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become law.
* See http://ny-popculture-politics.blogspot.com/2013/08/
Christine-Quinn-NYPDAbner-Louima-Brutality-Task-Force- Anniversary.html,
last visited October 11, 2013.
** See http://www.villagevoice.com/1999-10-05/news/the- louima-case-is-
not-dead/, last visited October 11, 2013.
* * * See http://vvww.nydailynews.com/news/crime/sean-bell-scene-
probeintentionally-bothced-black-police-group-article1.290813, last
visited July 1, 2013.
* * * * See http://nevvyork.cbslocal.com/2012/02/06/ special-prosecutor-
sought- inbronx-police-beating/, last visited July 1, 2013.
***** See http://nlgnyc.org/2013/03/19/ngl-nyc- condemns-police-kill-
ing-of-sixteenyear-old-kimani-gray/, last visited October 11, 2013.
******http://bayridgejournal.blogspot.
comJ2013/07/george-give-scarcel-la -cases-to-special.htmp, last visited
October 11, 2013.
* * * * * * * See http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/
news/nation/2008-04-27- 1727642827x.htm, last visited July 1, 2013.
******** See http://www.usccr.gov/ pubs/guard/ ch4.htm, last visited
October 11, 2013.
********* Ed.see also U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Police Practices
and Civil Rights in New York City, August 2000, recommendation 4.13 p.84
(hereafter cited as USCCR, Police Practices in New York City); USCCR,
Los Angeles Report, recommendation 4.7, p.219.