{"id":231723,"date":"2026-05-14T18:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/231723\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T18:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:19:08","slug":"nyc-traffic-enforcement-agents-seek-peace-officer-status-under-nys-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/231723\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC traffic enforcement agents seek peace officer status under NYS bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

NYC Traffic Enforcement Agents are making progress in their effort to seek peace officer status amid continued on-duty assaults<\/a>, their union said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Representatives of CWA Local 1182<\/a>, the union representing the city\u2019s 2,300 traffic agents, gained support from City Council Deputy Speaker Nantasha Williams (D-Queens) in its push for peace officer status. Williams was expected to introduce into the Council a resolution on May 14 calling on state lawmakers to pass bills S.5763<\/a>\/A.6588<\/a>, which would grant the agents this legal designation to improve protections.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By granting them peace officer status instead of classifying them as civilian workers, the agents would receive greater legal protections, with anyone who assaults them facing tougher criminal penalties. If the bills are approved, assaults against agents on the job could be prosecuted under laws that apply to attacks on peace or police officers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Traffic Enforcement Agents are responsible for duties including traffic control, school zone enforcement, congestion management, and maintaining access for emergency vehicles across the city. They also help manage traffic conditions near emergencies and public events.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Government officials and union reps said assaults against on-duty agents remain a constant concern. In fact, it is a daily occurrence, Alexander Sadik, president of the union, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Traffic agents get punched, spat at, and harassed<\/p>\n

\u201cI get punched, I get spit at. I had an agent the other day, she didn\u2019t do anything,\u201d Sadik said. \u201cThe driver came out and punched her. She\u2019s about 5 feet tall, 90 pounds. He punched her so hard in her face that she can\u2019t talk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sadik added that many agent assaults go unreported; many also pay for their own medical bills when they are attacked on the job.\u00a0
\n\"TrafficA legion of NYPD traffic agents assembled outside of the 28th Precinct on Monday afternoon to watch the man who allegedly attacked their colleague with a fire extinguisher in Harlem in 2024 be whisked away in cuffs by detectives.Photo by Dean Moses\n<\/p>\n

Williams echoed similar points, noting that the agents often work under difficult conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNo worker should face violence for\u00a0carrying out their responsibilities, and the repeated assaults against these agents raise serious\u00a0concerns about workplace safety and accountability,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

amNewYork contacted the NYPD to ask if the department supports the bills and whether they have seen an increase in reported assaults and is awaiting a response.\n<\/p>\n

Protections for performing public-facing work<\/p>\n

Sadik said agents are not asking to be armed. He only wants more justice for attacks on agents.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not asking for a dollar. I\u2019m not asking for a weapon or handcuffs. I\u2019m not asking to chase anyone because I\u2019m not a cop,\u201d Sadik explained. \u201cI just want to make sure people think twice about the consequences of attacking an agent. That\u2019s all I want. I want to feel comfortable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Language in the state bills underscores Sadik\u2019s points, making clear the law would not automatically allow agents to carry or use firearms.\n<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026criminal procedure law is amended by adding a new subdivision\u2026all agents employed by the City of New York Police Department in the titles of Traffic Enforcement Agent I and II provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision shall be deemed to authorize any such agent to carry, possess, repair or dispose of a firearm unles the appropriate license therefor has been issued pursuant to section 400.00 of the penal law,\u201d the language reads.<\/p>\n

Williams reiterated that her resolution is to strengthen legal protections and deterrence measures for agents performing public-facing work, not to expand enforcement powers or arm officers.\n<\/p>\n

As these incidents\u00a0continue, we have a responsibility to examine whether\u00a0current protections are sufficient and ensure that the people tasked with keeping our streets safe and operational are themselves adequately protected while on duty.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NYC Traffic Enforcement Agents are making progress in their effort to seek peace officer status amid continued on-duty…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[90862,90863,9,56,63,65,64,103,89618,2023,90864,142],"class_list":["post-231723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-alexander-sadik","tag-local-1182","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-nypd","tag-parking-enforcement","tag-traffic","tag-traffic-enforcement-agents","tag-transit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}