Copyright 2015, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2025 Solutions by Design
Melting ICE Act of 2026
The following sections shall be added to the Criminal Procedure law (CPL) or the Penal law (PL):
1. Criminal Procedure law (CPL)
a. CPL § 2.11 – Police officer. A police officer is only a person employed by the state of New York, an agency of the state, a county, a city, a village, or a town in the state as specified in CPL § 1.20. A person employed by the Port of New York Authority and designated as a police officer is also a police officer.
b. CPL § 2.12 – Peace officers wearing face covering. No person who is designated as a peace officer shall be a peace officer when wearing any face covering.
c. CPL § 2.15a or PL § 190.26c? – Peace officer identification. Every peace officer, and every police officer except a police officer specifically authorized to work in plain clothes shall wear his name or badge number prominently displayed on his uniform. Violation of this section shall be a class A misdemeanor.
d. CPL § 130.33 – Enforcement. When a person becomes aware of a violation of law and such person has reported it to the responsible district attorney, and such district attorney has not acted on it within thirty days, such person may bring the matter to the arraignment term of the Supreme Court. When credible evidence of a violation of law has been established, the presiding justice shall issue a summons to the responsible party to appear and shall issue an order for the district attorney to undertake prosecution. If the district attorney fails to bring appropriate prosecutory actions within thirty days the person who brought the matter to the attention of the court may request the court to appoint an independent attorney as prosecutor in the matter and such costs shall be a charge upon the district attorney.
2. Penal law (PL):
a. PL § 190.25 – Criminal impersonation in the second degree. Penal Law, § 190.25, shall be modified so that every reference Criminal impersonation in the second degree shall be changed to Criminal impersonation in the fourth degree.
b. PL § 190.26 – Criminal impersonation in the first degree. Penal Law, § 190.26, shall be modified so that every reference to police officer shall be replaced by peace officer. This section’s catch line shall be relabeled Criminal impersonation in the third degree.
c. PL § 190.26a – Criminal impersonation in the second degree Any person who claims to be a police officer, or wears any article of clothing, or uses a motor vehicle, or motorcycle which contains any indicia or that contains the word police or anything likely to lead an observer to believe that the person is a police officer when he is not in fact a police officer is guilty of a class E felony.
d. PL § 190.26b – Criminal impersonation in the first degree Notwithstanding § 190.26a, any person who is designated as a peace officer who claims to be a police officer is guilty of a class D felony.
e. PL § 190.26b – Face covering. Any police officer or peace officer who wears any article of clothing that obscures his or her face shall be guilty of a class E felony. But this shall not apply to a police officer who wears a protective helmet issued by his agency.