ALBANY—A union representing thousands of state police recently asked members not to “cooperate” with a special unit in the Office of the Attorney General that was authorized last year to investigate fatal encounters involving police officers in New York. I have issued an order directing
The directive was issued during an August meeting of the Executive Committee of the Police Charity Association of New York State Police. The committee also advised members to exercise their Fifth Amendment rights and to refuse to answer questions if forced to testify in the Attorney General’s investigation. His more than 4,000 uniformed state police members in the PBA include troopers, sergeants, lieutenants, captains, and majors.
“Members will not cooperate with (the State Police Criminal Investigative Service) in connection with the Attorney General’s investigation,” the board minutes said. “If ordered to appear for an interview, members will appear with an attorney and exercise their Fifth Amendment rights.”
The directive dismisses a union lawsuit that the PBA appealed a state Supreme Court judge’s ruling earlier this year and alleges the attorney general’s office is abusing its powers under a new section of state administrative law. , was issued while authorizing the office to investigate cases in which civilians died. Encountering off-duty troopers. This issue is becoming more apparent as PBA has experienced a recent unrelated management turnover, raising internal questions about spending and hiring practices.
The attorney general’s intervention in police-involved fatalities came in 2015, when former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo issued an executive order authorizing the agency to investigate fatal encounters between police and unarmed civilians. started. Cuomo signed the executive order that year after a string of deadly police-involved incidents in New York and across the country.
Six years later, the order was codified by Congress under a new chapter of the Administrative Code, creating the Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigations, which charged nearly all civilian deaths, whether armed or not. We have been given expanded powers to investigate all incidents. Meet peace officers, including both police officers and corrections officers.
Other states have set up similar agencies, and in Maryland, a special unit in the Office of the Attorney General last month reportedly investigated 23 police-involved deaths in the first year. In that state, however, local prosecutors decide whether to file criminal charges as a result of a case brought by the state’s independent investigative division.
In response to the PBA lawsuit, the New York Attorney General’s Office argued that a new chapter of the Administrative Code also gives powers to investigate cases of death during encounters with off-duty officers.
The PBA said in the lawsuit that the law’s interpretation was “overly broad” and that the law would allow local district attorneys to investigate fatalities involving police officers whose firm often works with. It argued that it was created to eliminate potential conflicts of interest, should the need arise. Regularly. The union argues that extending the law to include conduct by off-duty officers violates their rights of equal protection.
PBA General Counsel Daniel E. Strollo said: “That said, our police officers do not answer the Attorney General’s office. We deeply distrust her office’s motives and willingness to conduct an impartial investigation.The PBA police officers are the subject of a political witch hunt.”
In response to instructions to members of the PBA, the Attorney General’s Office issued a statement saying, “We are obliged to conduct thorough investigations into these matters and hope that all law enforcement agencies will cooperate with these investigations. there is,” he said.
A State Police spokesperson said their “policy requires members to cooperate with prosecutors in pending criminal cases,” but that “members have become the target of criminal investigations.” In that case, they would have a constitutional right not to answer the question to avoid the possibility of personal bankruptcy.” commit crimes like any other citizen. ”
While a landmark 1967 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court may compel police officers to file affidavits through collective bargaining agreements to keep their jobs, these affidavits have since determined that it could not be used against the police in criminal cases. But the ruling also established that police officers cannot be fired for exercising their Fifth Amendment right to self-incrimination. The case involved a local police officer who had been implicated in a ticket gate scandal and had been threatened with dismissal if he did not cooperate with an internal investigation.
A union in the state Supreme Court after investigators from the Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigations visited the hospital where a state police lieutenant and his female companion were being treated after a head-on collision in July 2021. of legal objections have been filed. Troopers were off duty during the incident in Onondaga County.
The Attorney General’s investigators requested that police officers provide a blood sample to see if there were any injuries. According to court records and state police officials, the lieutenant voluntarily submitted, but blood samples showed no illegal substances or alcohol in his body. It was determined that one driver’s car crossed the centerline and hit the trooper’s car.
In a civil suit, the PBA alleged that the office exceeded its mandate under the law. The union claims it should only be summoned to investigate the use of lethal force when encountering civilians while on official duty.
The Attorney General’s Office “applied a vague and overly broad interpretation that gave it virtually unfettered investigative powers on matters that had no reasonable bearing on law enforcement actions or whether there was a firearm release,” it said. Their complaint states:
Timothy E. Dimond, president of the New York State Police Investigators Association, a union representing state police investigators, said he had not instructed its members not to cooperate with the attorney general’s investigation. However, he said that if members are interviewed in connection with the investigation, they may be accompanied by a lawyer and advised not to answer any questions.
“We’re going to give them advice and whether or not they make a statement is on a case-by-case basis,” Dimond said.
Members of the State Police have complained that they believe the criminal investigation initiated by the Attorney General’s Office has questionable legitimacy.
In one case, the actions of an investigator who was serving as a hostage negotiator in a case in Westchester County were investigated after the man he was trying to help committed suicide.
Another case that troubled the union involved two investigators who went to the residence of a man who was facing child pornography allegations. , saw the investigator through the window. Investigators broke down his door and cut him down when they realized what was going on, according to a state police official who described the incident. He has not been identified.
The Attorney General’s Office has previously been tasked with investigating not only the use of lethal force, but whether the actions, or their inaction, of police and prison officers may have led to someone’s death. was emphasizing that
Still, a legal challenge by the PBA, pending before the Intermediate Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court in Albany, states that the law authorizes the Attorney General’s Office to investigate “issues that do not have a reasonable relationship with law enforcement.” claims not. activity or official police duty. ”
The Attorney General’s Office said on its website that the law “allows the investigation of crimes or offenses suspected of being committed by any person who is a police officer, whether or not he is officially in service, and if there is good reason to do so, Security Officers … Cases in which the death of a person, whether in custody or not, was caused by the act or omission of the police or security officer concerned. , or in relation to cases the Attorney General determines to be problematic, whether the death was in fact caused by the act or omission of such police or security forces.”
The bureau also states that “all incidents in which a police officer has caused or may have caused the death of a person, whether the person is armed or not, whether the officer is on duty or not.” He says he will investigate.
In October, the Attorney General’s Office issued a mandated annual report summarizing its investigation of the previous year’s police-involved deaths. The investigation resulted in four criminal charges against police department officers, including murder and reckless endangerment charges against police officer Christopher Baldner. He is awaiting trial in December 2020 on charges of using a State Police vehicle to crash into another vehicle during a high-speed chase on a thruway. The crash caused the fleeing suspect’s car to overturn, killing 11-year-old Monica with injuries to her toy.
Baldner was also charged in September 2019 with endangering the lives of another driver and passenger.
