NY State Senate Bill 2025-S6238

Senate Bill S6238

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Allows police officers to request, and police departments to be reimbursed for, ballistic armor vests classified as level III or higher

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 07, 2025	referred to codes

2025-S6238 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A3467
Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Executive Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §837-d, Exec L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: A10378

2025-S6238 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Allows police officers to request, and police departments to be reimbursed for, ballistic armor vests classified as level III or higher; prohibits the commissioner from denying an application for reimbursement because a vest classified as level III or higher was requested by a police officer.

2025-S6238 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S6238

SPONSOR: SCARCELLA-SPANTON
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to allowing police offi-
cers to request, and reimbursing police departments for, ballistic armor
vests classified as level III or higher

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

Allows police officers to request, and police departments to be reim-
bursed for, ballistic armor vests classified as level III or higher.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Amends § 837-d of the executive law: Amends section heading
to add hard body ballistic vests to be covered under the Bullet Proof
Vest Reimbursement Program. Amends subdivision 3 to clarify language and
add level III or higher Vests. Amends subdivision 6 to create a new
section c that allows officers to choose what vest classification they
would like to wear. Amends subdivision 6-a to require the commissioner

to consider applications for vests classified as level III or higher and
sets that the commissioner shall not deny applications simply because a
vest is classified as level III or higher. Adds a new subdivision 6-b to
require police departments to give officers the option to choose a vest
classified as level III or higher.

Section 2. Amends § 837-d of the executive law by adding hard body
ballistic vests to the definition of vest and defines the term "vest"

Section 3. Establishes an immediate effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

To ensure the safety of police officers in the wake of several deaths
from officers in the line of duty police departments should have the
ability to be reimbursed for the purchase of better equipment. Individ-
ual police officers should also be able to choose what level gear they
would like to wear and should not be denied when deciding to wear more
protective gear.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2023-2024: A.10378 - Referred to codes.

 
IMPLICATIONS:FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill will take effect immediately.

2025-S6238 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6238
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               March 7, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- read twice and ordered printed,
   and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
 
 AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to allowing police  offi-
   cers  to  request,  and  reimbursing police departments for, ballistic
   armor vests classified as level III or higher

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  The  section  heading  and  subdivisions  3, 6 and 6-a of
 section 837-d of the executive law, the  section  heading  as  added  by
 chapter  84 of the laws of 1984, subdivision 3 as amended by chapter 503
 of the laws of 1991, and subdivision 6 as amended and subdivision 6-a as
 added by chapter 555 of the laws of 1988, are amended and a new subdivi-
 sion 6-b is added to read as follows:
   Soft AND HARD body ballistic armor vests for police officers.
   3. Reimbursement shall be made only for vests which  at  the  time  of
 purchase  meet  or  exceed  the  minimum standards and specifications in
 effect on that date as prescribed by rules and  regulations  promulgated
 pursuant  to  subdivisions  six [and], six-a, AND SIX-B of this section,
 and shall be limited to the total amount appropriated for such  purpose.
 Reimbursement for any vest shall not exceed an amount which in the judg-
 ment of the commissioner would be the cost of a vest conforming to mini-
 mum  standards  and  specifications  in  effect at the time the vest was
 purchased. Selection of vests shall be a determination to be made by the
 applicant in accordance with rules and regulations  promulgated  by  the
 commissioner.  Such rules and regulations shall provide that, subject to
 the provisions of subdivisions six  [and],  six-a,  AND  SIX-B  of  this
 section,  the applicant may select from a range of vests including those
 [commonly known or] classified as [type] LEVEL  I,  [type]  LEVEL  II-A,
 [type]  LEVEL II [or type], LEVEL III-A [in such standard classification
 systems as the national institute of  justice  standards  for  ballistic
 resistance of police body armor], OR LEVEL III OR HIGHER.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD06654-01-5

 S. 6238                             2
 
   6. The commissioner shall promulgate regulations prescribing standards
 and  specifications  for  vests and procedures for vest selection by and
 reimbursement to  applicants.  In  promulgating  such  regulations,  the
 commissioner shall give due consideration to:
   (a)  the  maximum  total  weight  of  a  vest  which provides adequate
 protection against ballistic penetration and trauma, and  which  may  be
 worn in comfort throughout an eight hour tour of duty;
   (b)  the  ballistic  specifications which the vest or any part thereof
 must be capable of defeating which shall include, but not be limited to,
 the ballistic specifications of any firearms considered to  be  standard
 issue to eligible police officers;
   (c)  THE  PROVISIONS  OF  SUBDIVISION  SIX-B  OF THIS SECTION ALLOWING
 POLICE OFFICERS TO CHOOSE A VEST CLASSIFIED AS LEVEL III OR HIGHER;
   (D) the testing procedures appropriate to determining  the  effective-
 ness of such vests;
   [(d)]  (E) the labeling requirements for the vests and component parts
 thereof; and
   [(e)] (F) the commercial availability of conforming vests.
   6-a. In the  evaluation  of  an  application  for  reimbursement,  the
 commissioner  shall, at the request of the applicant, give consideration
 to the ballistic specifications of any firearm or firearms considered by
 the applicant to be standard issue to its police officers,  AND  TO  ANY
 REQUESTS  BY  SUCH POLICE OFFICERS FOR A VEST CLASSIFIED AS LEVEL III OR
 HIGHER.  THE COMMISSIONER SHALL NOT DENY ANY APPLICATION FOR  REIMBURSE-
 MENT  BECAUSE  A VEST CLASSIFIED AS LEVEL III OR HIGHER WAS REQUESTED BY
 ANY POLICE OFFICER.
   6-B. POLICE DEPARTMENTS SHALL GIVE EACH POLICE OFFICER THE  OPTION  TO
 CHOOSE  A  VEST  CLASSIFIED AS LEVEL III OR HIGHER WHEN PURCHASING VESTS
 FOR ELIGIBLE POLICE OFFICERS.
   § 2. Paragraphs (b) and (g) of subdivision 1 of section 837-d  of  the
 executive  law,  as added by chapter 84 of the laws of 1984, are amended
 and a new paragraph (h) is added to read as follows:
   (b) "Vest" means a soft OR HARD body ballistic armor vest;
   (g) "Applicant" means a state agency,  municipal  corporation,  public
 authority,  public  benefit  corporation, or the highest official there-
 of[.]; AND
   (H) "LEVEL" MEANS THE CLASSIFICATION OF A VEST AS SUCH LEVEL  OR  TYPE
 BY  SUCH  STANDARD  CLASSIFICATION  SYSTEM  AS THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF
 JUSTICE STANDARDS FOR BALLISTIC RESISTANCE OF POLICE BODY ARMOR.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.