VPO Bill

[NYS Assoc. of Aux Police]

 

This is an update on the VPO bill's status.

 

If anyone would like me to come to your next unit meeting to answer any questions about the bill, call me or email me.

 

We have been working on this bill for 9 years.

The bill must be passed in each house and must be a "same as" bill.

 

The senate bill is S3701

The assembly bill A4368

Both bills are the same as each other.

 

I have attached a copy of the bill with some of the history.

You will also find a copy of the benefits and an article on the legal "gray area" we would like to clean up.

 

This bill will reward the departments, & their volunteer members, that opt-in on the bill.

 

The bill is a copy of the Volunteer Ambulance Worker's benefit law.

I copied the law in to my computer and replaced the words "ambulance worker'" with "peace officer."

 

Then we wrote the part that sets up the registry.

We wrote the bill to be an omnibus bill and to cover as many Volunteers in Law Enforcement as we could, to get broad support for the bill.

The Assembly may by controlled by the city, but the Senate is and always will be controlled by upstate.

 

The last part is the one line that fixes everything wrong with the auxiliary police.

 

 Upon successful completion of all required classes and tests, the applicant will be registered with the division as a volunteer peace officer and will have the legal status of a peace officer while performing authorized activities within the duties assigned by the local municipality.

 

For some reason the PBAs think the municipalities will some how replace the police with volunteers.

So that is the first battle.

 

We must get people to think of us like they think of EMTs.

No one thinks an EMT will replace a Doctor, but everyone knows how much they can help a Doctor.

 

The Senate is almost half Republican, half Democrat.

The Republicans ran the senate last year, this year the Democrats run it.

"The mean Democrats have stole all the good bills the Republicans wrote and now they won't give them any of the credit." say the Republicans.

"The mean Republicans are stalling our bills" is the cry of the Democrats.

So the senate has been slow at getting bills to the floor for a vote.

"The budget is late again, so we can't talk about giving any benefits to volunteers" is what the assembly has to say.

 

Politics will always be politics.

But we have made progress.

 

The list of sponsors keeps growing.

 

Here is what you can do to lobby the bill:

 

First, go to http://nymap.elections.state.ny.us/nysboe/

Put in your address in and see who your Assembly Member & State Senator are.

 

Look at  The Volunteer Peace Officer Bill.pdf

See if your Assembly Member & State Senator are sponsors of the bill.

 

If they are call them and thank them.

If not call them and ask them "why not?"

Tell them how important our work is and how we save money.

Not as a Volunteer Police Officer, but as someone who is much more then just a security guard and is free.

 

The more sponsors a bill has the faster they move it from committee and onto the floor.

 

If you want you can call other Assembly Members & Senators from your area and thank them or push them.

 

The file NYS Legislature is a list of all the Senators & Assembly Members.

 

The next thing everyone can do is get a Memorandum in Support from a Civic Group or a Police Department or Local Government.

 

Each precinct in New York City has a Community Counsel, in Long island there are Civic Association, there is a Chamber of Commerce in every community, you also have the Rotary Club, the Knights of Columbus, the Kiwanis Club, AARP, etc.

 

If you can get any of them to write to the Senators & Assembly Members , that will help, they have the power of the people.

 

If we can get any local governments to write a Memorandum in Support for the bill, that would be a big help.

 

For all Memorandums in Support :

 

Send 1 copy for the Senate bill to:

 

Senator Joseph P. Addabbo

815 Legislative Office Building

Albany, NY 12247

 

 

Send 1 copy for the Assembly bill to:

 

Assembly Carl Heastie

417 Legislative Office Building

Albany, NY  12248

 

 

and please send me 1 copy of each bill.

 

NYSAAP

POB 351

Massapequa, NY  11758

 

 

If you have any questions you can call our NYSAAP hotline at 516 795-4378 and leave a message in my mail box.

 

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