The law, introduced at Tuesday’s council meeting, would make harassment of city officers a Class B misdemeanor.

Under the proposed law, all city officers included in the city charter as well as their staff are protected by the law. The city charter includes members of the Common Council, the mayor, as well as the superintendent of public works and the city code enforcement officer as city officers.

City officials have faced increased levels of harassment, Common Council President Thomas DePietro said Wednesday.

“People have been bothering city workers who are on the job with complaints and obstructing work,” he said. “Elected officials were visited at home and at their workplaces.”

DePietro said city officials also received “excessive and abusive” emails as well as in-person visits.

“There has been an escalation that threatens violence,” he said.

Under the law, a person would be found guilty of harassing a city officer if they make physical contact with a city officer, threaten physical harm, or perform acts that “alarm” or “seriously annoy” city officers without any purpose.

The law was created based on a similar one in effect in the city of Albany and differs from existing state law because harassment would be a misdemeanor charge, Common Council legal counsel Crystal Peck said during Tuesday’s meeting.

“The difference between that and what’s already in state law now is that harassment is not a misdemeanor violation, it’s not really a criminal violation,” she said. “What this does is it actually makes it a felony and a misdemeanor that comes with a little stricter enforcement and more protection for city officers and staff if they find themselves in these situations.”

Harassment of city officials has been a problem since DePietro has been in office, he said.

“It has intensified recently,” he said. “Council members and city officials feel it has escalated and they feel threatened.”

The council has also had problems with individuals disrupting public meetings, DePietro said.

“You just can’t interrupt public meetings, you can argue, criticize, but you can’t disrupt meetings or make threats,” he said.

The law will provide a way for city officers facing harassment to pursue an order of protection, DePietro said.

“Once the courts are involved, it provides a pathway to protective orders,” he said. “Which is a ban on aggressive and violent behavior.”

Hudson 4th Ward Councilwoman Jennifer Belton said Common Council members sometimes receive hostile emails.

“The tone of the emails we get sometimes is actually super hostile and threatening, and that’s scary,” she said.

Belton hopes the law will increase protections for city officials, but it should be expanded, she said.

“I think the law should be expanded to include other city officials, like parking enforcement or people who work in the clerk’s office,” she said.

The state’s open meetings law will protect people who want to attend the meetings, DePietro said.

“There are a lot of protections built into the Open Meetings Act, but what is not protected is disruptive behavior that disrupts the meeting,” he said.

Under New York Penal Law, a person charged with a Class B misdemeanor could be sentenced to up to three months in jail.

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