View Document - New York State Register

Correction Officer Training

NY-ADR

7/21/10 N.Y. St. Reg. CJS-05-10-00001-A

NEW YORK STATE REGISTER

VOLUME XXXII, ISSUE 29

July 21, 2010

RULE MAKING ACTIVITIES

DIVISION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES

NOTICE OF ADOPTION

I.D No. CJS-05-10-00001-A

Filing No. 710

Filing Date. Jul. 06, 2010

Effective Date. Jul. 21, 2010

Correction Officer Training

PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following action:

Action taken:

Addition of Part 6018 to Title 9 NYCRR.

Statutory authority:

Executive Law, sections 837-a(9) and 840(2-a)

Subject:

Correction officer training.

Purpose:

To set forth the process for administering a correction officer basic training program.

Text of final rule:

A new Part 6018 is added to 9 NYCRR to read as follows:

PART 6018

BASIC COURSE FOR CORRECTION OFFICERS

§ 6018.1. Definitions When used in this Part:

(a) The term council shall mean the Municipal Police Training Council.

(b) The term director shall mean the director of a basic course for correction officers.

(c) The term commissioner shall mean the commissioner of the Division of Criminal Justice Services or his or her designee.

(d) The term basic course/basic course for correction officers shall mean the course of training prescribed in section 6018.3 of this Part, which has been approved by the commissioner, in writing, as meeting or exceeding the minimum standards prescribed in that section.

(e) The term municipality shall mean any county, city with a population less than one million, town, park commission, village, or police district operating a correctional facility in the State.

(f) The term correction officer shall have the same meaning as set forth in Article 2 of the Criminal Procedure Law.

§ 6018.2 Statement of purpose.

(a) The purpose of this Part is to set forth minimum standards for the basic course for correction officers with regard to subject matter and time allotments and to set forth clear and specific requirements for administration of a basic course to be followed by course directors and to promulgate rules governing attendance/completion of such course.

(b) Satisfactory completion of a basic course as prescribed in section 6018.3 of this Part shall satisfy the minimum training requirements for peace officers as set forth in Article 2 of the Criminal Procedure Law.

§ 6018.3 Minimum standards.

(a) No basic course shall be approved by the commissioner that does not follow a curriculum of at least 196 hours.

(b) Specific curriculum categories, respective titles/topics, and time allotments shall be established by the council and published by the commissioner.

(c) Only instructors certified in accordance with the provisions of Parts 6023 and/or 6024 of this Title may provide instruction in a basic course.

§ 6018.4 Requirements for approval of a basic course.

(a) No later than 45 days prior to commencement of a basic course, the course director shall file a copy of the proposed curriculum with the commissioner. The curriculum must be in a form prescribed by the commissioner and shall include:

(1) course location and sponsor;

(2) a chronological listing of topics; including the date, time and number of hours allotted to each topic; and

(3) The names of instructors and the type of instructor certification held by each instructor.

(b) The commissioner may require any additional information deemed necessary for the purposes of reviewing and approving a curriculum.

(c) The commissioner shall make an individual written certification for each basic course conducted when in his or her judgement the information furnished warrants such action.

(d) A basic course must be certified to be offered.

§ 6018.5 Requirements for conducting a basic course.

(a) Within 10 days after conclusion of a basic course, the director shall forward the course roster to the commissioner, on a form prescribed by the commissioner, listing the names and other information contained in the form and required by the council for all enrollees denoting the performance of respective trainees.

(b) The director shall make written notification, to the commissioner, of any departures from the approved curriculum and shall be responsible for assuring that such changes do not materially change course content.

(c) The director shall ensure that the basic course is conducted in accordance with all applicable standards, policies, and procedures. The director shall establish written directives for the administration of the basic course including, but not limited to, attendance, counseling, remediation, and retesting. The directives shall define the minimum period of time set for remediation and for one or more opportunities for retesting.

(d) The director or sponsoring agency shall be responsible for maintaining accurate records for each basic course. These records must be retained as required by the appropriate schedule for records retention and disposition promulgated by the commissioner of the New York State Education Department. Such records must be available for inspection by members of the council or the commissioner. They include, but are not be limited to, lesson plans for each topic inclusive of objectives, officer attendance and performance records, a copy of the curriculum approved for use, and a record of any changes in the curriculum after such approval.

§ 6018.6 Requirements for issuance of a certificate of completion.

(a) All basic course requirements, including firearms training, must be completed as a single and cohesive unit.

(b) Attendance is required of each correction officer at all sessions of the basic course except for valid reasons. The director is authorized to determine the validity of and excuse absences of not more than 10 percent of the total hours of instruction as provided for in the curriculum of the course. An absentee from any scheduled class session shall make up such absence as required by the director. However, no correction officer may be issued a certificate of completion without receiving the full program of instruction in firearms, or the defense of justification (use of physical force/deadly physical force).

(c) Each correction officer enrolled in a basic course shall keep a notebook. The notebook shall contain an outline of major points and pertinent information for each topic presented. The director will evaluate notebooks based upon criteria such as, content, organization, regularity of entries, accuracy and legibility.

(d) The taking and passing of written examination(s) is required of each correction officer prior to issuance of a certificate of completion. If a series of examinations is required by the director, the candidate must achieve a total passing average for the series. The director shall assemble examination material, give and supervise examination(s), and grade the examination(s). The director or sponsoring agency shall retain the examination papers as required by the appropriate schedule for records retention and disposition promulgated by the commissioner of the New York State Education Department. Such records must be available for inspection by members of the council or the commissioner.

(e) Upon certification by a director stating that a correction officer has satisfactorily completed all basic course requirements, the commissioner shall issue a certificate of completion to such correction officer.

(f) A certificate of completion issued to a correction officer shall attest to fulfillment of the training requirements for correction officers as set forth in section 837-a(9) of the Executive Law and for peace officers as set forth in Article 2 of the Criminal Procedure Law.

(g) Only a sworn correction officer enrolled in a basic course for correction officers is eligible for the issuance of a certificate of completion upon satisfactory completion of all course requirements. A civilian who attends a basic course for correction officers shall not be awarded a certificate.

§ 6018.7 Time limitations for completion of the basic course for correction officers. No person appointed as a correction officer shall exercise the powers of a correction officer unless, within 12 months after appointment, such correction officer is certified as having completed a basic course approved by the commissioner.

§ 6018.8 Issuance of equivalency certificates.

(a) A person who has been appointed a correction officer by a municipality who was formerly employed as a correction officer by the New York State Department of Correctional Services or a city within the State of New York with a population of more than one million may apply to the commissioner to substitute satisfactory completion of correction officer basic training completed in connection with such employment in satisfaction of all or part of the requirements of section 6018.3 of this Part.

(b) The commissioner shall review and evaluate all such applications and may require the applicant to submit such additional documentation as he or she shall deem necessary. If, upon review and evaluation of such application, the commissioner determines that a program of correction officer basic training completed by the applicant meets or exceeds all or part of the minimum standards prescribed in section 6018.3 of this Part, the commissioner may authorize such training to be substituted for such requirements of the basic course as he or she shall deem appropriate. The commissioner shall certify, in writing, the extent to which all or part of the curriculum of the basic course may be waived and noted deficiencies must be satisfactorily completed at a basic course approved by the commissioner, within the period of time prescribed in section 6018.7 of this Part.

(c) Applicants for equivalency certificates shall be subject to the same limitations and requirements as prescribed in section 6018.7 of this Part and Article 2 of the Criminal Procedure Law.

§ 6018.9 Annual reporting of peace officer training.

Each employer of correction officers shall annually report to the commissioner, on behalf of the council, the names and addresses of all correction officers employed by it, during the course of the preceding year, satisfactorily completed annual instruction in deadly physical force and the use of firearms and other weapons approved by the council in satisfaction of the annual firearms and weapons training requirement imposed by Article 2 of the Criminal Procedure Law. Since correction officers are peace officers as defined in Article 2 of the Criminal Procedure Law, such report shall be included in the annual validation of peace officer registry data to be completed by the employer and submitted to the commissioner by January 15th of each year.

Final rule as compared with last published rule:

Nonsubstantive changes were made in section 6018.7.

Text of rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:

Natasha M. Harvin, Esq., Division of Criminal Justice Services, 4 Tower Place, Albany, New York 12203, (518) 457-8413, email: [email protected]

Revised Regulatory Impact Statement, Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, Rural Area Flexibility Analysis and Job Impact Statement

The non-substantive changes made in section 6018.7 of the proposed rule have absolutely no effect on the original Regulatory Impact Statement, Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, Rural Area Flexibility Analysis or Job Impact Statement and therefore, a revised Regulatory Impact Statement, Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, Rural Area Flexibility Analysis, Job Impact Statement is not required.

Assessment of Public Comment

The Division formally proposed 9 NYCRR Part 6018 on February 3, 2010 and received public comments through March 20, 2010.

There was one concern raised - the language in section 6018.7 appeared to be a bit cumbersome and redundant (of Criminal Procedure Law, section 2.30). Since section 6018.7 only refers to time limitations, the Division proposed that section 6018.7 that currently reads, "No person appointed as a correction officer shall exercise the powers of a correction officer unless, within 12 months after appointment, such correction officer is certified as having completed a basic course approved by the commissioner. Where an employer has authorized a correction officer to carry or use a weapon during any phase of the officer's official duties, which constitutes on-duty employment, the program shall include the same number of hours of instruction in deadly physical force and the use of firearms and other weapons as is required in the basic course for police officers" be revised to read, "No person appointed as a correction officer shall exercise the powers of a correction officer unless, within 12 months after appointment, such correction officer is certified as having completed a basic course approved by the commissioner." The State Commission of Correction (SCOC) agreed and the amendment was made.

End of Document