Appropriates $44,500,000 for and establishes a street level narcotics enforcement program in the division of criminal justice services for counties not wholly contained within a city and having a population in excess of one million and to villages; directs the division of state police to provide centralized narcotics enforcement training for police officers employed by or under contract with eligible counties or incorporated villages.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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5285
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 15, 2011
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Introduced by M. of A. HOOPER -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. CLARK,
CYMBROWITZ, P. RIVERA, ROBINSON, SCHIMEL, SWEENEY, TOWNS -- read once
and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
AN ACT to establish a street level narcotics enforcement program; and
making appropriations therefor
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature finds that despite
2 the efforts of law enforcement agencies to control illegal trafficking
3 in narcotics in this state, the prevalence of narcotics sales and use,
4 and the incidence of violent and property crimes directly related to the
5 narcotics trade remains a serious public safety problem. The legislature
6 further finds that state and federal resources devoted to this problem
7 have primarily been concentrated on efforts to arrest and prosecute
8 large-scale narcotics sellers and manufacturers, and to interdict
9 narcotics entering the state. This concentration of effort has left few
10 resources available to assist a certain class of communities which
11 continue to experience severe problems with narcotics sales and use on
12 street corners and in buildings, often abandoned ones, where illegal
13 activities can take place out of the view of the police and public. The
14 legislature concludes that the establishment of a street level narcotics
15 enforcement program is necessary to provide additional resources to
16 certain communities of this state whose quality of life is seriously
17 marred by street level narcotics, but whose local fiscal resources are
18 insufficient to support a suitable law enforcement response to this
19 threat.
20 § 2. a. The division of criminal justice services shall provide aid,
21 within the amounts appropriated therefor, to counties not wholly
22 contained within a city and having a population in excess of one million
23 and to villages within such counties having populations less than fifty
24 thousand for the purposes of combating street level narcotics traffick-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06870-01-1
A. 5285 2
1 ing or other offenses related to the sale and use of narcotics. Each
2 county shall be eligible for an amount of aid which is allocated in
3 proportion to such county's population in relation to the total popu-
4 lation of all eligible counties as established by the nineteen hundred
5 eighty federal census. Each incorporated village shall be eligible for
6 an amount of aid which is allocated in proportion to such incorporated
7 village's population in relation to the total population of all eligible
8 incorporated villages as established by the nineteen hundred eighty
9 federal census.
10 b. Each eligible county and incorporated village shall file with the
11 commissioner of the division of criminal justice services an expenditure
12 plan detailing the uses of its allocation and shall receive approval of
13 such plan prior to receiving any funds pursuant to this act.
14 c. Approved uses for funds distributed pursuant to this section shall
15 include, but shall not be limited to, employment of police officers for
16 the primary purpose of enforcing narcotics laws; payment of fringe bene-
17 fits accompanying the employment of such officers; the purchase or lease
18 of equipment, including automobiles, to be used in narcotics enforce-
19 ment; and discretionary payments, including the purchase of controlled
20 substances deemed necessary in the investigation of narcotics crimes.
21 d. Any county or incorporated village receiving funds pursuant to this
22 section which does not maintain its own police department or which wish-
23 es to augment the resources of its police department may contract with
24 one or more municipal or county law enforcement agencies which have
25 jurisdiction within the boundaries of such county or incorporated
26 village to carry out the provisions of the expenditure plan. The
27 provisions of such contracts shall be disclosed in the expenditure plan.
28 e. The division of state police shall provide centralized narcotics
29 enforcement training for police officers employed by or under contract
30 with eligible counties or incorporated villages pursuant to this
31 section.
32 § 3. a. The division of criminal justice services shall provide grants
33 to counties and incorporated villages eligible for aid pursuant to
34 section two of this act for the purpose of creating demonstration
35 projects in counties and incorporated villages which display a compre-
36 hensive approach to combating street level narcotics trafficking.
37 b. Applications for grants pursuant to subdivision a of this section
38 must describe a particular portion or portions of the community in which
39 street level narcotics trafficking is a serious problem, and must
40 propose an approach to solving the problem which contains elements such
41 as more frequent uniformed police patrols, the use of police foot
42 patrols, the interdiction of movement in stolen goods, the securing or
43 demolition of abandoned buildings, enforcement of housing codes and
44 organizing of neighborhood crime prevention groups.
45 c. The commissioner of the division of criminal justice services shall
46 design and conduct evaluations of any programs funded with demonstration
47 grants, with an emphasis on determining if the programs are suitable to
48 be designated as street level narcotics trafficking enforcement models
49 for all law enforcement agencies of the state.
50 § 4. The sum of forty-one million dollars ($41,000,000), or so much
51 thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the division of
52 criminal justice services out of any moneys in the state treasury in the
53 general fund to the credit of the local assistance account, not other-
54 wise appropriated, and made immediately available, for the purposes of
55 providing aid to eligible counties and incorporated villages to combat
56 street level narcotics trafficking pursuant to subdivision a of section
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1 two of this act. Such moneys shall be payable on the audit and warrant
2 of the comptroller on vouchers certified or approved by the commissioner
3 of the division of criminal justice services in the manner prescribed by
4 law.
5 § 5. The sum of three million dollars ($3,000,000), or so much thereof
6 as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the division of criminal
7 justice services out of any moneys in the state treasury in the general
8 fund to the credit of the local assistance account, not otherwise appro-
9 priated, and made immediately available, for the purposes of carrying
10 out the provisions of section three of this act. Such moneys shall be
11 payable on the audit and warrant of the comptroller on vouchers certi-
12 fied or approved by the commissioner of the division of criminal justice
13 services in the manner prescribed by law.
14 § 6. The sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), or so much
15 thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the division of
16 state police out of any moneys in the state treasury in the general fund
17 to the credit of the state purposes account, not otherwise appropriated,
18 and made immediately available, for the purpose of carrying out the
19 provisions of subdivision e of section two of this act. Such moneys
20 shall be payable on the audit and warrant of the comptroller on vouchers
21 certified or approved by the superintendent of the division of state
22 police in the manner prescribed by law.
23 § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.
