Requires 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

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 population of one million or more, for further action pursuant to subdivision 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 officers 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 "unsubstantiated" 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 investigate such cases.******* Norman Siegel of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) and Senator Eric Adams (a former NYPD Captain), in particular, 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-interest" 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 independently elected state-level officers has the political legitimacy, independence and historic reputation for objectivity to undertake such a function and provide substantial justice. This bill will allow a state-level officer to once again perform this vital function.

Legislative history

None. This is new legislation.

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-NYPD- Abner-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://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/sean-bell-scene-probe-intentionally- bothced-black-police-group-article1.290813, last visited July 1, 2013.

**** See http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/02/06/special-prosecutor-sought-in- bronx-police-beating/, last visited July 1, 2013.

*****See http://nlgnyc.org/2013/03/19/ngl-nyc-condemns-police-killing-of-sixteen- year-old-kimani-gray/, last visited October 11, 2013.

******http://bayridgejournal.blogspot.com/2013/07/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.