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Status of a police chief

Status of a police chief
Source: An article first published in print by the Albany Times Union, May 24, 2009

A story by Brendan J. Lyons, senior writer at the Albany Times Union, captioned ?Albany chief hasn't been sworn police officer since 1996, making carrying a weapon questionable,?* states that Albany's Chief of Police ?is not a certified police officer, which may call into question his ability to legally carry a department-issued weapon or make arrests.?

The Times Union story refers to an Informal Opinion of the Attorney General that indicates that:

?A village police chief who is not certified as a police officer by the Municipal Police Training Council may not lawfully carry a firearm without a license. The police chief may, however, wear a uniform and badge that properly identify him as police chief? [Informal Opinions of the Attorney General, 2003-1].

The Attorney General's Informal Opinion of February 3, 2003 opinion is posted on the Internet at: http://www.oag.state.ny.us/bureaus/appeals_opinions/opinions/2003/informal/2003-1.pdf

Lyons? Times Union article is posted on the Internet at:
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=803327&category=REGION

In any event, the Civil Service Law, although referred to in the Times Union article, is not an element in determining Chief Tuffy?s status.

Civil Service Law §58 sets out ?Requirements for provisional or permanent appointment of certain police officers.?

However, §58.3 provides that ?As used in this section, the term "police officer" means a member of the regional state park police or a police force, police department, or other organization of a county, city, town, village, housing authority, transit authority or police district, who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the general criminal laws of the state, but shall not include any person serving as such solely by virtue of his occupying any other office or position, nor shall such term include a sheriff, under-sheriff, commissioner of police, deputy or assistant commissioner of police, chief of police, deputy or assistant chief of police or any person having an equivalent title who is appointed or employed to exercise equivalent supervisory authority [emphasis supplied].

Accordingly, the requirements set out in §58 do not apply to individuals serving as chief of police.

* See §1.20.34 of the Criminal Procedures Law

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on May 26, 2009 (boomark / email).