Relates to the appearance of certain law enforcement officers at parole hearings

11 Co-sponsors

• John J. Bonacic
• John A. DeFrancisco
• Joseph A. Griffo
• William J. Larkin Jr.
• Kenneth P. LaValle
• Betty Little
• George D. Maziarz
• Michael H. Ranzenhofer
• Stephen M. Saland
• James L. Seward
• Catharine Young

BILL NUMBER:S2184

Title of bill

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to the appearance of certain law enforcement officers at parole hearings

Purpose

To allow police chiefs to speak at parole hearings.

Summary of provisions

Section one amends subparagraph (A) of paragraph (c) of subdivision (2) of section 259-1 of the executive law, to add the ability of a police chief to provide a written or oral statement concerning the police agency's experience with the inmate. The wording leaves it to the chief to determine what is appropriate to share with the board.

Existing law

Existing law does not require or allow the police chief to make a statement. Other current items are:

(i) the institutional record including program goals and accomplishments, academic achievements, vocational education, training or work assignments, therapy and interpersonal relationships with staff and inmates;

(ii) performance, if any, as a participant in a temporary release program;

(iii) release plans including community resources, employment, education and training and support services available to the inmate;

(iv) any deportation order issued by the federal government against the inmate while in the custody of the department of correctional services and any recommendation regarding deportation made by the commissioner of the department of correctional services pursuant to section one hundred forty-seven of the correction law;

(v) any statement made to the board by the crime victim or the victim's representative, where the crime victim is deceased or is mentally or physically incapacitated; and

(vi) the length of the determinate sentence to which the inmate would be subject had he or she received a sentence pursuant to section 70.70 or section 70.71 of the penal law for a felony defined in article two twenty or article two hundred twenty-one of the penal law.

A statement by the victim or the victim's representatives is also permitted.

Justification

When it comes to making the critical determination whether to set someone free on parole, the board needs all the evidence it can muster. This should include information from those with the most intimate knowledge of what the inmate is capable of. Police agencies

know this better than anyone else. Consider some of the recent determinations by the board: Recently, the Parole Board voted 2-1 to grant parole to cop killer Shuaib Raheem. Raheem was involved in a botched armed robbery in Williamsburg, NY in 1973, which resulted in the death of Patrolman Stephen Gilroy and injured Patrolman Frank Carpentier. Also recently, after pressure from some Senators and police organizations, cop killer John MacKenzie, who opened fire during a burglary in West Hempstead in 1975 and killed Nassau County Police Officer Matthew Giglio, was denied parole. Another convicted cop-killer Anthony Blanks was scheduled for a parole hearing at Shawangunk State Prison in Wallkill, NY. Blanks is a cold-blooded cop-killer and a dangerous criminal. He killed Patrolman Arthur Dematte in 1976 in Larchmont, using the policeman's own revolver, and then fled in his police cruiser. His hearing has now been postponed. That homicide left Patrolman Dematte's wife without a husband, his four young children without a father, and his fellow officers without a friend and partner. Each time Anthony Blanks is eligible for parole, the family is once again victimized and the Police Department relives this tragedy.

Legislative history

S.8260 of 2010: Referred to Rules

Fiscal implications

None.

Local fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

Immediately.