§ 837-D — Soft body ballistic armor vests for police officers

§ 837-d. Soft body ballistic armor vests for police officers. 1. As\nused in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:\n (a) "Eligible police officer" means a police officer as defined in\nsubdivision thirty-four of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law\nwhose regular duties are such as the commissioner determines may expose\nthe officer to serious physical injury which may result in death or\ndisability;\n (b) "Vest" means a soft body ballistic armor vest;\n (c) "Municipal corporation" means a county, city, town, village or\npolice district;\n (d) "Public authority" means an independent autonomous public\ncorporation created by special act of the legislature;\n (e) "Public benefit corporation" means a corporation organized to\nconstruct or operate a public improvement wholly within the state;\n (f) "State agency" means a department, board, bureau, commission,\nagency or other division of state government;\n (g) "Applicant" means a state agency, municipal corporation, public\nauthority, public benefit corporation, or the highest official thereof.\n 2. An applicant which is authorized to and employs police officers may\napply to the commissioner for reimbursement of funds expended for the\npurchase of vests for eligible police officers.\n 3. Reimbursement shall be made only for vests which at the time of\npurchase meet or exceed the minimum standards and specifications in\neffect on that date as prescribed by rules and regulations promulgated\npursuant to subdivisions six and six-a of this section, and shall be\nlimited to the total amount appropriated for such purpose. Reimbursement\nfor any vest shall not exceed an amount which in the judgment of the\ncommissioner would be the cost of a vest conforming to minimum standards\nand specifications in effect at the time the vest was purchased.\nSelection of vests shall be a determination to be made by the applicant\nin accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the\ncommissioner. Such rules and regulations shall provide that, subject to\nthe provisions of subdivisions six and six-a of this section, the\napplicant may select from a range of vests including those commonly\nknown or classified as type I, type II-A, type II or type III-A in such\nstandard classification systems as the national institute of justice\nstandards for ballistic resistance of police body armor.\n 4. The commissioner shall require any applicant seeking reimbursement\nfor vests to apply for any available federal funds. Any applicant\nfailing to do so shall not be entitled to reimbursement under this\nsection. The commissioner may waive such failure for good cause. The\ncommissioner shall maintain a public record of all such waivers and the\nreasons therefor. Reimbursement may be withheld pending the\ndetermination of an application for federal funds.\n 4-a. An applicant for reimbursement pursuant to this section shall\nreport the name of each eligible police officer for whom reimbursement\nis sought. The applicant shall report whether such eligible police\nofficer or officers have, at any time during the ten years immediately\npreceding the application for reimbursement, been provided with any\nother vest for which reimbursement pursuant to this section was\nprovided, the date of any such prior reimbursement and any other\ninformation that the commissioner may require for accurate\nrecord-keeping and accountability and for evaluation of performance,\nwear and officer use of vests.\n 5. The amount of any reimbursement authorized to be made pursuant to\nsubdivision three of this section shall be reduced by the amount of any\nfederal funds granted to the applicant for the purpose of purchasing\nvests, and by the amount of any other funds received directly or\nindirectly for that purpose by the applicant.\n 6. The commissioner shall promulgate regulations prescribing standards\nand specifications for vests and procedures for vest selection by and\nreimbursement to applicants. In promulgating such regulations, the\ncommissioner shall give due consideration to:\n (a) the maximum total weight of a vest which provides adequate\nprotection against ballistic penetration and trauma, and which may be\nworn in comfort throughout an eight hour tour of duty;\n (b) the ballistic specifications which the vest or any part thereof\nmust be capable of defeating which shall include, but not be limited to,\nthe ballistic specifications of any firearms considered to be standard\nissue to eligible police officers;\n (c) the testing procedures appropriate to determining the\neffectiveness of such vests;\n (d) the labeling requirements for the vests and component parts\nthereof; and\n (e) the commercial availability of conforming vests.\n 6-a. In the evaluation of an application for reimbursement, the\ncommissioner shall, at the request of the applicant, give consideration\nto the ballistic specifications of any firearm or firearms considered by\nthe applicant to be standard issue to its police officers.\n 7. The contract specifications for bid for the sale of vests shall\nrequire that a certificate of insurance evidencing that liability\ninsurance providing a minimum coverage of at least five hundred thousand\ndollars per occurrence for injury or death suffered as a result of a\ndefect in the manufacture shall be and remain in effect for the\nprojected life of any vest purchased.\n 8. Neither the state nor the applicant or any employee thereof shall\nbe liable to a police officer or officer's heirs, executors,\nadministrators or assigns, for the death of or injury to the officer\nresulting from any defect or deficiency in a vest for which\nreimbursement is made pursuant to this section.\n 9. A police officer who suffers an injury or death as a result of the\nofficer's failure to wear a vest for which reimbursement is made\npursuant to this section, and officer's heirs, executors, administrators\nor assigns shall not suffer any loss or be denied any benefit or right\nto which they are otherwise entitled; provided, however, that nothing\ncontained herein shall prevent the officer from being subject to a\ndisciplinary proceeding for failure to obey a lawful order of a superior\nofficer requiring the officer to wear a vest.\n 10. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prohibit\nan applicant from expending its own funds for vests in amounts exceeding\nthe established state reimbursement limitations.\n 11. The commissioner is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations\nto provide for the orderly effectuation of the provisions of this\nsection.\n 12. The commissioner shall establish and maintain a record containing\nthe name of each eligible police officer who receives a vest for which\nreimbursement has been provided pursuant to this section, the applicant\nto whom reimbursement for such vest is provided, the date on which such\nreimbursement was provided and any other information that the\ncommissioner may require for accurate record-keeping and accountability\nand for evaluation of performance, wear and officer use of vests.\n 13. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to supersede the\nprovisions of section three of chapter eight hundred seventy-six of the\nlaws of nineteen hundred eighty applicable to members of the division of\nstate police or to alter a valid labor-management agreement covering\nemployees of the state serving in police officer positions in the\nsecurity services negotiating unit established pursuant to article\nfourteen of the civil service law which is in effect on the effective\ndate of this section.\n