Adds falsely reporting the use of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument as part of the crimes of falsely reporting an incident in the first and second degrees.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9586
SPONSOR: Cashman TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to the crimes of falsely
reporting an incident in the first and second degrees
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to expand penalties for false reporting to
include the use of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this bill would amend section 240.55 of the Penal Law by
adding the use of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument to the penalty
of falsely reporting an incident in the second degree.
Section 2 of this bill would amend section 240.60 of the Penal Law by
adding the use of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument to the penalty
of falsely reporting an incident in the first degree.
Section 3 of this bill would establish a severability clause.
Section 4 of this bill provides that the effective date shall take
effect sixty days after it shall have become a law.
JUSTIFICATION:
In March and April 2023, over 50 school districts across the State
received reports of emergency incidents that proved to be false. A
barrage of calls and emails reported emergency incidents that ranged
from bomb threats to the alleged presence of an active shooter. One
call, which involved an active shooter threat, garnered a police
response and lockdown at Westhill High School in Onondaga County. Other
reports have targeted school districts in the Hudson Valley and the
Capitol Region. Luckily, State police were able to recognize that these
'allegations were baseless. State police are now working to identify the
source of the reports.
False incident reports are often made with the intention of causing the
deployment of police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams to provoke
a further incident with a specific individual or group. Such occur-
rences, whith are commonly known as "swatting" incidents, can be both a
waste of emergency response resources and a potential harm to the
targeted individuals or groups. SWAT teams have respcnded to numerous
false reports of emergency situations across the country in which the
possibility of a serious threat has resulted in innocent persons being
injured or killed.
Chapter 561 of 1999 added subdivision 5 of section 240.60 of the Penal
Law, which established that it is a class D felony to knowingly initiate
a false report of a fire, explosion, or the release of a hazardous
substance on school grounds. These laws are meant to deter potential
false reports and ensure public safety from a baseless incident. This
bill would expand the penalty for false reports to include the use of a
deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, which would, in the future, apply
to the threats posed by swatting incidents. Falsely reporting an inci-
dent to provoke an emergency response is a serious crime that could
result in innocent lives being lost. Expanding the definition of falsely
reporting an incident in the first and second degree would deter false
reporting of emergency incidents and uphold public, safety. This bill
would expand criminal penalties for a person that conveys a false or
baseless report'to include the false reporting of the use of a deadly
weapon or dangerous instrument.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
06/04/25 PASSED SENATE
06/04/25 DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
06/04/25 referred to codes
01/07/26 died in assembly
01/07/26 returned to senate
01/07/26 REFERRED TO CODES
REFERRED TO CODES
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect sixty days after it shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9586
IN ASSEMBLY
January 21, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CASHMAN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to the crimes of falsely
reporting an incident in the first and second degrees
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 240.55 of the penal law, as
2 amended by chapter 561 of the laws of 1999, are amended to read as
3 follows:
4 1. Initiates or circulates a false report or warning of an alleged
5 occurrence or impending occurrence of a fire, explosion, [or] the
6 release of a hazardous substance, or the use of a deadly weapon or
7 dangerous instrument under circumstances in which it is not unlikely
8 that public alarm or inconvenience will result;
9 2. Reports, by word or action, to any official or quasi-official agen-
10 cy or organization having the function of dealing with emergencies
11 involving danger to life or property, an alleged occurrence or impending
12 occurrence of a fire, explosion, [or] the release of a hazardous
13 substance, or the use of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument which
14 did not in fact occur or does not in fact exist; or
15 § 2. Subdivision 5 of section 240.60 of the penal law, as added by
16 chapter 561 of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as follows:
17 5. Knowing the information reported, conveyed or circulated to be
18 false or baseless and under circumstances in which it is likely public
19 alarm or inconvenience will result, [he or she] such person initiates or
20 circulates a report or warning of an alleged occurrence or an impending
21 occurrence of a fire, an explosion, [or] the release of a hazardous
22 substance or the use of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument upon
23 school grounds and it is likely that persons are present on said
24 grounds.
25 § 3. Severability. If any item, clause, sentence, subparagraph, subdi-
26 vision, section or other part of this act, or the application thereof to
27 any person or circumstances shall be held to be invalid, such holding
28 shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder of this act, or the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07689-01-5
A. 9586 2
1 application of such section or part of a section held invalid, to any
2 other person or circumstances, but shall be confined in its operation
3 to the item, clause, sentence, subparagraph, subdivision, section or
4 other part of this act directly involved in such holding, or to the
5 person and circumstances therein involved.
6 § 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
7 have become a law.
