Prohibits handcuffing or forcibly restraining children age twelve and under unless such child presents a danger to such child, the officer or others; limits warrantless arrests of persons under age eighteen except where the arrest is necessary for public safety; establishes a twenty-four hour hotline for police officers to consult with youth social services personnel and attorneys regarding interactions with children and adolescents.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3118
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 23, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CRUZ -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, the criminal procedure law, the family
court act, and the executive law, in relation to prohibiting the hand-
cuffing or forcible restraint of certain juveniles in certain circum-
stances; and limiting warrantless arrests of juveniles except where
the arrest is necessary for public safety
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 35.30 of the penal law is amended by adding a new
2 subdivision 1-a to read as follows:
3 1-a. (a) (i) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this section or
4 any other contrary provision of law, a police officer or a peace offi-
5 cer, in the course of effecting or attempting to effect an arrest, or of
6 preventing or attempting to prevent the escape from custody, of a child
7 as defined in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) of this subdivision whom
8 such officer reasonably believes to have committed an offense, may use
9 physical force only when such officer reasonably believes such child
10 poses an imminent risk of danger to such child, the officer, or another
11 person, nor shall any such officer handcuff or otherwise forcibly
12 restrain such child unless such officer reasonably believes such child
13 poses an imminent risk of danger to such child, the officer, or a third
14 person.
15 (ii) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this section or any
16 other contrary provision of law, a police officer or a peace officer, in
17 the course of effecting or attempting to effect an arrest, or of
18 preventing or attempting to prevent the escape from custody, of an
19 adolescent as defined in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (b) of this
20 subdivision, may handcuff or otherwise forcibly restrain such adolescent
21 when, in such officer's discretion, such physical force or forcible
22 restraint is necessary to effect the arrest, prevent the escape or to
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06480-01-5
A. 3118 2
1 overcome resistance from such adolescent based on the nature and severi-
2 ty of the alleged offense and the circumstances of the interaction with
3 such adolescent.
4 (b) As used in this section the following terms shall have the follow-
5 ing meanings:
6 (i) "Child" shall mean a person less than thirteen years of age.
7 (ii) "Adolescent" shall mean a person over thirteen and less than
8 eighteen years of age.
9 (iii) "Forcibly restrain" or "forcible restraint" includes but is not
10 limited to the following actions:
11 (A) the use of any type of handcuffs, including disposable cinch
12 cuffs, thumb cuffs, zip ties, chains, shackles, irons, or any other
13 similar device or equipment used to restrict a person's movement; or
14 (B) the use or threatened use of physical force for the purposes of
15 restricting a person's movement, including the use or threatened use of
16 a firearm, or a taser, stun gun, or any similar "non-lethal" weapons; or
17 (C) the use or application of any combination of the methods described
18 in clauses (A) and (B) of this subparagraph.
19 § 2. Section 140.10 of the criminal procedure law is amended by adding
20 a new subdivision 3-c to read as follows:
21 3-c. (a) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this section or any
22 other contrary provision of this article, a police officer may arrest a
23 person under the age of eighteen years pursuant to subdivisions one,
24 two, and three of this section only when such warrantless arrest is
25 reasonably necessary to prevent an immediate threat to public safety.
26 (b) Except as provided in paragraph (a) of this subdivision, when a
27 police officer has reasonable cause to believe that such person under
28 the age eighteen years has committed:
29 (i) an offense in such officer's presence, or
30 (ii) a crime whether in such officer's presence or otherwise, such
31 police officer shall:
32 (A) issue or cause the issuance of an appearance ticket to such person
33 pursuant to article one hundred fifty of this part or article three of
34 the family court act; or
35 (B) apply for warrant of arrest pursuant to section 120.20 of this
36 part or article three of the family court act.
37 (c) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to apply to an
38 arrest made pursuant to subdivision four of this section.
39 § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 305.2 of the family court act, as
40 amended by section 62 of part WWW of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is
41 amended to read as follows:
42 2. An officer may take a child who may be subject to the provisions of
43 this article for committing an act that would be a crime if committed by
44 an adult into custody without a warrant in cases in which the officer
45 may arrest a person [for a crime under article one hundred forty] under
46 the age of eighteen years without a warrant pursuant to subdivision
47 three-b of section 140.10 of the criminal procedure law.
48 § 4. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 76 to read
49 as follows:
50 § 76. Youth services hotline for police officers. 1. The attorney
51 general shall establish and administer a hotline for police officers, as
52 defined in subdivision thirty-four of section 1.20 of the criminal
53 procedure law, to consult with youth social services professional or
54 legal personnel about field and school arrests, custody orders,
55 warrants, and other procedures governing police interactions with
56 persons under the age of eighteen years.
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1 2. The attorney general shall recruit youth social services profes-
2 sionals and attorneys to participate in the program; provided such
3 social services professionals and attorneys shall not be deemed to be
4 representing any police officers that they advise through the program.
5 3. Such hotline shall be accessible via a toll-free phone number that
6 operates twenty-four hours per day and seven days per week.
7 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
