§ 70-b. Office of special investigation. 1. There shall be established\nwithin the office of the attorney general an office of special\ninvestigation. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the office of\nspecial investigation shall investigate and, if warranted, prosecute any\nalleged criminal offense or offenses committed by a person, whether or\nnot formally on duty, who is a police officer, as defined in subdivision\nthirty-four of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law, or a peace\nofficer as defined in section 2.10 of the criminal procedure law,\nprovided that such peace officer is employed or contracted by an\neducation, public health, social service, parks, housing or corrections\nagency, or is a peace officer as defined in subdivision twenty-five of\nsection 2.10 of the criminal procedure law, concerning any incident in\nwhich the death of a person, whether in custody or not, is caused by an\nact or omission of such police officer or peace officer or in which the\nattorney general determines there is a question as to whether the death\nwas in fact caused by an act or omission of such police officer or peace\nofficer.\n 2. The attorney general has investigative authority and criminal\njurisdiction under this section at the time of the death of the person\nand the attorney general retains investigative authority and criminal\njurisdiction over the incident unless the attorney general determines\nthat such incident does not meet the requirements of this section. If\nthe attorney general determines the incident does not meet the\nrequirements for the attorney general to have investigative authority\nand criminal jurisdiction pursuant to this section, the attorney general\nshall, as soon as practicable, provide written notice of such\ndetermination to the district attorney for the county in which the\nincident occurred.\n 3. In connection with any particular incident encompassed by this\nsection, the attorney general shall conduct a full, reasoned and\nindependent investigation, including but not limited to: (a) gathering\nand analyzing evidence; (b) conducting witness interviews; (c) reviewing\nand commissioning any necessary investigative and scientific reports;\nand (d) reviewing audio and video-recordings. The attorney general shall\nbe empowered to subpoena witnesses, compel their attendance, examine\nthem under oath before himself or herself or a magistrate and require\nthat any books, records, documents or papers relevant or material to the\ninquiry be turned over to him or her for inspection, examination or\naudit, pursuant to the civil practice law and rules, in connection with\nsuch incident.\n 3-a. (a) The attorney general shall maintain the confidentiality of\nall video footage and audio recordings received and reviewed.\n (b) Disclosure of any audio recordings or video footage shall be\ndelayed, at the attorney general's discretion, only if such a disclosure\nwould compromise an ongoing criminal investigation or prosecution, or at\nthe request of the decedent's family.\n (c) Redactions of audio records or video footage shall be made\npursuant to its video release policy.\n (d) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prohibit or\nrestrict the disclosure of audio recordings or video footage to any\nperson or entity otherwise lawfully entitled to receive such recordings\nor footage pursuant to law, court order, or lawful process.\n 4. The attorney general shall have criminal jurisdiction over any\ncriminal conduct arising from any incident herein, and shall exercise\nall of the powers and perform all of the duties with respect to such\nactions or proceedings that a district attorney would otherwise be\nauthorized or required to exercise or perform, including all the powers\nnecessary to prosecute acts and omissions and alleged acts and omissions\nto obstruct, hinder or interfere with any inquiry, prosecution, trial or\njudgment arising from the incident. The criminal jurisdiction of the\
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