Assembly Member Feliz Ortiz

After one more tragic death and a criminal conviction, Sunset Park Assemblyman and Assistant Speaker Felix W. Ortiz called for better and improved cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for police officers.

Former NYPD Office Peter Liang’s recent admission that he was not properly trained to perform demonstrates once more how our police officers are poorly trained and ill prepared to administer CPR when it counts the most, said Ortiz. 

Ortiz noted that Liang, convicted of killing a man in a Brooklyn housing complex, told a court that his police academy instructor did not adequately train police cadets in proper CPR procedures. His partner also testified that that he barely practiced CPR for less than two minutes on a mannequin. According to news reports, the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau is now finally reviewing departmental CPR procedures.

“I've asked Commissioner Bill Bratton to mandate CPR retraining several times in the past and never heard back that it was a priority,” said Ortiz. “I expect the commissioner and his department finally realizes that CPR saves lives and that there is absolutely no excuse not to properly train officers.”

Ortiz is the sponsor of “Briana’s Law, (A.8232) , legislation introduced in response to the tragic death of Briana Ojeda in 2010. The bill will require every police officer in New York State to be retrained and tested in CPR, and that the state and a local department may choose to reimburse officers for training costs or administer their own training programs for officers. (Source: Kings County Politics)