Recent news reports showed a hammer-wielding individual swinging at the heads of pedestrians and park-goers in Midtown Manhattan but stopped by two members of the NYPD.1 Now imagine if the two uniformed police officers were on their way to their assignment—not as members of the NYPD, but rather as highly trained railroad police officers, who are former NYPD officers, now appointed to the railroad police by the Superintendent of the New York State Police under the New York Railroad Law. Would you want those officers to attempt a lawful arrest of the attacker to prevent deadly harm to themselves and innocent citizens? Or would you rather the railroad police officers call the NYPD and hope that a unit can arrive before people get hurt?
Surprisingly, under the law as it exists today, a police officer appointed under Section 88 of the New York Railroad Law does not have the authority to make that arrest, because the crime did not take place “upon the property or in connection with the property” owned by the railroad company for which the officer works. See N.Y. R.R. LAW §88(14).
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