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 8.120 - Executive Order No. 120: 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 that 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, mass transit systems
					 between New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are particularly high-risk
					 targets; and
WHEREAS, the completed and attempted attacks in New York,
					 including the arrest of Raess Alam Qazi and his brother in November 2012 for
					 planning to carry out attacks at landmarks in New York; the plot against the
					 PATH railway system by Assem Hammoud in 2006; the plot against New York City
					 subways by Najibullah Zazi in 2009; the foiled plots of Faisal Shahzad and his
					 co-conspirators in May 2010; the October 2012 foiled attempt by Quazi Mohammad
					 Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis to detonate a 1,000 pound car bomb outside the Federal
					 Reserve Bank of New York in Lower Manhattan; and the May 2011 arrest of Ahmed
					 Ferhani and Mohamed Mamdouh for plotting to bomb New York City synagogues,
					 during which Ferhani and Mamdouh discussed additional targets in New York City,
					 including churches and the Empire State Building, demonstrate that terrorists
					 continue to pose a persistent threat to the State of New York; and
WHEREAS, the holiday season, including New Year's Eve and
					 Day, is a time of heightened alert and risk of terrorist attack as terrorists
					 typically consider significant, symbolic dates when planning attacks, with the
					 objective of inflicting mass casualties and maximizing the economic and
					 psychological damage to the United States, as evidenced by 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, New York's sister states, 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 such a 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, Section 88  of the Railroad Law authorizes the
					 Superintendent of the State Police to appoint any person as a railroad police
					 officer only under prescribed circumstances and subject to certain limitations;
					 and
WHEREAS, if such circumstances and limitations were applied
					 to sworn police officers from our sister states who are serving as railroad
					 police officers from December 31, 2013, through January 1, 2014, such
					 application would prevent, hinder and delay action necessary to respond to a
					 terrorist attack or a threat thereof; and
WHEREAS, Section 29-a  of the Executive Law 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, and to 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, 2013; and
FURTHER, pursuant to the authority vested in me by Section 29-a  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, 2013 until 12:01 AM on January 2, 2014, 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 insofar as
					 it requires the Superintendent of the 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; and
Subdivisions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16
					 and 17 of Section 88  of the Railroad Law, as necessary to effectuate this
					 Order; and
FURTHER, this Order shall take effect at 12:01 AM on
					 December 31, 2013 and shall remain in effect until 12:01 AM on January 2,
					 2014.
Signed: Andrew M. Cuomo
Dated: December 24, 2013