Politics & Government

Bill Promising Savings in Court Gets a Second Chance

A bill that would allow non-police town employees to serve as court peace officers will make its way to the governor's desk for a second time.

Legislation promising to save the Town/Village of Harrison money and police resources by giving trained town employees more authority while court is in session will go to the governor's desk for a second time.

The proposed bill allows trained town employees to serve as peace officers, meaning they can take police action if necessary while court is in session. The peace officers could either assist or fill in for uniformed police officers.

Robert Castelli (R,C), who represents the 89th Assembly District, introduced the legislation in the assembly. Suzi Oppenheimer (D), who represents the 37th State Senate District, introduced the senate version.

Find out what's happening in Harrisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Castelli hopes the bill will save Harrison time and money by keeping enough trained professionals in the court room while possibly freeing another police officer to patrol the streets.

“By working in a bipartisan manner, we were able to pass legislation that will help lower local government costs, which have a direct impact on property taxes,” Castelli said in a statement.

Find out what's happening in Harrisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Anthony Marraccini, Harrison police chief, said although there would still be officers in court, the peace officers would be helpful in assisting with security. Although non-police officers are currently helping with metal detectors, they don't have the authority of a peace officer.

"It's something that is helping us now, but we need to have legislation for it," Marracini said.

Harrison Mayor/Supervisor Joan Walsh said if the legislation is approved Harrison could use it to cut expenses. She said using a trained part-time worker to replace a police officer in court would save the town a substantial amount of money. Not only would the part-time worker make less money per-hour, she said, police officers are often working overtime while in court.

Marraccini said the potential to free another officer for street duty is especially important right now, as police staffing levels have decreased in recent years.

"Anything we can do to get more police on the road is critical at this stage," he said.

A similar bill reached this point last year, but was vetoed in the fall by then-Gov. David Patterson. In his veto Patterson expressed concern about what he viewed as inadequate training for peace officers creating a safety concern.

Castelli said since then the hours of training for peace officers has increased.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo will now consider the bill. If approved it will take affect on Jan. 1, 2012.


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