S 8884: Requires the superintendent of state police to develop, maintain and disseminate to all members of the division of state police a critical incident leave policy requiring critical incident paid leave for any members directly involved in a critical incident; prohibits such superintendent from taking any punitive administrative action against any member of the division of state police granted critical incident leave solely on the basis of the provision of such leave.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8884  IN SENATE January 13, 2026 ___________ Introduced by Sens. COONEY, BAILEY, BYNOE, FERNANDEZ, GALLIVAN, HARCK- HAM, HINCHEY, JACKSON, MARTINEZ, MAY, MAYER, ROLISON, C. RYAN, SANDERS, SCARCELLA-SPANTON, SKOUFIS, WALCZYK -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to the development of a critical incident policy for members of the division of state police 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 214-j 2 to read as follows: 3 § 214-j. Critical incident policy. 1. The superintendent shall devel- 4 op, maintain and disseminate to all members of the division of state 5 police a critical incident leave policy requiring critical incident paid 6 leave for any members of the division of state police directly involved 7 in a critical incident. 8 2. For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the 9 following meanings: 10 (a) the term "critical incident" shall mean any action taken by a 11 member of the division of state police during the course of the perform- 12 ance of their official duties resulting in the serious physical injury 13 or death of another person where the use of force was justified; and 14 (b) the term "critical incident paid leave" shall mean paid leave of 15 at least twenty calendar days for any member of the division of state 16 police whose official actions were the direct and proximate cause of the 17 serious physical injury or death of another person, and paid leave of 18 fifteen calendar days for any member of the division of state police 19 who, although directly involved in a critical incident, was not the 20 direct and proximate cause of the serious physical injury or death of 21 another person. 22 3. Critical incident paid leave shall begin as soon as possible after 23 the critical incident, provided however, that the superintendent may 24 delay such leave for members who were directly involved in a critical 25 incident but were not the direct and proximate cause of the serious 26 injury or death. Critical incident leave may only be delayed to ensure EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD06346-06-6 
 S. 8884 2 1 minimum necessary staffing levels or protect community safety. Delays 2 may only be as long as necessary to address such concerns. 3 4. In any case where critical incident paid leave has been made to a 4 member of the division of the state police, and it is thereafter deter- 5 mined that a critical incident did not occur, the superintendent may 6 order the withholding of future paid leave to such member, provided that 7 the amount of days withheld shall not be more than the critical incident 8 paid leave days that were originally provided. 9 5. The superintendent shall be prohibited from taking any punitive 10 administrative action against any member of the division of state police 11 granted critical incident leave under this section solely on the basis 12 of the provision of such leave. 13 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after 14 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 15 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 16 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 17 completed on or before such effective date.