NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A498
SPONSOR: Weprin TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to aggravated assault upon a
police officer
PURPOSE:
To create an offense for aggravated assault of a police officer or peace
officer when a person is aided by two or more persons at an assembly in
a public place.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this bill amends section 120.11 of the Penal Law to provide
for aggravated assault of a police officer or peace officer when, with
intent to cause physical injury to a person who he or she knows or
reasonably should know to be a police officer or peace officer engaged
in his or her official duties, a person, when aided by two or more other
persons actually present at an assembly in a public place, causes phys-
ical injury to a police officer or peace officer.
Section 2 of this bill provides that this act shall take effect on the
sixtieth day after it shall have become a law.
JUSTIFICATION:
With the recent demonstrations in New York City in 2014, it has become
increasingly vital that police officers and peace officers are protected
when working these demonstrations.
In December 2014, there was a protest in New York City that had over
25,000 attendees. While the protest was largely peaceful, there were
still two NYPD officers assaulted on the Brooklyn Bridge. Those officers
ended up in the hospital as a result of their injuries. Additionally, a
bag of hammers was found on the bridge. There were many calls for
violence against police officers in the wake of the Eric Gamer grand
jury decision, and the ire and tension has continued since the news of
the lack of indictment by the Staten Island grand jury that heard the
case.
This proposed amendment to the crime of aggravated assault upon a police
officer or a peace officer would ensure further protection for police
officers and peace officers tasked with monitoring demonstrations, and
would punish those who use a normally peaceful form of matest as a means
to assault police officers and peace officers whom ensure that protests
remain peaceful and orderly.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
02/01/17 referred to codes 01/03/18 referred to codes
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
498
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 9, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WEPRIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to aggravated assault upon a
police officer
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 120.11 of the penal law, as amended by section 283
2 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 120.11 Aggravated assault upon a police officer or a peace officer.
4 A person is guilty of aggravated assault upon a police officer or a
5 peace officer when[, with]:
6 (a) With intent to cause serious physical injury to a person whom he
7 or she knows or reasonably should know to be a police officer or a peace
8 officer engaged in the course of performing his or her official duties,
9 he or she causes such injury by means of a deadly weapon or dangerous
10 instrument; or
11 (b) With intent to cause physical injury to a person whom he or she
12 knows or reasonably should know to be a police officer or a peace offi-
13 cer engaged in the course of performing his or her official duties and
14 when aided by two or more other persons actually present at an assembly
15 in a public place, as such term is defined in subdivision one of section
16 240.00 of this part, he or she causes physical injury to such police
17 officer or peace officer.
18 Aggravated assault upon a police officer or a peace officer is a class
19 B felony.
20 § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
21 have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01540-01-3
