Bay Ridge State Senator Marty Golden announced this morning he will introduce a bill in the upcoming January legislative session that would put bulletproof glass in all police squad cars statewide.
The measure comes following the execution-style shootings of NYPD officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu through the front passenger window of their patrol car as they sat watch over the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. Both Ramos and Liu were also Brooklyn residents as Ramos lived in Cypress Hills and Liu in Gravesend.
Under the GOP-sponsored legislation, which also has the support of Bay Ridge/Staten Island Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis along with Senator Phil Boyle and Assemblymember Jim Tedisco the bullet proof glass would be installed in police cars over a phased-in period starting with the NYPD. The lawmakers are calling for part of the $5.1 billion state surplus to be used to pay for the statewide retrofit.
“We provide police offers with bullet proof vests to protect them when they are on the streets patrolling. We should give them equal protection when they are in their patrol cars. This bill accomplishes that goal,” said Golden, a retired NYC police officer.
“The murders of Officers Liu and Ramos is an absolute tragedy and we must do all we can to prevent another one from occurring. Bulletproof windows is one common sense and appropriate step in ensuring our police officers have the protection they need and deserve as they risk their lives to serve and protect our communities. In the future, bulletproof windows may prevent senseless assassinations of New York’s finest,” said Malliotakis.
Golden noted that police already have bulletproof vests and this would give them an extra layer of protection. He refused to level any criticism of Mayor Bill de Blasio for his handling of police and community relations.
“I’ll leave Mayor de Blasio alone. He’s been beaten up enough. At the end of the day it’s time for the city to unite and to support the families of the police officers who have died,” he said.
Veteran Bensonhurst/Sunset Park Assemblymember Peter Abbate said the bill would need some Democratic support to make it’s way through the assembly.
“It sounds like a good idea, but I’d have to to look to see what the police commissioner says about it and the police unions,” said Abbate.
Abbate said several other questions have to be answered such as would it take money away from hiring other police and would it impede the police ability to do their jobs.
