NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1531B
SPONSOR: Richardson TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the civil rights law, in relation to reporting a none-
mergency incident involving a member of a protected class
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To prevent the misuse of 911 and other organizations that deal with
emergencies.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one establishes civil penalties for summoning a police officer
or peace officer when there is no reason to believe a crime or offense,
or imminent threat to person or property, is occurring.
Section two establishes the effective date.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
The amended version makes a minor, technical change.
JUSTIFICATION:
Recent years have shown a number of distressing, frivolous calls to 911
for selling water, cutting grass, or using the swimming pool. These
callers' personal comfort with other people has been the basis for the
majority of those calls, and not for any particular threat. Calling 911
for non-emergencies poses a bigger threat to society in the era of
Trump. Oftentimes, officers reporting to a scene are deposited into a
situation with limited information and if that information sounds crit-
ical enough to law enforcement, they may respond with tactical force. It
takes less than seven seconds for a situation with few details to esca-
late.
Furthermore, emergency services should be readily available for citizens
in eminent danger. Having 911 call centers continuously dispatching
Police, Fire or EMT services for non-emergencies leaves their resources
short if an actual emergency is reported at the same time. This bill is
not to discourage the intended use of 911, but to inhibit its blatant
misuse.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2018: New bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1531--B
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 15, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. RICHARDSON, D'URSO, ASHBY, SAYEGH, DeSTEFANO,
VANEL -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. SIMON -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Codes -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee -- recommitted to the Committee on Codes in accordance with Assem-
bly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to reporting a none-
mergency incident involving a member of a protected class
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 79-n of the civil rights law, as
2 added by chapter 227 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
3 2. Any person who intentionally selects a person or property for harm
4 or causes damage to the property of another or causes physical injury or
5 death to another or summons a police officer or peace officer without
6 reason to suspect a violation of the penal law, any other criminal
7 conduct, or an imminent threat to a person or property, in whole or in
8 substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding the race,
9 color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice,
10 age, disability or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether
11 the belief or perception is correct, shall be liable, in a civil action
12 or proceeding maintained by such individual or group of individuals, for
13 injunctive relief, damages, or any other appropriate relief in law or
14 equity. If it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court or justice
15 that the respondent has, in fact, violated this section, an injunction
16 may be issued by such court or justice, enjoining and restraining any
17 further violation, without requiring proof that any person has, in fact,
18 been injured or damaged thereby. For the purposes of this subdivision, a
19 person lacks reason to suspect a violation of the penal law, any other
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04520-09-0
A. 1531--B 2
1 criminal conduct, or an imminent threat to a person or property where a
2 reasonable person would not suspect such violation, conduct, or threat.
3 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
