Bill Text: NY S06298 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Creates the New York state school resource officer program for school districts outside of New York City; requires retired police officers be certified by the department of education to become school resource officers; allows retired police officers employed as school resource officers to carry a firearm on school grounds given an appropriate license; relates to the earnings limitations for retired police officers employed as a school resource officer.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-23 - PRINT NUMBER 6298A [S06298 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S06298-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6298--A 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE June 3, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules -- recommitted to the Committee on Education in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the education law, the criminal procedure law, and the retirement and social security law, in relation to the creation of the Comprehensive School Resource Officer Training and Implementation Program (SRO TIP) The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 2801-c 2 to read as follows: 3 § 2801-c. New York state school resource officer program. 1. For 4 purposes of this section, the term "school resource officer" shall mean 5 a school resource officer, school safety officer, school security offi- 6 cer, or any other substantially similar position or office whose purpose 7 is to provide improved public safety and/or security on school grounds. 8 2. Any boards of cooperative educational services, public or nonpublic 9 school which is not in a city school district in a city having a popu- 10 lation of one million or more may employ, in either the classified or 11 unclassified service, any school resource officer. Such school resource 12 officer shall be: (a) a retired police officer, a retired state trooper, 13 or a retired deputy sheriff and who, once a certification process is 14 established, is certified as a school resource officer under section 15 twenty-eight hundred one-d of this article; or (b) an active duty state 16 trooper, police officer in the service of a town, city or village, or 17 deputy sheriff from a county sheriff's department. 18 3. Any boards of cooperative educational services, public or nonpublic 19 school which is not in a city school district in a city having a popu- 20 lation of one million or more may contract with the state of New York, EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00319-08-9S. 6298--A 2 1 or a county, city, town or village, for the provision of a state troop- 2 er, police officer or deputy sheriff, to serve as a school resource 3 officer. A board of cooperative educational services or school district 4 which is not in a city school district in a city having a population of 5 one million or more shall be authorized to employ or contract for as 6 many school resource officers as such board of cooperative educational 7 services or district deems necessary. 8 4. It shall be the primary role of the school resource officer to 9 provide improved public safety and/or security on school grounds through 10 community policing techniques, investigative measures, and tactical 11 preparedness. In addition to such primary role, school resource officers 12 also may serve additional roles, including but not limited to: 13 (a) Proposing and enforcing policies and administrative procedures 14 related to school safety; 15 (b) Utilizing technology in the implementation of a comprehensive 16 safety program; 17 (c) Serving as a liaison with other school officials and other commu- 18 nity agencies, including but not limited to, other law enforcement enti- 19 ties, courts, health care entities, and mental health entities; 20 (d) Proposing and implementing strategies concerning prevention, 21 response and recovery efforts for incidents and/or emergency situations 22 occurring on school grounds and/or involving students, faculty, adminis- 23 tration or visitors to the school; 24 (e) Proposing and assisting in the execution of school emergency 25 drills and proposing and assisting in the creation of school safety 26 plans; 27 (f) Providing educational and mentoring services to students; 28 (g) Assisting in the design, explanation and enforcement of school 29 safety and security policies and procedures; and 30 (h) Performing such other and further roles, responsibilities and 31 activities as the school district may deem appropriate and proper for a 32 law enforcement officer to perform, in order to advance the security, 33 safety and well-being of students, faculty, administration and visitors 34 to the school district's schools, transportation vehicles and school 35 grounds. 36 5. Such school resource officer may carry and possess firearms during 37 the course of their duties at such school district, but nothing in this 38 subdivision shall be deemed to authorize such school resource officer to 39 carry, possess, repair or dispose of a firearm unless the appropriate 40 license therefor has been issued pursuant to section 400.00 of the penal 41 law. 42 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 2801-d to 43 read as follows: 44 § 2801-d. New York state school resource officer certification 45 program. 1. For purposes of this section, the term "school resource 46 officer" shall mean a school resource officer, school safety officer, 47 school security officer, or any other substantially similar position or 48 office whose purpose is to provide improved public safety and/or securi- 49 ty on school grounds. 50 2. The department shall, utilizing boards of cooperative educational 51 services, establish a school resource officer training program to certi- 52 fy retired police officers, retired deputy sheriffs, and retired state 53 troopers as school resource officers as well as a school resource offi- 54 cer recertification program to recertify school resource officers who 55 have previously completed and passed the department's school resource 56 officer certification program. Such programs shall be designed by theS. 6298--A 3 1 department to include, but not be limited to, counseling techniques, 2 community policing practices, gender and racial sensitivity awareness, 3 and field and tactical training for prevention and response to inci- 4 dents. The department shall utilize current or retired police officers, 5 in order to train school resource officers in any police related or 6 tactical training provided for certification. The certifications granted 7 from such programs shall expire one year after the program was completed 8 and passed. 9 3. The department shall separately offer the school resource officer 10 training program and the school resource officer recertification program 11 at least once per year per county. 12 § 3. Section 2.10 of the criminal procedure law is amended by adding a 13 new subdivision 86 to read as follows: 14 86. Retired police officers, retired state troopers, or retired deputy 15 sheriffs employed by boards of cooperative educational services or a 16 school district as a school resource officer; provided, however, that 17 nothing in this subdivision shall be deemed to authorize such officer to 18 carry, possess, repair or dispose of a firearm unless the appropriate 19 license therefor has been issued pursuant to section 400.00 of the penal 20 law. 21 § 4. Subdivision 3 of section 212 of the retirement and social securi- 22 ty law, as added by section 1 of part Y of chapter 55 of the laws of 23 2013, is amended to read as follows: 24 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions one and two of this 25 section, the commissioner of education may determine, pursuant to 26 section two hundred eleven of this article, that such earnings limita- 27 tions shall not apply to a retired police officer, retired state trooper 28 or retired deputy sheriff employed by boards of cooperative educational 29 services or a school district as a school resource officer; or to a 30 retired police officer, retired state trooper, or retired deputy sheriff 31 who is employed as a school resource officer by a county, city, town or 32 village police department pursuant to a contract with a school district 33 to provide such services. 34 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: Insofar as this bill will affect the New York State and Local Employ- ees' Retirement System (ERS) and the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS), this bill will allow the commissioner of education to determine that the earnings limitations set forth in section two hundred twelve shall not apply to retired police officers, retired state troopers and retired deputy sheriffs who are employed as a school resource officer by either a board of cooperative educational services or a school district, or by a county, city, town or village police department pursuant to a contract with a school district to provide such services. Currently, this privilege is only allowed to retired police officers who are employed as a school resource officer by a school district. If this bill is enacted, we expect few retirees to be affected. There would be negligible additional annual costs. However, if large numbers of retirees are hired into such positions, there would be additional annual costs which would be shared by the state of New York and all of the participating employers in the System. Summary of relevant resources: The membership data used in measuring the impact of the proposed change was the same as that used in the March 31, 2019 actuarial valu- ation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2019S. 6298--A 4 Report of the Actuary and the 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control. The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2019 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and Supplementary Information. I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali- fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein. This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney. This estimate, dated December 6, 2019, and intended for use only during the 2020 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2020-19, prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
