(Editor's note: Below, in full, are the 10 legislative proposals recently put forward by the New York State Sheriffs' Association in response to recent protests and demonstrations for racial justice, as well as local reactions to the proposals. They have been reprinted as written.)
New York State Sheriffs’ Association:
In a series of coordinated press conferences, New York State Sheriffs presented a number of legislative proposals aimed at protecting law-enforcement personnel and the public they serve. These proposals were the result of weeks of conversations among Sheriffs about the recent and ongoing confrontations between police and the public across our nation.
"Officers are trained in de-escalation, but that requires cooperation on both sides," noted New York State Sheriffs’ Association President Jeffrey Murphy, Washington County Sheriff. "An officer's split-second reaction to a perceived threat perhaps may later be thought all wrong. There is a time and place to question an officer's actions, but not in the middle of the street when the officer is under pressure to control a situation on behalf of the public's safety."
Two of the ten legislative proposals presented include increasing the felony level for those who resist arrest and for those who fail to retreat or halt when ordered by a police officer. Another six proposals address related crimes against officers such as assault, aggravated harassment, criminal doxing and stalking of officers.
Additionally, Sheriffs encouraged the legislature to recognize and highlight the work done by law-enforcement personnel by passing a $500,000 disability and death benefit and designating May 15 of each year as a state holiday - Police Memorial Day - to honor the more than 1,500 officers who have died in the line of duty to New York State.
"We call upon the Legislature and the Governor to enact these proposals in recognition of the sad fact that, in the performance of their difficult and dangerous work, too many police officers lose their lives," said President Murphy.
NEW YORK STATE SHERIFF”S ASSOCIATION TEN LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE PUBLIC AND THE POLICE
Unfortunately, recent attitudes fostered toward the police in some cases have excused or even glamorized resistance to lawful authority. When an individual refuses to comply with a lawful order, the police officer is faced with a choice between walking away from the wrongdoer or taking some action. Action often leads to reaction, and escalation begins. Officers are trained in de-escalation, but that requires some cooperation on both sides. When escalation begets escalation, tragedy can result. An officer’s split-second reaction to a perceived threat may perhaps later be thought to be all wrong by those observing the incident after the fact, under no pressure or stress, but police officers do not often have the luxury of cool reflection before taking action. We call upon the Legislature and the Governor to enact the following two proposals in order to reemphasize the importance of citizen compliance with directives of law enforcement officers. There is a time and place to question an officer’s actions but not in the middle of the street when the officer is under the pressure of trying to bring a situation under control for the safety of the public.
1. Resisting Arrest: Make Resisting Arrest a Class E felony which cannot be reduced by plea bargaining, and make it an offense for which a judge could require the posting of bail.
2. Failure to Retreat: Make it a Class D Felony for any person to approach or remain within 25 feet of a police officer engaged in the performance of his or her duties when such person is ordered by a police officer to halt or retreat and such person fails to immediately do so.
Police officers have a difficult job. Most want to do the job right, and then go home safely to their families at the end of their shift. Unfortunately, in the current climate of disrespect for the police, some bad actors think they have been given license to harass and assault police officers with impunity. We call upon the Legislature and the Governor to enact the following six proposals for the protection of police officers, who must be kept safe so they can keep our citizens safe.
3. Assault on a Police Officer. Increase the level of seriousness by one degree for the current crimes pertaining to assault upon a police officer.
4. Penal Law § 120.05(3) - Assault in the Second Degree, causing a peace or police officer physical injury, should become a class C felony.
Penal Law § 120.08 - Assault on a Peace Officer, Police Officer, Firefighter or Emergency Medical Services Professional, causing serious physical injury, should become a class B felony.
Penal Law § 120.11 - Aggravated Assault on a Peace Officer or Police Officer, causing serious physical injury by means of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument should become a class A felony.
5. Aggravated Harassment of a Police or Peace Officer: Make it a Class D Felony, for a person to cause, or attempt to cause, any police officer or peace officer engaged in the performance of his or her duties to be struck by any substance or object including, but not limited to, bottles, rocks, bodily fluids, spittle, urine, seminal fluid, feces, flammable liquids or other noxious, hazardous or dangerous substances or objects.
6. Hate Crime Against a Police Officer: Make any crime committed against a police officer because of his or her status as a police officer a hate crime, with a concomitant increase in penalty, as is currently provided with respect to hate crimes against members of other protected groups.
7. Aggravated Offering a False Accusation Against a Police Officer: Make it a Class D Felony to falsely accuse a police officer or peace officer of wrongdoing in the performance of his or her duties, and create a private right of civil action for the officer against the false accuser.
8. Criminal Doxing of a Police Officer or Peace Officer: Make it a Class D Felony to dox a police officer or peace officer because of the officer’s status as a police or peace officer, or to dox any other person because of that person’s relationship to, or affiliation with, a police or peace officer.
9. Stalking a Police or Peace Officer: Make it a Class E Felony to follow or surveille a police or peace officer for no legitimate purpose, whether such officer is on or off duty, or to approach within one hundred yards of the private residence or place of lodging of a police officer, without the consent of said officer, for reasons related to the officer’s status or service as a police or peace officer, or for the purpose of intimidating the officer or the officer’s family.
We call upon the Legislature and the Governor to enact the following two proposals in recognition of the difficult, dangerous job our police officers are asked to perform, and in recognition of the sad fact that, in the performance of that difficult, dangerous job, too many of them lose their lives.
10 (a). Disability and Death Benefit: Provide a $500,000 benefit for police officers who are seriously disabled or die from injuries incurred in the line of duty, in recognition of the high-risk occupation of a police officer, in order to provide some measure of security for the future for the officer and his or her family should the officer be disabled or killed in protecting the public.
11 (b). Police Memorial Day: Make May 15 a State holiday in honor of the more than 1,567 police officers who have died in the line of duty in New York, and require the State Division of Criminal Justice Services to annually organize a fitting memorial ceremony at the Police Memorial Wall at the Empire State Plaza in Albany on the Monday falling closest to May 15, and require the Governor to appear in person at such ceremony to say aloud, in tribute, the names of the police officers who died during the previous year from injuries incurred in the line of duty.
Recent racially charged incidents involving police and citizen encounters have cast a dark shadow on our law enforcement profession. While we must work to ensure that members of our agencies are held to the highest standards, we must also make sure we do everything possible to ensure their safety as well as the safety of the public we serve.
Auburn/Cayuga branch of the NAACP:
The Auburn/Cayuga Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has no choice but to condemn the endorsement of New York State Sheriffs’ Association’s Ten Legislative Proposals by Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck. For the past year and a half, organizations in Auburn have been proud to work closely with Sheriff Schenck in our collective pursuit of racial justice, the elimination of bias, the hiring of Black and Brown officers, and the strengthening of community policing, in which both our officers and our citizens are safe and respected. Though only small steps have been taken thus far, we have been grateful to Sheriff Schenck for his proactive approach. It is therefore alarming to see the same Sheriff, who publicly recognized that racism exists in his department, endorse these legislative proposals, which shield police officers from accountability and will disproportionately harm Black and Brown people. For example, since 2013 Black people make up 28 percent of all police killings despite only representing 13 percent of the national population.
Imagine if the police officers that killed George Floyd could hide behind one of these legislative proposals.
In a recent Facebook post by Sheriff Schenck, he endorses NYSSA’s Ten Legislative Proposals, which are laced with Jim Crow-coded language. If our judicial system were free of racism—fairly doling out punishment for criminal behavior equally to both Black and White people, and holding accountable those police officers who murder Black and Brown people—then these legislative measures wouldn’t’t be questioned or feared. But our judicial system is not free of racism. In these measures, NYSSA proposes no action to safeguard the lives of citizens and eliminate racism. Instead, NYSSA seeks to reinforce a Blue Wall of silence and intimidation, thus impairing the ability of citizens to insist on their constitutional rights, to surveil potential unlawful activities, and to defend themselves when unjustly attacked. If, instead, NYSSA had sought to work with activists to develop a strategy that protects both citizens and officers (whom we respect and honor), we would applaud the endeavor. But they did not.
Here are just a few examples of how these proposed legislations can be weaponized against people of color.
• Resisting Arrest: Research indicates that Black defendants are significantly more likely than white defendants to be additionally charged with resisting arrest. As Law Professor Scott Holmes writes, it is all too common for “officers [to] use the Resisting charge as a discretionary tool to suppress dissent and penalize vulnerable arrestees.” Don’t believe it? Look up the case of London Wallace, a 17-year-old who was beaten by police and charged with resisting arrest. Resisting arrest is commonly used to justify excessive force; in fact, it was used as a justification in the killing of George Floyd.
• Failure to Retreat: Under this proposal, the killings of Philando Castile and George Floyd would never have been caught on tape. This proposal rolls back any legal recourse that Black and Brown families have to seek justice by observing and recording police interactions. It gives cover to any police officer to operate in secrecy and not be held responsible.
• Assault: While we too wish to see our officers better protected and free from violence, this proposal is contextualized in language mirroring the days of slavery and Jim Crow when officers were, in the words of criminologist Gary Potter, commissioned to “control a dangerous underclass that included African Americans, immigrants, and the poor.” Note, for instance, the line immediately preceding this proposal: “[We] are the thin blue line between the citizens and anarchy.” In addition, these charges could too easily be used in cases of selfdefense against excessive, life-threatening force—or in cases where the officer is injured accidentally.
• Stalking a Police or Peace Officer: While African Americans are frequently stalked without cause (by police through racial profiling and by citizens, such as in the case of Ahmaud Arbery) and are even killed in their own homes while sleeping, we feel no one should be subjected to this mistreatment. How will you protect African Americans from being victimized? Are you willing to create tougher sanctions for officers who violate this right? Are you willing to prosecute citizens who do? If you are, then we stand with you on this proposal.
• Disability and Death Benefit: We value the dangerous and valiant commitment good police officers practice daily. While we support the benefits to the police officers and their families, how will NYSSA support the wrongful death or disabilities of citizens at the hands of rogue officers, such as first responder Breonna Taylor?
NYSSA had an amazing opportunity here to address the systemic causes of recent negative attitudes toward police and work with their communities to build a better, fairer, safer system for all. Instead, NYSSA has chosen to present the reaction, rather than the cause, as the fundamental problem. These attitudes are the direct result of a pattern of racist bias and a system that intentionally protects rogue police officers in harming and killing unarmed Black and Brown men, women, and children. In the many cases that have received national attention, we have witnessed officers’ blatant disregard to their oath of office. There are many documented cases of officers using successful de-escalation strategies, while others do not engage these strategies and quickly move to domination. Unfortunately, people of color experience this behavior more often than those who are White.
We commend NYSSA for recognizing that “Most [officers] want to do the job right…” Our concern is for the officers whose racism and violence tarnish the great work of those who put their lives on the line to protect our communities. The NAACP commits to work with law enforcement to ensure that our officers make it home safely every night. But we have to ask: What are we as a community and as law enforcement willing to do to ensure that Black and Brown people make it home safely every night?
The time “to police your own” has come and gone. The continuous disregard for Black lives and the modern day lynchings of George Floyd, Tamir Rice, Breonna Taylor, and many others have casted doubt and mistrust upon law enforcement. Are the sheriff and police departments willing to weed out and hold accountable officers who engage in racist behavior and endanger the lives of Black and Brown people?
In contrast to these dangerous and reactive proposals, the Auburn/Cayuga Branch of the NAACP remains committed to collaborate with the Auburn Police Department and Cayuga County Sheriff in proactive, positive measures for change.
Finally, to Sheriff Schenck: we respect you and value your service; please do not undermine all our hard work together, and all your courageous solidarity, by endorsing these proposals. The NAACP stands with your department; we support you. We are here to help, and we are here to make sure your officers, as well as our citizens, make it home safely. In turn, we need to see leadership move quicker in implementing implicit bias training, instituting better accountability and representation, and detoxing officers of the fixed mindsets that Black Lives do not Matter. Because, like White Lives, Black Lives do Matter!
We believe Cayuga County is better than this.
Dr. Eliezer Hernández
President Auburn/Cayuga Branch NAACP
Bill Berry Jr., Harriet Tubman Center for Justice and Peace:
It is unfortunate the state’s Sheriffs elected not to dwell in a state of mindfulness or appreciate the root causes of the current state of social injustices. Being reactionary is not necessarily being proactive or finding a fair and equitable solution to a vexing problem of race-based policing. They have decided to ignore the realties of what many in society, as well as NYS residents now understand to be inequities in the protocols, policies, and implementation of law enforcement. They have elected to build a deeper wall of mistrust by adopting what they think will solve the problem of policing by recommending and centering their proposal on enhanced legal charges, more stringent jail time, no accountability for police actions and personal safeguards for police that many other professions do not have and who are often in adversarial stances with society. And they wonder why there is mistrust.
The divisive moods and tenors driven by diametrically opposite political, cultural, and social racial thinking is significantly more rampant and overt throughout all levels of society. Leaders whether elected, appointed or deemed as such by a community should understand these dynamics and seek new or revised legal codes that address the foundations of a problem and not escalate raw feelings that pander to a selected cohort, especially when there is already a wall of indifference, disrespect, and disregard.
The militaristic thinking and ‘above the law’ attitude routinely exhibited by law enforcement will no longer be tolerated or left unchallenged; sheriffs know that. Their response instead of engaging in difficult dialogues with the community they say they serve and therefore, seeking common ground based in respect, sheriffs chose to ramp up the legalities of law enforcement. They seek safeguards under the law, when officers bring a full arsenal of protective gear, weapons, battering rams, armored vehicles, tear gas, pepper spray, tasers etc. when there is any plans of a protest even before the protest starts…their wall of blue behind shields with batons at the ready. The protestors?
They bring signs, chants, bullhorns, bottled water, face coverings, their convictions, and their bodies.
Bottom line, the sheriffs’ proposals are at its core, mean-spirited and the willingness to crack heads and ask questions later.
Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck:
Today I had the opportunity to meet with members of the Auburn / Cayuga Branch of the NAACP, the Auburn Human Rights Commission, and the Harriet Tubman Center for Justice and Peace regarding my recent support for Legislative proposals made by the New York State Sheriff’s Association. We were also joined by Chief Shawn Butler with the Auburn Police Department. The proposals include increasing resisting arrest and failing to retreat when ordered by an officer, to a felony while addressing crimes against officers such as assault, aggravated harassment, criminal doxing, and stalking of an officer. It also adds a recommendation that the state pass Legislation that would provide a $500,000 death benefit to officers killed in the line of duty and designation of a yearly Police Memorial Day, honoring the 1,500 officers who died in the line of duty to New York State.
On July 18th the Auburn / Cayuga Branch of the NAACP condemned my support of these Legislative proposals based on concern that these proposals will insolate officers that police in a manner that has a negative impact on people of color and that threaten the safety of those in that community. They did share a number of specific concerns in their release that included the failure to include community members in the process of drafting them to address systemic causes of negative attitudes towards police to build a fairer, safer system for all.
During our meeting today we discussed specific concerns and reasons for the condemnation of these proposals by the organizations represented today. We also talked about frustration related to the lack of community input in creating them. Based on our conversations, I have a clearer understanding of the issues that have impacted the lack of support for the proposals by these groups. Moving forward, I will be taking additional steps to make sure that input from our local community is welcomed during the drafting of related proposals.
In addition, we discussed my reason for supporting the proposals and my need to ensure the safety of the citizens we serve, as well as the members of our Sheriff’s Office. As Sheriff, protecting the people I lead, as well as the people we serve, is job one. I will fully support initiatives that ensure the safety of the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office and those living in our community; however, I understand that this cannot authorize nor promote bias in our policing methods. Nor can it be ignored. The members of our Sheriff’s Office must, and will be, held accountable for their actions and dealt with appropriately when they do not live up to our mission to provide a safe community and enhance the quality of life of all citizens in our community.
I stand committed to continuing our conversations with the organizations represented today and members of our community to address issues related to racism and discrimination in Cayuga County. They do exist here locally and we all need to work to eliminate them. Further, the members of our Sheriff’s Office and I welcome a continued partnership with the Auburn / Cayuga Branch of the NAACP, Harriet Tubman Center for Justice and Peace, the Human Rights Commission and others to address policing in our community, issues related to race, and diversifying our agency.
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