Capital New York: Senate G.O.P.: Police reforms will take time
1:07 p.m. | Jan. 7, 2015
ALBANY—Republican State Senators are expected to hold a series of hearings to address criminal justice reform this session, but they say legislative action won't be rushed.
Amid protests stemming from the Eric Garner case and an ugly fight between police unions and the mayor in New York City following the fatal shooting of two officers, Senate Republicans announced that they will be holding hearings statewide to weigh reforms to the criminal justice system.
”I would be a little patient for the next couple of weeks—let's see what comes out of the hearings,” Republican deputy leader Tom Libous told reporters Tuesday night. “There's always been differences between the Senate and the Assembly when it comes to these issues. ... I think this is a time for trying to get both houses to work together on many of these criminal justice issues and see if we can move forward.”
In his inaugural address, Governor Andrew Cuomo said he will push for police reform this session. The Democratic governor also addressed the deaths of officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu this week during a eulogy at the funeral of his father, former governor Mario Cuomo.
“Sometimes good intentions in January don't get finished until late June," Libous said. "So we'll see where it takes us."
Senator Pat Gallivan, chair of the Senate's crime victims, crime and corrections committee, also argued that waiting to hear testimony before introducing any legislation is crucial.
”I think that it's something that will be a priority for us this year, to ensure that the criminal justice system is looked at and we do whatever we can to ensure police and public safety and if changes are to be made, make appropriate changes, but do it in a thoughtful, big-picture way and not a knee-jerk reaction like we've seen sometimes in the past,” Gallivan told Capital in a phone interview.
Senate Democrats, who are in the minority, introduced legislation in early December that would create a special prosecutor to oversee cases in which police officers kill unarmed civilians. The conference also asked that funding be included in the state budget for body-camera programs for police departments.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat, also asked the governor for the power to investigate and prosecute cases in which police kill unarmed civilians.
A group of Republican lawmakers drafted a bill that would require police vehicles throughout the state to have bulletproof glass, a proposal which could cost billions.
“We believe that they have extremely dangerous jobs and that we want to make their jobs safe and as effective and efficient as possible,” Senator Mike Nozzolio, chairman of the codes committee, told Capital. “At the same [time], we want to make sure that those concerns regarding criminal justice—that every concern regarding criminal justice is aired and heard and that we're going to be engaged in a thorough and full examination of the entire criminal justice process.”
The police reform hearings are expected to start later this month. They'll take place in New York City, Albany and western New York.
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