New York Senate Bill S04892 Latest Draft

   
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4892 2023-2024 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE February 16, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. CLEARE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to ethnic or racial profiling The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 837-x 2 to read as follows: 3 § 837-x. Ethnic and racial profiling. 1. For the purposes of this 4 section: 5 (a) "Law enforcement agency" means an agency established by the state 6 or a unit of local government engaged in the prevention, detection, or 7 investigation of violations of criminal law. 8 (b) "Law enforcement officer" means a police officer or peace officer, 9 as defined in subdivisions thirty-three and thirty-four of section 1.20 10 of the criminal procedure law, employed by a law enforcement agency. 11 (c) "Racial or ethnic profiling" means the practice of a law enforce- 12 ment agent or agency, relying, to any degree, on actual or perceived 13 race, color, ethnicity, national origin or religion in selecting which 14 individual or location to subject to routine or spontaneous investigato- 15 ry activities or in deciding upon the scope and substance of law 16 enforcement activity following the initial investigatory procedure, 17 except when there is trustworthy information, relevant to the locality 18 and timeframe, that links a specific person or location with a partic- 19 ular characteristic described in this paragraph to an identified crimi- 20 nal incident or scheme. 21 (d) "Routine or spontaneous investigatory activities" means the 22 following activities by a law enforcement agent: 23 (i) Interviews; 24 (ii) Traffic stops; 25 (iii) Pedestrian stops; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00001-01-3 
 S. 4892 2 1 (iv) Frisks and other types of body searches; 2 (v) Consensual or nonconsensual searches of persons, property or 3 possessions (including vehicles) of individuals; 4 (vi) Data collection and analysis, assessments and investigations; and 5 (vii) Inspections and interviews. 6 2. Every law enforcement agency and every law enforcement officer 7 shall be prohibited from engaging in racial or ethnic profiling. 8 3. Every law enforcement agency shall promulgate and adopt a written 9 policy which prohibits racial or ethnic profiling. In addition, each 10 such agency shall promulgate and adopt procedures for the review and the 11 taking of corrective action with respect to complaints by individuals 12 who allege that they have been the subject of racial or ethnic profil- 13 ing. A copy of each such complaint received pursuant to this section and 14 written notification of the review and disposition of such complaint 15 shall be promptly provided by such agency to the division. 16 4. The attorney general may bring an action on behalf of the people 17 for injunctive relief and/or damages against a law enforcement agency 18 that is engaging in or has engaged in an act or acts of racial or ethnic 19 profiling in a court having jurisdiction to issue such relief. The court 20 may award costs and reasonable attorney fees to the attorney general who 21 prevails in such an action. 22 5. Nothing in this section shall be construed as diminishing or abro- 23 gating any right, remedy or cause of action which an individual who has 24 been subject to racial or ethnic profiling may have pursuant to any 25 other provision of law. 26 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the 27 provisions of subdivision 3 of section 837-x of the executive law as 28 added by section one of this act shall take effect on the ninetieth day 29 after it shall have become a law.