BILL NUMBER: S3095
SPONSOR: BRISPORT
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation establishing reporting
duties of law enforcement agencies with respect to police misconduct
allegations and outcomes
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This bill requires police department chiefs, county sheriffs, and the
superintendent of state police to regularly report to the Division Of
Criminal Justice Services instances in which a police or peace officer
is brought up for potential disciplinary action.
The bill expands the type of information that must be publicly reported
by the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
The bill also requires the commissioner to update a public, searchable
database of police disciplinary data and outlines dataset's form.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The Governor proposed Article VII legislation as part of the FY2020
budget to make the Division of Criminal Justice Services responsible for
publishing a periodic report of police officers' use of force in the
course of their duties. This bill expands on the Governor's proposal by
also requiring information about disciplinary charges brought against
officers to be publicly available. Transparency in policing increases
accountability for officers, increases public trust in our criminal
justice system, and helps rebuild the relationship between the public
and law enforcement. By making this information publicly available auto-
matically, police officers are further incentivized to abide by relevant
laws and department policy as they carry out their duties.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-22: S5248
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
Unknown.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Ninety days after becoming law.