State Senate to hold hearings on police safety

December 30, 2014 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

State Sen. Marty Golden chairs the Civil Service and Pensions Committee, one of the committees that will take part in the hearings. Eagle file photo by Paula Katinas

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In the wake of the assassinations of police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu on a Brooklyn street, Republican leaders of the New York State Senate announced that the senate will hold a series of public hearings starting in early January to examine police safety.

The hearings will review safety concerns raised by the shooting deaths of Ramos and Liu, in addition to other recent attacks and hostility directed at law enforcement, according to senate leaders.

State Sen. Marty Golden (R-C-Bay Ridge-Southwest Brooklyn), who chairs the Civil Service and Pensions Committee, will be among the lawmakers taking part in the hearings.

In addition to the Civil Service and Pensions Committee, the following committees, which will have subpoena powers, will jointly hold the hearings: Codes, chaired by Sen. Michael Nozzolio (R-C- Fayette); Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections, chaired by Sen. Pat Gallivan (R-C-I- Elma); Investigations and Government Operations, chaired by Sen. Carl L. Marcellino (R- Syosset).

The dates and locations of the hearings will be announced within the next few days, officials said.

The hearings are necessary, according to Golden.

“It is our belief that a review of the current structure of governance protecting our law enforcement officers must be conducted. We look forward to the participation of many public safety experts as we review training procedures, pension and disability benefits, and discuss better ways to protect those who keep us safe,” said Golden, who is a retired police officer.

Senate Co-Leader Dean G. Skelos (R-Nassau County) said that given the “extraordinarily difficult and dangerous job” law enforcement officers have, “its incumbent upon both the city and the state to give these individuals the support they need and ensure they are always treated like the first-class professionals we know them to be.”

The hearings will likely be held in New York City and in Albany. The senators are expected to receive input from law enforcement, legal scholars, city and state officials and district attorneys on issues such as the safety of police officers; statistics on assaults upon police officers and discussions on adequate training and equipment; the impact of community policing; the need for state action to assure adequate police disability and death benefits; and the grand jury process.

“I look forward to hearing from the law enforcement community, legal scholars and others to help determine if reforms to our criminal justice system are warranted, while at the same time ensuring both police and public safety,” Gallivan said.

“Our communities are safer because of the sacrifices police officers and first responders make every day. It is a tough job and we must do all that we can to see that their jobs aren’t made even more difficult,” Marcellino said.

Ramos and Liu, were shot to death on Dec. 20 as they sat in their patrol car on a street in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The gunman, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who ambushed the two officers, fled the scene and ran into a subway station, where he shot himself to death. He had earlier posted angry messages on social media against police, citing the cases of Eric Garner and Michael Brown.