BILL NUMBER: S6593
SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to requiring reporting to
the federal bureau of investigation's national use-of-force data
collection program
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this legislation is to require state and local law
enforcement departments to report use-of-force incidents to the national
use-of-force database administered by the Federal Bureau of Investi-
gation.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds a new subdivision 3 to Section 837-T of the Executive Law
that requires the Division of Criminal Justice Services to report to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation's national use-of-force database any
instance in which a police officer or peace officer: (1) brandishes,
uses or discharges a firearm or non-lethal projection weapon, including,
but not limited to, the use of rubber bullets, at or in the direction of
another person; (2) uses a chokehold or similar restraint that applies
pressure to the throat or windpipe of a person in a manner that may
hinder breathing or reduce intake of air; (3) displays, uses or deploys
a chemical agent, including, but not limited to, oleoresin capsicum,
pepper spray or tear gas; (4) brandishes, uses or deploys an impact
weapon, including, but not limited to, a baton or billy; (5) brandishes,
uses or deploys an electronic control weapon, including, but not limited
to, an electronic stun gun, flash bomb or long range acoustic device; or
(6) engages in conduct which results in the death or serious bodily
injury of another person. Serious bodily injury is defined as bodily
injury that involves a substantial risk of death, unconsciousness,
protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protract ed loss or impairment
of the function of a bodily member, organ or mental faculty. Every
report shall include, but not be limited to, detailed circumstances of
every incident, the age, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender
identity or expression, and ethnicity of all persons engaging in the use
of force or suffering such injury. Any police department, sheriff's
office, or division of state police that fails to make such reporting
shall have 10% of their state funding withheld until such reporting is
submitted to the national use-of-force database.
Section 2 is the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In 2015, then-FBI Director James Comey relayed frustration that it was
easier to get the latest box office data on popular movies than getting
data on law enforcement use-of-force incidents. (1) He even went so far
as to say it was an, "embarrassment and ridiculous." Six years later,
data on use-of-force incidents still remains largely unavailable. Even
after a presidential order and congressional demands instructing law
enforcement departments to report use-of-force incidents to the FBI,
only 27% of police departments nationwide have reported such incidents
to the national use-of-force database. (2) As the nation reflects on the
many deaths of black, indigenous, and people of color by the hands of
law enforcement officers, accountability and reform demands transparen-
cy. This bill provides the mechanism for creating much needed transpar-
ency for structural change to be made in law enforcement.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-2022: S.7273 - Reported and Committed to Finance/A.9918 Referred to
Governmental Operations
 
STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the 30th day after it shall have become a
law. 1 Aaron C. Davis and Wesley Lowrey, FBI director calls lack of data
on police shootings 'ridiculous,' 'embarrassing', The Washington Post,
Oct. 7, 2015, available at
 
HTTPS://WWW.WASHINGTONPOST.COM/NATIONAL/FBI-DIRECTOR-
CALLS-LACK-OF-DATA-ON-POLICE-SHOOTINGS-RIDICULOUS-
EMBARRASSING/2015/10/07/COEBAF7A-6D16-11E5-B31C- D80D62B53E28
STORY.HTML?ITID=LK INTERSTITIAL MANUAL 5. 2 TOM JACKMAN, FOR A SECOND
YEAR MOST U.S. POLICE DEPARTMENTS DECLINE TO
SHARE INFORMATION ON THEIR USE OF FORCE, THE WASHINGTON POST, JUNE 9,
2021, AVAILABLE AT HTTPS://WWW.WASHINGTONPOST.COM/NATION/2021/06/09/
POLICE-USE-OF-FORCE-DATA/.

Statutes affected:
S6593: 837-t executive law