Now is the time to push our bill

[NYS Assoc. of Aux Police]

Dear Group Members,

 

As you know NYSAAP has pushed for the " Volunteer Peace Officer Benefit Law" in New York State.

 

Bill Numbers  A08779 & S05624A

 

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 law would 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 .

 

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.

 

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

 

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.

 

These Statewide Standards will be set by DCJS and can be amended by them as needed without having the need of new legislation each time them update the training standards.
 

The Governor has already stated " Peace officers have many of the same legal powers as police  officers,
including  the  power  to  use  force  to make arrests, make warrantless
arrests, conduct warrantless  searches  and  issue  appearance  tickets.
These  are  very far-reaching powers that should not be granted lightly,
and should only be granted to those who have received sufficient  train-
ing.

  Unfortunately,  our current laws governing the training of peace offi-
cers are inadequate. The Municipal Police Training Council is authorized
to set training requirements for  peace  officers,  but  is  limited  to
requiring  no  more  than 35 hours of training for full-time peace offi-
cers, and 10 hours of training for part-time  peace  officers.  A  basic
training course for police officers, in contrast, must include a curric-
ulum  of at least 475 hours of instruction and a supervised field train-
ing and orientation program of at least 160 hours, for  a  total  of  at
least 635 hours.

  I  do  not  think we should be expanding the categories of individuals
who are granted peace officer status until we have amended  our  current
laws  to ensure that these individuals are adequately trained. Moreover,
most of the peace officer bills that have been presented for  my  review
fail  to provide an adequate justification explaining why these individ-
uals need peace officer powers."

We hope this bill addresses the Governor's concerns and he will not voto it.

I have already asked you to write to the Governor, your State Senator, and State Assemblymember.

 

I am now asking you to also write to Senator Joe Bruno & Assemblyman Sheldon Silver.

 

I am also asking you to get as many people to write letters of support to all of these legislators now.

 

The letters do not have to be long, but should include the bill numbers, your name & address.
You should state why we need this legislation and how it will benefit the state and your department.

 

If you belong to any other civic group or the AARP please ask your group to write letters too.

 

The more letters the better.

 

Phone calls & email are nice, but letters are still the best way to get the bills passed.

 

You can also ask your local elected officials to write letters too.

 

If  you can get your department to write letters of support, this too will help.

 

I could also use copies of the letters.
Send copies to:

 

Glenn J. Kearney,

President, NYSAAP

P.O. Box 351

Massapequa, NY 11758

 

 

We will also try to set up a lobby day in Albany in late January.

 

Would you be able to go to Albany on a Monday or a Tuesday?

 

Lobby days are always on a Monday or a Tuesday.
We would set up meetings with the legislators and ask them to push the bills.
The more people to show the better we look.

 

 

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.

 

Governor Eliot Spitzer
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

 

Senator Joseph L. Bruno
Temporary President and Majority Leader
43rd Senate District
Room 909 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247

Senator Malcolm A. Smith
Minority Leader
907 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247

Assemblyman Sheldon Silver
Majority Leader
62nd Assembly District
LOB 932
Albany, NY 12248

James Tedisco

Minority Leader

New York State Assembly

Legislative Office Building, Room 933

Albany, NY  12248

We need to write them all 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