New York Trots Out Sweeping Police “Reform” Legislation, Would See Police Leave In Droves

If people think the current state of affairs in Democrat run states and cities has been counter-productive to law and order and has caused police to retire/leave in large numbers now, just wait to see if this legislation makes it through to become law

How a Sweeping New Proposal Would Limit Police Use of Force in New York

Police officers in New York state could only use physical force as a last resort, would have to meet a higher threshold for using deadly force and would face new criminal penalties for violating those guidelines under a sweeping legislative proposal unveiled Friday.

If adopted, the changes could drastically alter the nature of law enforcement in New York at a time when the issue of police accountability is at the center of a fraught national debate over persistent racism in America’s criminal justice system.

The legislation was proposed by Letitia James, the state’s attorney general, who said in a statement that her goal was to provide “clear and legitimate standards for when the use of force is acceptable and enacting real consequences for when an officer crosses that line.”

The proposal — announced nearly a year after a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, killed George Floyd, a Black man — came amid continuing calls for increasing the accountability applied to officers who are involved in such killings.

Instead of providing better training, instead of reaching out to the communities where the violence tends to occur making the cops use force, instead of teaching the proper actions in schools, they will handcuff the police and make it much more likely to be sued and/or criminally charged. Hence, a lot of police officers will leave, because they never know when they will be thrown into a bad situation with the ever increasing amount of people willing to engage police in violence, who resist, who fail to follow commands, who run, who pull a weapon on police. Just think about how many are blaming the officer who shot Ma’Khia Bryant, despite the officer having just rolled up, yelled for Ma’Khia to stop, then shot her when she was about to stab another girl (obviously, the other black girl’s life doesn’t matter to the cop haters).

James’ proposal — sponsored in the state Legislature by Brooklyn Democrats Sen. Kevin Parker and Assembly member Nick Perry — is certain to face opposition from Republicans and potentially some moderate Democrats in suburban districts.

The legislation would amend state law to require officers to exhaust so-called de-escalation tactics, like verbal warnings, before using force and would create a “last resort” standard for justifying such a use of force.

“Police officers are imbued with an incredible amount of police power and state power,” James, a Democrat, said at a news conference in Manhattan Friday. “The state has every right to demand that that power is used as seldom as possible, and when it must be used, only appropriately and proportionally.”

And the vast majority of them do. But, this would make it virtually impossible to actually use force when necessary.

Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, which represents police officers in New York City, criticized the legislation sharply.

“This sweeping proposal would make it impossible for police officers to determine whether or not we are permitted to use force in a given situation,” he said in a statement. “The only reasonable solution will be to avoid confrontations where force might become necessary.”

In other words, those police who do not leave will be tasked with patrolling the rich, then upper middle class, then middle class neighborhoods. They will avoid going to areas where there is lots of crime. They will be slow to respond to calls which could put them in a bad situation. Domestic dispute? Avoid. There is a high chance of things going bad. Kids fighting? Nope. Stolen car? File insurance claim. Guy running around threatening people? Nope. Someone walking around pinching women? Nope.

Crime will skyrocket. And the law should include a provision that anyone who voted for any lawmaker that approves of this bill should not be allowed to move from the State of New York. This includes if they voted for AG Letitia James. This is what they were voting for. There might not be enough Republicans and moderate Democrats to stop this trainwreck. But, hey, you never know if the general assembly will become reasonable.