WHEREAS, motorists have been victimized after being stopped by criminals driving private vehicles falsely impersonating police officers on patrol;

WHEREAS, despite the low incidence of such crimes, the use of unmarked patrol vehicles in traffic stops on the highways and roads of the State may, and not uncommonly does, engender confusion and anxiety in the minds of motorists uncertain whether the vehicles attempting to stop them are in fact authorized police vehicles; and

WHEREAS, protecting the safety of the motoring public using the highways and roads of the State is a fundamental obligation of government, and one that requires in exceptional and necessitous circumstances that unmarked patrol vehicles be used to stop motorists;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE E. PATAKI, Governor of the State of New York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Laws of the State of New York, do hereby order the Superintendent of the State Police, the Commissioner of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Commissioner of the Office of General Services to promulgate, modify, adopt or rescind any rules or regulations or policy directives, as the case may be, to ensure: that on or before May 1, 1996 unmarked or concealed identity police vehicles of the State of New York are not used for the routine stopping or apprehension of motorists for offenses relating to the Vehicle and Traffic Law and are used to stop or apprehend motorists for such offenses only under exceptional and necessitous circumstances presenting a substantial threat to public safety.