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New York State Fraternal Order of Police New York City Fire Marshals Lodge
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Dear Mr. Poplinger:
As per your request, I write to explain the retired New York police officers'
qualification problems under this Federal Law.
First, for your information, there are companion Congressional bills to enhance
and amend HR 218. They are S. 376 and HR 2726, but the outlook for passage of
these Bills right now is unlikely!
I would like to quote a passage from the National Fraternal Order of Police
October '08 newsletter "The Journal".
The paragraph is:
"Last September, the Subcommittee ( the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism
and Homeland Security) held a hearing to focus on some of the implementation
problems being faced by some officers in some States, specifically the problems
identified by the FOP with respect to retired officers, who are not being
afforded the opportunity to qualify with their firearms. Because the Federal Law
requires that retired officers carry with them a document certifying that they
have qualified within the past year, they cannot meet the paperwork requirements
of the Federal Law and thus cannot carry under LEOSA."
As I tried to explain to Assemblymen Alessi that although the Rockland County
Police Academy does conduct a retired police officer qualification course, it is
NOT sanctioned by the State of New York and therefore does not meet the
requirements of HR 218. I have attended this qualification course for the past
two years and do receive a ID card document with all the required Federal
information upon it except that it DOES NOT adhere to HR 218 because it's not
approved by the State. Attendance at this Rockland County facility for me, means
a 230 mile round trip, 5 hours travel time, plus fuel and tolls. Quite a
hardship on many police retirees who live extreme distances from Pomona, NY.
Rockland County, Suffolk County and possibly other NYS counties can and do
conduct a HR 218 qualification course, but only for those retirees from their
respective academies. This procedure IS VALID under the present HR 218 law as
coded.
As I stated to your staff, all retired officers (other than those from a
retiring agency) pay a fee of about $50 for one type of firearm ($40 more for
another!), plus they supply the ammunition too! This really is a no-cost
operation to any police agency, and quite possibly a money maker!
There is one other aspect the Assemblyman should be aware of. There are many
retired Federal law enforcement officers residing in New York State. 'They'
include FBI, Treasury, ATF, Customs, Border Patrol, U.S. Postal police and
AMTRAK officers amongst others. I've met many of them attempting to use the
Rockland County qualification course also, since they do not have a local
retiring agency to help them met the HR 218 requirements.
An optimum solution would be to have the State authorize local (usually County)
police to qualify all those local residing retired police officers
desiring HR 218 qualification, irregardless of their retiring agency. This act
would satisfy both the National FOP in New York State and all local retired
police officers.
Sincerely,
Martin S. Walicki (Retired Supervising Fire Marshal, FDNY)
55 Second Street
South Jamesport, NY 11970
631 722 5539
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