Democrats in suburban New York are suing a Republican county government over his creation of an armed unit of volunteer residents, saying it quantities to an “illegal, taxpayer-funded civilian militia.”
Nassau County Democratic lawmakers argue of their grievance filed Wednesday that Nassau County Govt Bruce Blakeman lacked the authorized authority to type a cadre of particular sheriff’s deputies with “authority to use deadly force and make arrests under color of law.”
They are saying state regulation authorizes native sheriffs to deputize solely skilled regulation enforcement officers from different companies in emergencies — not non-public residents.
“New York State law is clear: only professional, sworn officers can wield police powers,” stated Josh Kelner, whose regulation agency Kelner & Kelner joined the Free and Honest Litigation Group to file the swimsuit on behalf of Democratic lawmakers. “Blakeman’s militia is prohibited and a transparent risk to public security.”
Democrats, who’re the minority within the county legislature, additionally complain Blakeman’s workplace has ignored their public information requests searching for primary particulars of this system, together with who’s being recruited, the scope of their coaching, the particular weapons they’ll carry and the whole taxpayer price of this system.
Blakeman did not instantly reply to the secrecy claims, however in an announcement dismissed the swimsuit as “frivolous” and urged Democrats had been defaming the 26 volunteers sworn in to this point, a lot of whom are retired army and regulation enforcement officers.
He has stated the armed deputies are required to be licensed gun house owners, should full 12 hours of classroom instruction and apply on the firing vary.
He is additionally pressured the deputies would solely be known as on when the county, positioned simply east of the New York Metropolis borough of Queens, faces a pure catastrophe or different main emergency.
The deputies could be assigned to guard authorities buildings, hospitals and significant infrastructure, and never be used to quell protests or patrol streets, as Democrats and different critics have urged, based on Blakeman.
Democrats, of their swimsuit, notice the county already has one of many largest native police forces within the nation, with some 2,600 sworn officers. State troopers additionally serve Nassau County and dozens of native villages have their very own police forces.
The county also can name up lots of of unarmed civilian volunteers via the Nassau County Auxiliary Police and the Nassau County Workplace of Emergency Administration Group Emergency Response Crew, based on the litigation.
“Defendants have not publicly explained how a group of less than one hundred armed civilians would materially aid the thousands of trained, registered, sworn, and armed police and peace officers available to meet the needs of Nassau County residents in the event of an emergency,” the lawsuit states. “Authorizing minimally trained private citizens to wield force on behalf of the government – and during an emergency no less – poses clear and obvious safety risks, both to trained law enforcement and the public at large.”
