Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Photo: Bloomberg Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Photo: Bloomberg

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday he plans to adjust an executive order he issued four years ago that directs cases where an unarmed civilian is killed by a member of law enforcement to the state Attorney General's Office, rather than a local district attorney.

Cuomo said he plans to make the change after lawmakers failed to approve a bill during the final hours of this year's legislative session that would have codified the executive order into law.

“I'm going to adjust that. Having a special prosecutor for police misconduct is very important,” Cuomo said. “I proposed the legislation many times. They have refused to pass it.”

He had made a final push in recent weeks for lawmakers to approve the legislation, which would permanently refer those cases to the Attorney General's Office. The measure is supported by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who even proposed expanding it last year to give her office jurisdiction over other police-involved crimes, like sexual assault.

Cuomo warned earlier this month that, if lawmakers did not approve the bill, he would consider letting the executive order expire. Those orders are not permanent once they're handed down; Cuomo has had to routinely reissue the directive for it to continue as is.

He said Friday that he's now planning to do something else in place of, or to build on, the executive order. He didn't elaborate on what that would look like.

“To prompt, provoke, catalyze, change I said I will end the executive order if you don't pass legislation as a way to get them to do something,” Cuomo said. “They didn't do anything. So, now we'll go do step two, I'm not sure exactly what that is.”

As part of his request to the Legislature, Cuomo wanted a permanent office established in the Attorney General's Office to investigate police-involved fatalities. That would come with funding and resources, which he said Friday the office doesn't currently have. Cuomo served for one term as the state's attorney general before he was elected governor.

“It's not really a function that the Attorney General's Office is suited for in my opinion,” Cuomo said. “They really don't do criminal cases like this … they don't have the resources.”

Lawmakers, as recently as Tuesday, did not share details on what the status of the legislation was. A bill that would have codified and expanded Cuomo's executive order appeared to gain momentum in recent weeks, but stalled in committee during the final days of session. It was not included in a final omnibus bill approved by lawmakers early Friday morning.

The standalone measure was sponsored by State Sen. Jamaal Bailey, D-Bronx, and Assemblyman Nick Perry, D-Brooklyn. It would have had the Attorney General's Office handle all cases where a civilian dies after an interaction with law enforcement, regardless of whether they were armed or not. It would also make certain grand jury proceedings more readily available to the public.

The Attorney General's Office would have also had to recuse itself when someone dies after an interaction with the State Police. Instead, a special investigator and prosecutor would be appointed by a county judge to handle those cases since the State Police is under the control of the Attorney General's Office.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, said in recent days that members of his conference supported the measure. It failed to come to the floor for a vote before this year's legislative session ended early Friday morning.

The District Attorneys Association of the State of New York, which represents the state's prosecutors, didn't have a position on the bill. Albany County District Attorney David Soares, the group's outgoing president, said recently that he would personally like to see the executive order codified. That position isn't shared by all of the state's prosecutors.

The executive order, first issued in 2015, was intended to prevent what some have alleged could be a conflict of interest for local district attorneys to handle investigations into members of law enforcement who they may know personally, or be more likely to give the benefit of the doubt.

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