NY state troopers ask to be removed from New York City
A state trooper stands ready to direct traffic at a drive-thru Covid-19 testing site in Brooklyn in April.Mary Altaffer | AP Photo
By Brendan J. Lyons | Times Union, Albany
Albany,
N.Y. — The head of the New York State Troopers PBA issued a statement
Wednesday “demanding” that state troopers be removed from New York City
“and cease any law enforcement activities within that jurisdiction.”
"We
have arrived at this unfortunate decision due to the hastily written
so-called police reform legislation recently passed by the New York City
Council," said PBA President Thomas H. Mungeer. "This poorly conceived
bill, which will be signed into law by Mayor de Blasio today, puts an
undue burden upon our troopers; it opens them up to criminal and civil
liability for restraining a person during a lawful arrest in a manner
that is consistent with their training and is legal throughout the rest
of the state. Furthermore, this legislation will prevent troopers from
safely and effectively arresting resistant subjects."
According
to Mungeer, the new regulations would “criminalize methods of
restraint, including putting any pressure on a person’s chest or back.”
He
said those techniques are used by law enforcement agencies across the
nation "when officers are faced with violently combative subjects."
"I
find it extremely troubling that these acts are now defined as criminal
in nature, even if they were unintentional and no injury was sustained
by the subject," Mungeer said.
State
troopers have been assigned to New York City more frequently in recent
years, at Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s request, assigned to patrol the city’s
airports, bridges and tunnels.
Mungeer
directed his request to State Police Superintendent Keith Corlett. He
also suggested that the state attorney general indemnify state troopers
from the New York City law, but it's unclear if that office holds that
authority.