On August 17, 2020, Governor Cuomo signed Executive Order 203 – the ‘New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative’ which mandates that police departments in every municipality in the state come up with a list of reforms they plan to implement, or risk losing state and federal funding. In response, many municipalities are creating Police Reform and Reinvention Committees, but still, others have failed to submit their plan to the State Budget Director by the April 1, 2021 deadline. If your municipality has not yet formed a plan to address this order, read on to see if you need to act now.
What Police Entities are Subject to EO 203?
This process is only for local governments that have police agencies operating with police officers. New York State defines police officers under Criminal Procedure Law Section 1.20. For most counties, the majority of employees with police powers are within the Sherriff’s Department. However, it is important to review this summary which includes a police power list to see if your county has any agencies that would be subject to this process, plan review, and adoption.
EO 203 Overview:
1) Review: EO 203 calls on any local government policing entity to perform a review of current “police force deployments, strategies, policies, procedures, and practices.”
2) Plan Development: In coordination of such review, the local government “Chief Executive” of any local government with a local police agency must “convene the head of the local police agency, and “stakeholders” in the community to develop such plan. The stakeholders must be consulted with and allowed to make plan recommendations.
3) Adoption or Ratification of Plan: Such plan must be offered for public comment to all citizens in the locality, and after consideration of such comments, shall be presented to the local legislative body in such political subdivision, which shall ratify or adopt such plan by local law or resolution, as appropriate, no later than April 1, 2021.
4) Submit Plan to DOB: Such local government shall transmit a certification to the Director of the Division of the Budget to affirm that such process has been complied with and such local law or resolution has been adopted.
Getting Started
It’s been a tremendously challenging year for everyone, and we understand first responders and elected officials are under a lot of pressure. Ultimately, everyone will benefit from fostering a culture of self-evaluation, empathy, and caring for one another. If you feel overwhelmed or unsure how to begin this process, we suggest inviting residents to participate in a Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Survey as a way to give the community a voice and start a thoughtful dialogue with members and leaders of your local police department, and elected officials. Be sure to advertise your plans on various social platforms to spread the word and boost engagement. Statewide, many municipalities have been able to generate valuable data and insight to plan future efforts. It is important to note that several attorneys authored a letter addressed to the governor that attracted over 300 signatures calling for the EO 203 April 1 deadline to be extended. In a statement, the governor’s office said that the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services “has been proactively reaching out to law enforcement leadership across the state to help support them…in achieving the goals of the executive order.” And that the “division of the budget will review that municipalities have, in fact, complied with the law.” We understand this is a complex and sensitive issue for many communities. We encourage you to contact our team today if you have concerns about how this executive order could impact your federal funding, or other questions surrounding the unique factors that impact the government sector.
Sources: Governor.NY.GOV, Spectrum