New York state troopers do not want to be stationed in New York City anymore.
The Times Union reports that the president of the New York State Troopers PBA issued a statement on Wednesday "demanding" that state troopers be removed from New York and "cease any law enforcement activities within that jurisdiction."
The request comes on the heels of a new police reform bill that will be signed into law Wednesday by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Many police departments across the country have been revamping their procedures amid calls for racial justice and police reform.
"We have arrived at this unfortunate decision due to the hastily written so-called police reform legislation recently passed by the New York City Council," PBA President Thomas H. Mungeer wrote in a statement. "This poorly conceived bill, which will be signed into law by Mayor de Blasio today, puts an undue burden upon our troopers; it opens them up to criminal and civil liability for restraining a person during a lawful arrest in a manner that is consistent with their training and is legal throughout the rest of the state. Furthermore, this legislation will prevent troopers from safely and effectively arresting resistant subjects."
Mungeer states the new regulations will "criminalize methods of restraint, including putting any pressure on a person's chest or back."
He said law enforcement agencies across the country use those techniques if "officers are faced with violently combative subjects."
"I find it extremely troubling that these acts are now defined as criminal in nature, even if they were unintentional and no injury was sustained by the subject," Mungeer said.
The request to withdraw state troopers from New York was directed to State Police Superintendent Keith Corlett.
Mungeer said the presence of the state troopers in New York has been positive. He said the troopers' presence has become more familiar over the past five years as Gov. Andrew Cuomo has asked for help patrolling the city's airports, bridges and tunnels.
"Additionally, our presence there has significantly increased the safety of all New Yorkers as well as the millions of visitors who travel there each year," he wrote.
But, he said, the new rules open troopers up to "criminal and civil liabilities simply by doing the job they were trained to do."
In order to keep troopers in the city, he said he would ask the state attorney to indemnify the State Police from the "ill-conceived law."
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