Relates to waiving the earning limitations for retired sworn officers employed by a district attorney as investigators

• Democratic5
• Republican3

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Robert Jackson says this is needed

During the COVID-19 pandemic, our courts have struggled to adjudicate cases in a timely manner creating a significant backlog. Given this fact, more than ever, it is important that our District Attorneys (DAs) have all the personnel and resources they need to carry out the charge of their offices. Key to this endeavor are District Attorney Investi- gators. These investigators play a critical role in enabling Das to bring cases to court and administer justice on behalf of their communi- ties. These investigators are unique in that they must perform the duties of a detective investigator immediately after being appointed. This is unlike traditional police departments in that in most cases, detectives in other departments obtain their experience from working on patrol in uniform. District Attorney Investigators are employed because they already possess the experience and skills needed to perform the job. Since prior investigative experience is required, the candidate pool for this job is vastly limited. Currently, most qualified candidates for the job need to obtain a 211 waiver, which can be an onerous and burdensome process. Moreover, this requirement often impedes District Attorney's offices ability to recruit and retain investigators. If this bill is enacted, District Attorneys would have the ability to hire these uniquely qualified candidates with- out having to wait for a 211 waiver, which would allow them to start handling cases immediately and would also prevent impeding ongoing investigations by a particular detective awaiting approval. Do to the unique requirements to be a District Attorney Investigator you would to have completed the NYS requirements of a Prior Police Officer and Investigator. These requirements consist of over 390 hours of train- ing and over 40 topics. The proposed minimum training standards would apply to all DA investigators hired on or after March 9, 2022. The majority of DA investigators hired possess a valid Basic Course for Police Officer Certification which exceeds the Specialized Police Inves- tigator Course minimum training. Therefore this is of no cost to New York State.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.