ALBANY, N.Y. — The enforcement of Red Flag laws in New York State, which takes firearms away from individuals considered dangerous, may be the subject of a yellow flag of caution.
The Red Flag statute, or ERPO-S for Extreme Risk Protection Order law, was really enhanced by Gov. Kathy Hochul in the wake of the Tops shooting case. That was even though the then-18-year-old gunman had undergone a psychiatric evaluation for a threat against his high school graduation and was subsequently cleared and able to purchase weapons.
Whatever happened in that situation, state police are now ordered to intervene in cases and go to court to seek the order to confiscate weapons if authorities decide an individual could harm others or his or her own self.
State Police investigators and senior investigators are assigned to these cases in which they must spend an average of eight hours on paperwork and other documentation and then actually go out with troopers to take the weapons. Then there is a court appearance for the police and gun owner to determine if a judge can order the weapons to be held by police for up to a year.
The leader of the New York State Police Investigators Association, which is their specific union, says the 1,100 investigators are being spread too thin with extremely difficult duty. That occurs even as they have to handle other felony cases, such as those involving murder, assault, and robbery.
The association lists statistics showing that the number of ERPO cases have grown from 95 in 2021, then up to 584 in 2022, and now 377 so far this year with a pace to reach over 1,000.
Last year the union raised questions about the lack of legal assistance for investigators to argue the case for an ERPO in court where a gun owner may have his or her own attorney. The union leader says the State Attorney General's office then decided to add 15 new staff attorneys to help handle such cases.
NYSPIA President Tim Dymond told 2 On Your Side: "ERPOS are such a hot-button issue as it is, and a little bit politically divisive. There's people who are strongly behind them, there's people that are against them. That can be, people who feel it's unconstitutional. What we're coming out and saying is we have been given a task, and this is the law, and we are here to enforce the law, but we need the people to do that."
Dymond added: "I just want to make sure that people in New York know that the very investigators who are handling these felony cases in their communities and their towns are starting to get bogged down, so we are going to need more hands to help with the increased load that was created by the formation of this law."
He also pointed out that state police evidence-holding clerks are facing a problem around the state.
"Oftentimes these folks have anywhere from five to 10 to 50 guns, long guns that are seized by the state police, and then are stored somewhere in a state police facility. And I never thought I would say we're running out of room, but we are running out of room," Dymond said.
Dymond says he feels State Police Commanders are listening and appreciates the additional state funding for a new academy class of 1,000 new state troopers.
But the union leader says retirements have taken their toll on the ranks of experienced investigators. He is hoping that more troopers can be promoted to become investigators and eventually senior investigators to help handle the ERPO workload.