September 11, 2008
How much training does an arresting officer need?
Peace officers--with a few as 10 hours of police training--can make warrantless searches and arrests in New York. While the Legislature apparently has no problem with that, Governor David Paterson does.
In vetoing 11 bills that would authorize peace officers, Paterson noted that full-time peace officers need only 35 hours of training and part-time officers need only 10 hours. "Those levels are utterly insufficient given the breadth of the law enforcement powers that peace officers are authorized to exercise," he said.
After Governor Eliot Spitzer vetoed 16 similar bills in 2007, he directed the Division of Criminal Justice Services to draft a bill to overhaul the definition, training and duties of peace officers. The bill, among other things would direct the Municipal Police Training Council, not the Legislature, determine training requirements for peace officers.
The bill, which was not introduced until June 11, never made it out of committee before the Legislature left town at the end of the month.
The bills Paterson vetoed would have extended peace officer status to specific jobs in these localities: Town of Windsor (uniformed court officers); New York City (certain employees of the business integrity commission); Cayuga County (marine patrol officers); City of Salamanca (dog control officer); Village of Northport (uniformed court officers); Village of Lake George (seasonal constables); Village of Southampton (uniformed fire marshals); Town of Huntington (uniformed fire marshals); Town of Islip (fire prevention employees); Town of Alden (court security officers); and Village of Westhampton Beach (uniformed court officers).
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