Please write your state Senator, Assemblymember & The Governor to urge the passage of these bills A08779 & S05624A

[NYS Assoc. of Aux Police]

Dear Group members,

This note is for all our New York State members;

 

My name is Glenn Kearney,

I am the President of The New York State Association of Auxiliary Police (NYSAAP)

 

We have been working on legislation to create the title " Volunteer Peace Officer" in an effort to create a " Volunteer Peace Officer Benefit Law"

similar to the benefit laws for both Volunteer Firefighters & Ambulance Workers .

 

The Bill numbers are A08779 & S05624A

 

I am asking you to let everyone know how important it is to write to their State Senator, State Assemblymember & The Governor to urge the passage of these bills.

 

 

If the above links do not work, try http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menuf.cgi

Then enter the bill number A08779 or S05624A
Hit the status button.

Then check all the boxes and hit the search button.

 

This legislation is vastly important to:

 1) Consolidate uniformed volunteer members of law enforcement agencies within the State of New York,
including but not limited to Auxiliary Police, Special Deputy Sheriffs, Reserve Sheriffs/Police, Special Police, Reserve Police, SPCA, SPCC,
Search and Rescue Squads, and Public Safety Emergency Officers.

 2) Establish legal authority for law-enforcement agencies to conduct volunteer law enforcement operations.

 3) Establish legal authority for volunteer officers to perform their duties.

 4) Establish recruiting standards.

 5) Increase minimal training standards.

 6) Provide deserved benefits.

 7) Protect uniformed volunteers in law enforcement agencies. and

 8) Protect law enforcement agencies from liability lawsuits due to lack of workers compensation coverage.

 

Passage of this legislation will legalize existing volunteer officers and operations as well as help recruit and retain current members.

 

With the resent murder of two New York City Auxiliary Police Officers, there has been a renewed interest in the laws empowering & protecting Auxiliary Police.

 

Please see http://www.auxiliary-police.org/whywe.htm WHY WE NEED NEW LEGISLATION FOR CLASSIFICATION AS VOLUNTEER PEACE OFFICERS

 

We have been working with Joe Erdman of  Senator Maziarz's office to get the bill written the right way. As you can imagine this is not a simple bill.

 

Senator Hannon has cosponsored the senate bill along with Senators Flanagan, Larkin, Maltese, Morahan, Nozzolio, Winner, and Wright.

 

Assemblymember Heastie along with Assemblymembers P. Rivera & Pheffer have put the "same as" bill in the Assembly.

 

 

  The Auxiliary Police come under The obsolete Civil Defense Act of 1951.During that time, they were used to direct traffic to the air raid shelters and to control the people at those shelters.This is NOT what we are used for today. The duties and activities of auxiliary police vary considerably.

 

The law was watered down in the 1970's & 80's by case law:

 

Policemen's Benevolent Association of Westchester County, Inc. v. William C. Hitt, Supervisor of the Town of Cortland,NY et al. March 29, 1972

David Fitzgibbon, Jr v. The County of Nassau, et al., & the Auxiliary Police Unit 316, et al.  November 17, 1988

 

 Also CPL 2.10 sub 26 makes even more restrictions on our powers.

 

Many of the Local Auxiliary Police Programs operate without legal authority.

CPL 2.10 sub 26 says officers shall have the power to direct and control traffic during official drills in preparation for an attack by enemy forces or in preparation for combating natural or man-made disasters; however, this grant does not include any of the other powers set forth in section 2.20 of this article.

 

In Fitzgibbon, Jr v. The County of Nassau the Judge required the "Drill" not be a perpetual schedule of patrols.

This puts the "Eyes & Ears" program outside of the law.

 

The Police Departments  tell us we are private citizens. Yet State officials say the language in the NYPD guide may be incorrect.

"Under state law, they are limited-function peace officers, but they are peace officers," John Caher, director of public information for the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, said of auxiliary officers.

Contrary to the guide, auxiliaries do possess limited powers beyond those of private citizens, Caher said. They are permitted to perform warrantless arrests, and they are required to complete a basic peace officer course run by the state, he added.

 

But many upstate departments do not train their officers as Peace Officers.

 

This law will allow for local control of the Volunteers.

But,  the State will over see the training of the Volunteers like they do for the Volunteer Fire Services & Volunteer Ambulance Services.

 

The bill also will give Volunteer Peace Officers benefits similar to Volunteer Firefighters & Ambulance Corps.

 

And it will set  Statewide Standards that will have to be met to receive the benefits.

 

The law will give us the legal status of a peace officer while performing  authorized activities within the duties assigned by the local municipality.

 

To find out who you should write to see http://nymap.elections.state.ny.us/nysboe/

Type in your address and hit the find button.

Then hit the Info button.

 

You should see the name of your State Senator & Assemblymember.

 

To Write To The Governor:
Eliot Spitzer
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

We need to write them now.

 

We would like to get these bills to the Governor by February 2008.

 

 

Fraternally,
 
Glenn  J. Kearney
President,
New York State Association of Auxiliary Police
http://www.auxiliary-police.org