NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6792
SPONSOR: DeStefano TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to designating offenses
against law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency medical
services personnel as hate crimes
PURPOSE:
To classify all offenses against first responders such as law enforce-
ment officers, firefighters, and emergency services personnel as hate
crimes.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivisions 1, 2, and 4 of section 485.05 of the penal
law, as added by chapter 107 of the laws of 2000. Paragraphs (a) and (b)
of section 1, states that a person has committed a hate crime, when he
or she commits a specified offense and either intentionally selects the
person against whom the offense is committed or intended to be committed
to, or in part because of a belief or perception regarding race, color,
national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age,
disability, sexual orientation of a person, or because of actual or
perceived employment as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or emer-
gency medical services personnel.
Part 2 of section 1 states that proof of race, color, national origin,
ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexu-
al orientation or employment as a law enforcement officer, a firefighter
or as emergency medical services personnel of either or both the defend-
ant and victim does not constitute as legally sufficient evidence in the
court of law. Lastly, paragraphs (c), (d), and (e) provide definitions
for the terms "law enforcement officer", "firefighter", and "medical
services personnel".
Section 2 lists the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
There has been an increase in mortality rates of law enforcement offi-
cers, firefighters, corrections officers and emergency medical services
personnel, within the past decade. In a report by the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in 2014, statistics showed that
approximately "126 federal, state, local, tribal and territorial offi-
cers died in the line of duty" which exhibited an increase in comparison
to 2012 and 2013. The increase in the death toll has been in part, due
to offenses intentionally aimed to harm first responders. In 2009, a
Cape Vincent, NY volunteer Emergency Medical Technician Mark Davis, was
shot and killed by a patient whom he was trying to help. Just three
years later, Webster, NY Police Lt. and volunteer firefighter Mike
Chiapperini and 911 Dispatcher Tomasz Kaczowka, were killed by a gunman
who ambushed the firefighters by creating a fire at his home. Two other
firefighters and one off-duty police officer was also injured in this
attack (USA Today, 2012). In 2014, two law enforcement officers from
the NYPD Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were murdered in an ambush-styled
killing while they were sitting in their patrol car (USA Today, 2014).
The offender claimed in a social media post prior to the murder, "I'm
Putting Wings on Pigs Today." These intentional acts of harm sadly
caused numerous communities to lose loved ones whose dedicated and self-
less service was greatly appreciated.
This is a problem that reaches across the county. In July 2016 five
police officers were killed and nine were wounded in an attack in
Dallas, Texas. In Baton Rouge, Louisiana three officers were killed and
three were wounded as they were responding to a call just ten days
later. According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund
and the Washington Post, ambush killings of police officers have seen a
dramatic increase over previous years.
This bill designates offenses aimed at first responders specifically
because of their job as a law enforcement officers, corrections offi-
cers, firefighters, medical service personnel, etc as a "hate crime".
This legislation intends to support and protect the men and women who
devote their lives to protecting and serving the people of New York
State.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022: S1917 Veterans, Homeland Security, and Military Affairs
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6792
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 8, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. DeSTEFANO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to designating offenses
against law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency medical
services personnel as hate crimes
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 2 and 4 of section 485.05 of the penal law,
2 as amended by chapter 8 of the laws of 2019, are amended to read as
3 follows:
4 1. A person commits a hate crime when he or she commits a specified
5 offense and either:
6 (a) intentionally selects the person against whom the offense is
7 committed or intended to be committed in whole or in substantial part
8 because of a belief or perception regarding the (i) race, color,
9 national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, reli-
10 gion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a
11 person or (ii) because of actual or perceived employment as a law
12 enforcement officer, a firefighter or as emergency medical services
13 personnel, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct, or
14 (b) intentionally commits the act or acts constituting the offense in
15 whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding
16 the (i) race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity
17 or expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual
18 orientation of a person or (ii) because of actual or perceived employ-
19 ment as a law enforcement officer, a firefighter or as emergency medical
20 services personnel, regardless of whether the belief or perception is
21 correct.
22 2. Proof of race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender
23 identity or expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability or
24 sexual orientation or employment as a law enforcement officer, a fire-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09116-01-3
A. 6792 2
1 fighter or as emergency medical services personnel of the defendant, the
2 victim or of both the defendant and the victim does not, by itself,
3 constitute legally sufficient evidence satisfying the people's burden
4 under paragraph (a) or (b) of subdivision one of this section.
5 4. For purposes of this section:
6 (a) the term "age" means sixty years old or more;
7 (b) the term "disability" means a physical or mental impairment that
8 substantially limits a major life activity;
9 (c) the term "gender identity or expression" means a person's actual
10 or perceived gender-related identity, appearance, behavior, expression,
11 or other gender-related characteristic regardless of the sex assigned to
12 that person at birth, including, but not limited to, the status of being
13 transgender;
14 (d) the term "law enforcement officer" means any active or retired
15 city or state law enforcement officer, peace officer, sheriff, deputy
16 sheriff, probation or parole officer, marshal, deputy, wildlife enforce-
17 ment agency, county or state correctional officer, fire marshal or
18 commissioned agent of the department of corrections and community super-
19 vision, as well as any federal law enforcement officer or employee,
20 whose permanent duties include making arrests, performing search and
21 seizures, execution of criminal arrest warrants, execution of civil
22 seizure warrants, any civil functions performed by sheriffs or deputy
23 sheriffs, enforcement of penal or traffic laws, or the care, custody,
24 control or supervision of inmates;
25 (e) the term "firefighter" means (i) any firefighter regularly
26 employed by a fire department of any municipality of the state of New
27 York and (ii) any volunteer firefighter as defined in subdivision one of
28 section three of the volunteer firefighters' benefit law; and
29 (f) the term "emergency medical services personnel" means the person-
30 nel of a service or agency, whether paid or volunteer, engaged in
31 providing initial emergency medical assistance, including but not limit-
32 ed to first responders, emergency medical technicians and advanced emer-
33 gency medical technicians.
34 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
