§ 1266-H — Authority police force

§ 1266-h. Authority police force. 1. The authority is hereby\nauthorized and empowered, to provide and maintain an authority police\ndepartment and a uniformed authority police force. Each member of such\nuniformed police force shall be a "police officer" for the purposes of\nthe criminal procedure law, with all of the powers of such police\nofficers thereunder and subject to the same jurisdictional provisions on\nthe exercise of that power as set forth in such law. The geographical\narea of employment of such police officers for the purposes of the\ncriminal procedure law shall embrace the metropolitan commuter\ntransportation district as defined in section twelve hundred sixty-two\nof this title. Such department and force shall have the power, in and\nabout any or all of the facilities owned, occupied and/or operated by\nthe authority and its subsidiary corporations, the New York city transit\nauthority and its subsidiaries, and the triborough bridge and tunnel\nauthority, as determined in the discretion of the authority, to enforce\nand prevent violation of all laws and ordinances. Nothing herein shall\nconfer upon the authority police force or upon their collective\nnegotiations representatives exclusive jurisdiction or claim over the\nexercise of police power or security work on behalf of the authority and\nits subsidiary corporations, the New York city transit authority and its\nsubsidiaries, and the triborough bridge and tunnel authority. Nothing\nherein shall limit the authority and its subsidiary corporations, the\nNew York city transit authority and its subsidiaries, and the triborough\nbridge and tunnel authority from continuing to rely on local police for\npolice services. However, traditional police functions previously\nperformed by the Long Island Rail Road Company and/or the Metro-North\nCommuter Railroad Company police force shall continue to be performed by\nthe authority police forces.\n 2. Initial appointments to such authority police force shall be all\nincumbent police officers from the Long Island Rail Road Company and/or\nthe Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company at the time of such\nappointment. The executive director of the authority, through the chief\nof police, shall have the power and authority to appoint and employ such\nnumber of police officers as he deems necessary to act as police\nofficers of the authority and to administer to the officers an oath or\naffirmation faithfully to perform the duties of their respective\npositions or offices. Unless, at the time of appointment, the person is\na police officer of Long Island Rail Road Company or Metro-North\nCommuter Railroad Company, only persons who have never been convicted of\na felony and are citizens of the United States shall be appointed police\nofficers on the authority police force. After the initial appointments\nare made, selection of police officer candidates shall be made pursuant\nto an examination process to be determined at the discretion of the\nauthority and candidates must receive a certificate attesting to\nsatisfactory completion of an approved municipal police basic training\nprogram, as described in section two hundred nine-q of the general\nmunicipal law. No person shall be eligible for appointment unless such\nperson is not less than twenty years of age as of the date of\nappointment nor more than thirty-five years of age as of the date when\nthe applicant takes the written examination, provided, however, that\ntime spent on military duty or on terminal leave, not exceeding a total\nof six years, shall be subtracted from the age of any applicant who has\npassed his or her thirty-fifth birthday as provided in subdivision ten-a\nof section two hundred forty-three of the military law. Upon\nappointments made by transferring an entire group of police officers\ninto the authority police force, thereby eliminating such other group of\npolice officers, the authority shall recognize any representative\npreviously chosen by the police officers for the purposes of collective\nnegotiations consistent with the bargaining units already established\nand shall also assume and continue to observe any existing labor\ncontracts covering these police officers including such provisions which\nrelate to the grievance and disciplinary procedures and interest\narbitration. Subsequent to the establishment of the consolidated police\nforce the authority and the collective bargaining representatives shall\nbe authorized to negotiate a merger of the separate bargaining units.\n 3. The authority may appoint a chief and one or more deputy chiefs of\nthe authority police department who, in the discretion of the authority,\nmay be selected from the ranks of the authority police force, and assign\npowers and duties to them and fix their compensation. The chief shall be\nthe head of such department. The deputy chief designated by the chief\nshall possess all the powers and perform all the duties of the chief\nduring his absence or disability. The authority police force shall\nconsist of such divisions, supervisors and officers, including but not\nlimited to police officers, detectives, sergeants, lieutenants and\ncaptains as designated by the authority. Notwithstanding any law or\nprovision to the contrary, the members of the uniformed authority police\nforce shall not acquire civil service status or become members of the\nNew York state and local employees' retirement system, except as set\nforth below.\n 4. The authority shall provide for a twenty year retirement plan under\nthe same terms and conditions as provided by section three hundred\neighty-nine of the retirement and social security law as enacted by\nchapter six hundred twenty-eight of the laws of nineteen hundred\nninety-one; except that:\n (a) any benefit provided pursuant to such plan shall be subject to an\noffset, as defined in this paragraph, for any tier II benefit payable\npursuant to the federal Railroad Retirement Act to or in the respect of\na member. The offset provided for by this paragraph shall be the amount\nof the tier II benefit which would be payable to or in respect to such\nmember pursuant to the federal Railroad Retirement Act multiplied by a\nfraction, the numerator of which is the member's years of credited\nservice covered by the federal Railroad Retirement Act rendered to, or\ncredited by, the authority or any subsidiary corporation of the\nauthority, and the denominator of which is the member's total years of\nservice covered by the federal Railroad Retirement Act;\n (b) references to Long Island Rail Road shall be to the authority;\n (c) the transfer of funds described in subdivision f of section three\nhundred eighty-nine of the retirement and social security law as enacted\nby chapter six hundred twenty-eight of the laws of nineteen hundred\nninety-one shall include the Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company\nDefined Contribution Pension Plan for Agreement Employees;\n (d) the provisions of subdivision g of section three hundred\neighty-nine of the retirement and social security law as enacted by\nchapter six hundred twenty-eight of the laws of nineteen hundred\nninety-one to the extent of requiring contributions for past service\nliability shall not be applicable; and\n (e) when a police officer transferred from the Long Island Rail Road\nCompany police force to the authority police force reaches age sixty-two\nthe authority will offset the amount payable under this plan by the\namount of tier II benefit payable from the Railroad Retirement Board for\na service age annuity or disability payable at the participants age\nsixty-two.\n 5. The authority may, in its sole discretion, establish within the\nauthority's defined benefit program, a retirement program consistent\nwith the foregoing. If the authority has not so established such program\nin its defined benefit program within one hundred eighty days after\nenactment, then the authority shall elect to participate in article\nfourteen-B of the retirement and social security law.\n 6. If the authority elects to participate in the New York state and\nlocal employees' retirement system, such election to participate shall\nbe made by resolution filed with the comptroller and accepted by him\npursuant to section thirty-one of the retirement and social security\nlaw.\n 7. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to diminish, suspend or\nabolish an existing benefit inured to a police officer, transferred from\nthe Long Island Rail Road Company and/or Metro-North Commuter Railroad\nCompany police force and subject to the provisions of this section in\nand to the rights, privileges or status previously earned within a\npension or retirement system of which they were a member immediately\nprior to the enactment of this section; and any such existing right,\nprivilege or status shall survive the effect of any decisions or\ndeterminations lawfully made in accordance with the provisions hereof so\nlong as such right, privilege or status is greater in benefit to that\nwhich would be imposed or imputed to any subject officer as a result of\nactions of the authority authorized herein.\n