New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on May 21, 2021, legislation to change New York State’s laws governing police violence to strengthen prosecutors’ ability to hold police officers accountable for unjustified and excessive use of force. The Police Accountability Act seeks to amend New York’s law that justifies police use of force, which currently sets an exceedingly high standard for prosecuting police officers who have improperly used deadly or excessive force. The centerpiece of the legislation seeks to amend the use-of-force law from one of simple necessity to one of absolute last resort, mandating that police officers only use force after all other alternatives have been exhausted. The legislation will also establish new criminal penalties for police officers who employ force that is grossly in excess of what is warranted in an interaction with civilians.
The Police Accountability Act are sponsored by State Senator Kevin Parker and Assembly member Nick Perry.
Overview of the Police Accountability Act
The Police Accountability Act (S.6615) includes a series of reforms aimed at improving protocols and strengthening accountability measures when police officers use force, especially lethal force. These legislative reforms are intended to reduce deaths at the hands of police by ensuring that police officers adhere to practices and tactics that aim to preserve life and only use lethal force as a last resort, while providing prosecutors with appropriate tools to potentially hold officers accountable when an individual dies after an interaction with police.
1) Use of Force Must Be A Last Resort
Current law: New York’s current law does not require officers to exhaust other options, such as de-escalation, verbal warnings, or lower-level uses of force, before using force, including lethal force.
Police Accountability Act reform: The Police Accountability Act seeks to amend this law by establishing a “last resort” standard, whereby use of force must be a last resort that officers can only employ when there are no reasonable alternatives to avoiding force or reducing the force used. Officers must instead exhaust alternatives, including de-escalation, lower levels of force, verbal warnings, and other methods.
2) Simple Suspicion of Criminal Conduct Cannot Justify Lethal Force
Current law: New York’s current use of force law authorizes police to use lethal force based simply on an officer’s reasonable belief that an individual committed a particular crime — a certain category of felony or attempt to commit a felony — and irrespective of whether the individual presents a danger to the officer or another person at the time.
Police Accountability Act reform: The Police Accountability Act seeks to eliminate justification for lethal force when an officer simply suspects an individual has engaged in particular criminal conduct. Lethal force should only be used in the most exigent of circumstances and demands higher standards of proof before an officer may use lethal force.
3) Allow Prosecutors to Evaluate if Police Conduct Led to Need for Use of Force
Current law: New York’s current law justifying police use of force does not provide a mechanism for prosecutors to consider an officer’s own responsibility for creating the need for force in the first place.
Police Accountability Act reform: The Police Accountability Act seeks to explicitly allow prosecutors to consider whether an officer’s conduct created a substantial and unjustifiable risk that force would become necessary. Where that is the case, an officer may not avail themselves of the justification defense.
4) Establish Standards and Criminal Penalties to Prevent Excessive Use of Police Force
The Police Accountability Act — sponsored by State Senator Kevin Parker in the Senate and to be sponsored by Assembly member N. Nick Perry in the Assembly — seeks to establish criminal penalties for police officers who employ force that is grossly in excess of what is warranted under the circumstances and where that force causes physical injury or death. The level of charge would depend on the severity of the injuries caused.
“For far too long, police officers in this country have been able to evade accountability for the unjustified use of excessive and lethal force,” said Attorney General James. “In New York, our laws have essentially given police blanket defense to use force in interactions with the public, making it exceedingly difficult for prosecutors to go after officers who have abused this power. Not only is that gravely unjust, but it has also proven to be incredibly dangerous. The Police Accountability Act will make critical and necessary changes to the law, providing clear and legitimate standards for when the use of force is acceptable and enacting real consequences for when an officer crosses that line. While this is an important step in addressing the shortfalls of our criminal justice system, it is not a cure-all for the ills that have impacted too many families and claimed too many lives. We must continue to do everything in our power to protect our communities and ensure that no one is beyond the reach of justice.”
“As you know, almost seven years ago my son was murdered by NYPD,” said Eric Garner’s mother Gwen Carr. “He said: ‘I can’t breathe’ 11 times and 11 times they decided not to let him live. We all saw the video so we know that it was excessive force that was used and my son should have been alive today if the police officer would have followed protocol. This is what we need: accountability, and it doesn’t matter if you wear blue jeans or blue suit or a blue uniform. There should be accountability. As we know, the laws in New York are written to shield bad actors in the Police Department. Mostly none of them stands accountable because that law is set aside all together for them. It’s just like it doesn’t exist. Anything that they do, they get excused from it. They fear for their life and they’re the ones who are armed and deadly and not us. We are tired of having our black and browns murdered by the police. Our unarmed black and brown. The ones who are terrorized by the police. This has to stop.”
“As we talked about excessive use of force, it really is a term of poetry,” said State Senator Kevin Parker. “We say it but it doesn’t really have any force in the law. What the Attorney General’s doing today is putting teeth into that law. As I’m happy to be the Senate sponsor, I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate. I want to thank our leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins for assigning this bill to me and I’m looking forward to us passing this not just as a standalone but hopefully with a group of other legislations around police reform and so we really can be a place where people are protected and simultaneously respected.”
“Over the last year, over 960 Americans were killed during the encounters with the police,” said Assembly member Nick Perry. “Sadly, Black Americans are three times more likely to die in such encounters with the police. Based on these statistics, New Yorkers who look like me, who could be my son, my daughter, my wife or any relative of mine and even white Americans because 40% of white Americans account for the numbers killed in the encounters with the police. And all of this is enabled by a use-of-force guidelines that have allowed 115 New Yorkers this year alone to have been killed by the use of deadly force under the current protocol that the police operate. Without a trial, without a verdict, without a sentence and with no due process whatsoever. The significant changes that we are proposing in New York are long overdue and I’m so excited to join in this effort with our trailblazing attorney general to make sure that this becomes the new standard by which police will use when faced with the decision of whether or not to use deadly force.”
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