Police-on-Police Shootings Task Force

Overview

The Police-on-Police Shootings Task Force is examining the issues and implications arising from confrontations in which police officers have mistakenly shot other officers, especially those in which officers are mistaken for criminal suspects. The task force will make findings and recommendations with the aim of preventing such shootings.

The Task Force consists of nine members, all appointed by Governor David A. Paterson: highly respected leaders in their own fields and communities who have volunteered their time to engage in this serious undertaking.  Assisted by a professional staff drawn from the research, law enforcement and civil rights communities, the Task Force will identify the root causes of police-on-police confrontations.  Specifically, the Task Force will examine the range of operational, sociological, and psychological factors that may contribute to such shootings and how training, tactics, policies and procedures, and technology might help prevent them.  The inquiry will also take account of the responses to these incidents by governments, the law enforcement community, and the public at large. 

As set forth in Governor Paterson’s Executive Order 23, the Task Force will focus on incidents between on-duty and off-duty officers, between uniformed and undercover officers, and between officers of different races, nationalities and ethnicities.  While the Task Force will not investigate specific incidents, it will make use of previous investigations and individual accounts to understand how and why such incidents occur and how they can be prevented.
  

Community Input and Feedback

Through online tools, original research, and public hearings, the Task Force will solicit information from a broad and diverse range of sources including law enforcement officials, community members, scholars and other experts.  All of the information gathered will assist the Task Force to craft recommendations for action designed to prevent such tragedies in the future.  The experiences, insights, and recommendations of current and former police officers who have been at risk, or felt themselves at risk, will be especially important. 

We invite you to visit this website periodically and sign up for e-mail updates to receive new information and data as it is posted.  We welcome your input and invite you to share your own experiences through our online feedback form and survey tool.  Your comments, ideas and suggestions are an integral part of our effort to understand the impact that police-on-police confrontations have on the community and how these incidents relate to other phenomenon experienced by the people of New York and other states.  Current and former members of the law enforcement community who have experienced police-on-police confrontations and shootings are highly encouraged to share their experiences.

Findings and Recommendations

At the conclusion of its inquiry, the Task Force will issue a set of findings and recommendations in a public report to Governor Paterson.  This report will be issued in the early Spring of 2010, approximately six months from the start of the Task Force’s substantive review in September 2009.