Splashing NYPD Cops Would Be Felony Under GOP Proposal

NEW YORK — Throwing water on a cop is as bad as starting a fire in the eyes of some New York lawmakers. Three Republican state legislators want to make soaking police officers a felony on par with certain violent and sexual crimes.

The proposal, backed by GOP Assembly members Mike LiPetri and Michael Reilly, is a response to the recent drenchings of NYPD officers that have already led to some felony charges.

"Today it’s water. Tomorrow it’s lye," Reilly, of Staten Island, said at a news conference Wednesday. "And we have had lye thrown in officers’ eyes and they have gone blind. So that’s why it has to be stern."

Widely condemned videos of people dumping buckets of water on cops in Harlem, Brownsville and The Bronx circulated on social media and have led to four arrests, according to the NYPD and news reports. Police say they are searching for a fifth man caught on surveillance video throwing water on two traffic cops in Woodhaven on July 24.

The men reportedly accused of the drenchings face a range of charges including harassment, obstructing governmental administration and third-degree criminal mischief — the latter of which is a class E felony.

That's the same classification that LiPetri's bill would give the specific crime of throwing or spraying water at an on-duty police or peace officer. Those convicted of the offense — menacing a police officer in the second degree — would face one to four years in prison, the lawmaker says.

Other class E felonies in the state penal law include female genital mutilation, criminally negligent homicide, fourth-degree arson and third-degree rape, such as the rape of 16-year-old child by a 21-year-old adult.

The alleged cop-soakers have mostly been charged with misdemeanors, which come with a maximum penalty of a year behind bars, and violations, which are not technically crimes.

GOP legislators and police unions worry the splashings could escalate into attacks with more dangerous substances such as gasoline, acid or cement. They accused liberal officials such as Mayor Bill de Blasio of emboldening New Yorkers to harass cops trying to do their jobs.

"There are some that may call this penalty harsh," said LiPetri, a former cop who represents part of Long Island. "But if you ask us, the only thing that’s harsh is the blatant pattern of disrespect towards police that has been cultivated and encouraged by radical left-wing politicians."

While City Hall said it would review LiPetri's legislation, de Blasio press secretary Freddi Goldstein touted the mayor's support for the police and his efforts to improve their relations with New Yorkers.

"The mayor has spent the last five years working to improve relations between police and the communities they serve," Goldstein said in a statement. "He will never tolerate disrespect against our officers and will always be the loudest voice in their defense."

The NYPD will also take a look at the legislation, as it supports "sending a clear message that these acts won’t be tolerated," said Sgt. Mary Frances O'Donnell, a police spokesperson.

"These water dousing incidents are disrespectful and potentially dangerous, and completely unacceptable," O'Donnell said in a statement.

But frequent critics of the NYPD panned the GOP bill as an overreach.

A spokesperson for Public Advocate Jumaane Williams — who has condemned the dousings as "shameful" and "unacceptable" — called it an "over-criminalization of an activity which is already illegal."

"Clearly these continued actions need to stop, but hyperbole and headlines can't drive criminal justice policy or counteract the progress we've made over years of reform," the spokesperson, William Gerlich, said in a statement.

Anne Oredeko, a top lawyer at the Legal Aid Society, called it "embarrassing" that state lawmakers would try to make splashing water on cops a serious crime.

"Thankfully this bill is dead on arrival and it will die in committee," Oredeko, the supervising attorney of Legal Aid's Racial Justice Unit, said in a statement. "Instead of wasting time on chasing sensational headlines, these Legislators should focus on the true needs of their constituents."