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History
- Referred to investigations and government operations
- Referred to investigations and government operations
Full text
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Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S5162
Title of bill
An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to publication of victims' personal information in stalking offenses
Purpose
To require all police maintained reports and records related to stalking offenses be kept confidential.
Summary of provisions
Section 1. amends the Public Officers Law by adding a new section (66-b). All reports and records relating to any stalking offense shall not be disclosed to the public. Authorities shall withhold from public disclosure the name, address and all other personal information relating to the victim of the stalking offense.
Section 2. Provides that this act shall take effect immediately.
Justification
Stalking is an offense whereby an individual intentionally and repeatedly follows or harasses another person. Due to the sensitive nature of these crimes, special attention must be paid to privacy and disclosure. Under current law, police reports are considered public information. This may be dangerous for stalking victims as personal information may even be accessed by their accused stalker.
Current law allows police authorities to release information of stalking victims to the public and can show up in a police blotter. Personal information of a victim can be found and used and this may threaten the victims safety. Crimes of stalking are horrifying for victims. It is frightening to be a victim of stalking and protecting victims personal information is one essential way to assure that victims are being protected.
This bill will prohibit police from releasing a victim's personal information relating to a stalking offenses. Under this legislation, police authorities will not be permitted to disclose information relating to the victim of a stalking offense. Information such as, the victims name, address, and all other personal information will no longer be open to public inspection.
Stalking victims are fearful that there personal information is made available for anyone to view and can be used against them. This bill will protect the safety of stalking victims by protecting their personal information.
Legislative history
New bill
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
This act Shall take effect immediately
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.