New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 9 - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT › Subtitle A - Governor's Office › Chapter I - Executive Orders › Part 8 - Executive Orders (Andrew M. Cuomo) › Section 8.36 - Executive Order No. 36: Declaring an Emergency in Order to Appoint New Jersey and Connecticut Police Officers as Railroad Police Officers to Provide Enhanced Security on Commuter Trains, Buses and Ferries

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
WHEREAS, thousands of commuters travel between the states
					 of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut via Mass Transit Systems which include
					 interstate rail, bus and ferry systems accessible to the public, and an
					 enhanced law enforcement presence on these conveyances is prudent to protect
					 public safety; and
WHEREAS, terrorists have used explosive and other devices
					 to attack public and private transportation systems as demonstrated by the
					 bombings in London in 2005 and in Madrid in 2004, and, while there is no known
					 confirmed threat to the New York metropolitan area, the mass transit systems
					 between New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are particularly high risk
					 targets; and
WHEREAS, the numerous attacks and attempted attacks in New
					 York, including the foiled plots of Najibullah Zazi and his co-conspirators in
					 September 2009; Faisal Shahzad and his co-conspirators in May 2010; and the
					 recent arrest of Jose Pimental, AKA Muhammad Yusuf, in November 2011,
					 demonstrate that terrorists continue to represent a persistent threat against
					 the State of New York; and
WHEREAS, the terrorist threat during the holiday season is
					 demonstrated by recent incidents within the holiday period, including the 2009
					 Christmas Day plot to blow up a Detroit bound airliner; the November 2010 plot
					 to bomb a holiday tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon, by a homegrown
					 violent extremist; the December 2010 attack on a market filled with Christmas
					 shoppers in Stockholm, Sweden, by a suicide bomber; and the December 2010
					 arrests in the United Kingdom of 12 individuals plotting to conduct attacks
					 during the holiday season; and
WHEREAS, the May 2011 death of Usama bin Laden (UBL),
					 coupled with the subsequent removal of several key al-Qa'ida figures, could
					 further contribute to terrorists' desires to stage an attack during this
					 holiday season as a way to avenge UBL's death and reassert the group's
					 relevance; and
WHEREAS, the States of Connecticut and New Jersey have
					 agreed to deploy police officers from their states to provide increased
					 security on commuter trains, buses and ferries going to and from New York
					 State; and
WHEREAS, sworn members of the Connecticut State Police,
					 sworn police officers of any county or municipality in the State of
					 Connecticut, sworn members of the New Jersey State Police, and sworn police
					 officers of any county or municipality in the State of New Jersey are
					 restricted in their law enforcement authority once the conveyance crosses the
					 jurisdictional boundary between Connecticut and New York or between New Jersey
					 and New York, respectively; and
WHEREAS, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are all
					 members of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), which allows for
					 mutual assistance and resource sharing among sister states; and
WHEREAS, EMAC provides that emergency forces from the
					 sending state, while operating within the jurisdictional boundaries of the
					 receiving state pursuant to the compact, shall have the same powers (except
					 that of arrest unless specifically authorized by the receiving state), duties,
					 rights and privileges as are afforded forces of the receiving state in which
					 they are performing emergency services; and
WHEREAS, to utilize the police resources provided by our
					 sister states, we must confer police officer powers, including arrest powers,
					 on such officers while they are within the geographic jurisdiction of New York
					 State; and
WHEREAS, Railroad Law § 88 authorizes the
					 Superintendent of State Police to appoint any person as a railroad police
					 officer only under prescribed circumstances and subject to certain limitations;
					 and
WHEREAS, such circumstances and limitations should not be
					 applied to sworn police officers from our sister states serving as railroad
					 police officers and would prevent, hinder and delay action necessary in
					 response to a terrorist attack and threat thereof; and
WHEREAS, Executive Law § 29-a authorizes the
					 suspension, alteration and modification of statutes, local laws, ordinances,
					 orders, rules or regulations, or parts thereof, if compliance with such
					 provisions would prevent, hinder or delay action necessary to cope with a
					 disaster emergency and the inclusion of any other terms and conditions;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, ANDREW M. CUOMO, Governor of the State
					 of New York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
					 the Laws of the State of New York, do hereby find that a disaster may be
					 imminent for which the affected local governments are unable to respond
					 adequately without assistance. Therefore, pursuant to the authority vested in
					 me by the Constitution of the State of New York and Section 28 of Article 2-B
					 of the Executive Law, I hereby declare a State Disaster Emergency effective
					 December 31, 2011; and
FURTHER, pursuant to the authority vested in me by Section
					 29-a of Article 2-B of the Executive Law to temporarily suspend and modify
					 specific provisions of any statute, local law, ordinance, order, rule or
					 regulation, or parts thereof, of any agency during a State disaster emergency,
					 if compliance with such provisions would prevent, hinder or delay action
					 necessary to cope with the disaster, I hereby temporarily suspend and modify,
					 for the period from 12:01 AM on December 31, 2011 until 12:01 AM on January 2,
					 2012, the following laws for purposes of appointment of sworn members of the
					 Connecticut State Police, sworn police officers of any county or municipality
					 in the State of Connecticut, sworn members of the New Jersey State Police, and
					 sworn police officers of any county or municipality in the State of New Jersey
					 as Railroad Police:
Subdivision 1 of Section 88  of the Railroad Law is
					 suspended insofar as it requires the Superintendent of the New York State
					 Police to appoint railroad police officers only upon the application of a
					 corporation, express company, or steamboat company, and is modified to the
					 extent necessary to allow the Governor to appoint sworn members of the
					 Connecticut State Police, sworn police officers of any county or municipality
					 in the State of Connecticut, sworn members of the New Jersey State Police, and
					 sworn police officers of any county or municipality in the State of New Jersey
					 as railroad police officers, and to include all rail and bus facilities and
					 property owned, operated or in the custody or control of the Port Authority of
					 New York and New Jersey or its subsidiaries, the Metropolitan Transit Authority
					 or its subsidiaries, New Jersey Transit or its subsidiaries, and ferries
					 certified to carry passengers to and from New York State;
Subdivisions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16
					 and 17 of Section 88  of the Railroad Law are suspended, as necessary to
					 effectuate this Order; and
FURTHER, this Order shall take effect at 12:01 AM on
					 December 31, 2011 and shall remain in effect until 12:01 AM on January 2,
					 2012.
Signed: Andrew M. Cuomo
Dated: December 30, 2011