S 6771: Grants immunity from liability and professional retaliation against a law enforcement employee who intervenes against police misconduct committed by another member of law enforcement.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6771 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE March 24, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. JACKSON, FAHY, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, RAMOS, RIVERA, SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to law enforcement inter- vention against police misconduct The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 837-y 2 to read as follows: 3 § 837-y. Law enforcement intervention against police misconduct. 1. 4 Definitions. When used in this section, and unless the specific context 5 indicates otherwise, the following terms shall have the following mean- 6 ings: 7 (a) "Police misconduct" means conduct by a law enforcement officer in 8 the course of an arrest or otherwise in the official capacity of such 9 law enforcement officer that is: 10 (i) excessive, forceful, or violent and that is not justified under 11 section 35.30 of the penal law; 12 (ii) a false arrest; 13 (iii) sexual misconduct; or 14 (iv) witness tampering. 15 (b) A "law enforcement employee" means: 16 (i) any employee of the state police department, as defined in section 17 two hundred twenty-three of this chapter; 18 (ii) any employee of a county sheriff's department; or 19 (iii) any employee of a city, town, village, university, park, or 20 public authority's police department. 21 2. Immunity from liability and professional retaliation against a law 22 enforcement employee who intervenes against police misconduct. 23 (a) Any law enforcement employee who in good faith intervenes against 24 police misconduct in compliance with this article shall have immunity EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD06303-01-5 
 S. 6771 2 1 from any liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise result by 2 reason of such actions. 3 (b) A law enforcement agency shall not take any retaliatory personnel 4 action, as such term is defined in paragraph (e) of subdivision one of 5 section seven hundred forty of the labor law, against a law enforcement 6 employee because such employee believes that such employee had reason- 7 able cause to intervene against police misconduct and intervened against 8 such police misconduct. 9 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.