Westchester Police Urged To End Law Enforcement Activity In NYC

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — An organization that represents more than 4,000 police officers in more than 40 agencies in Westchester County is advising police officers to avoid going into New York City for any law enforcement purposes. The suggestion comes from Det. Keith Olson, president of Affiliated Police Associations of Westchester.

Olson said the advice is warranted because of the police reform bills recently passed by the New York City Council and signed into law by Mayor Bill de Blasio.

"One of those bills now criminalizes techniques that are often utilized by all police officers throughout the 40+ law enforcement agencies in Westchester," Olson wrote in a news release.

A ban on chokeholds was included in the bills, he said, "which are already outlawed at the state level, but ridiculously adds language, which holds cops culpable for 'sitting, kneeling or standing on the chest or back in a manner that compresses the diaphragm.'"

Olsen, who is also president of the Yonkers Police Benevolent Association, said the bill was hastily and recklessly signed into law by "irresponsible elected NYC officials" and "will now open up all police officers to criminal and civil liability, even if they are executing lawful arrests while using their training and utilizing tactics that are safe and legal in the rest of New York State."

Beside the chokehold ban, the bills signed by de Blasio included a measure to protect the right of New Yorkers to record NYPD officers, a requirement that police display their badge numbers, and other accountability measures.

Olsen called on local police chiefs and commissioners to join his association in the message.

Bronxville's Chief Christopher Satriale sent Patch a copy of an email he distributed Thursday to his department's detectives and sergeants that said, "Effective immediately and until further notice no member of the department is authorized under any circumstances to enter any borough of New York City to pursue an offender, make an arrest (warrants included) or conduct investigations."

When contacted for comment, Peekskill police Chief Don Halmy told Patch it was really a non-issue for the city based on its distance from New York City.

"[H]owever I endorse this approach and our Officers will not enter New York City for enforcement purposes bases on this new law," he said.

Chris McNerney, the president of the Westchester County Chiefs of Police Association, sent a letter to New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea that said the association is discouraging all Westchester police officers from taking law enforcement action in the city.

McNerney is currently the chief of investigations in the Westchester County District Attorney's Office and will be returning to his old job — chief of police in Greenburgh — in August.

He said, while he values the support of the NYPD, "it is with much resentment that I must inform you that we will be unable to reciprocate due to recent actions of your City Council and Mayor."

McNerney said "we cannot place our officers in a position that will subject them to a year in jail when they are forced to gain compliance from a violently resisting individual."

He said the "flawed legislation" jeopardizes the safety of the public and police officers.

Yonkers police Commissioner John J. Mueller said Friday he was prohibiting officers under his command from taking enforcement actions in New York City effective immediately. They would be required, "absent extreme circumstances," to stop at the New York City line even when engaged in a pursuit.

He said the action was necessary due to the bills de Blasio signed that "require the jailing and or fining of any police officer that puts a knee on a person's back or chest during the course of arresting that person."

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said he supported the order.

"Here in Yonkers our Police Department works closely with the community, and the low number of complaints is the result of that," he said. "We don't use chokeholds, and we don't use more force than absolutely necessary, even when dealing with individuals who are extremely violent or suffering mental distress."

Mueller said the decision was in no way a reflection on the NYPD, which he said was placed in a nearly impossible position by the city's legislative body.

"The New York City law was obviously not written by anyone who has ever had to put handcuffs on a violent individual resisting arrest," he said. "The Yonkers Police does not use chokeholds or engage in other actions that endanger a subject's life, but nor can we endanger an officer's own life; and we're certainly not going to ask them to risk going to jail just for doing their job."

Patch received no reply to a request for comment from the Westchester County Police. If one is received, this article will be updated.

Additional reporting by Lanning Taliaferro/Patch