It gets loud on the big city beat.<\/p>\n
The City Council is mulling a bill that would offer cops electronic hearing devices to protect their ears on the job in the \u201cvery loud\u201d Big Apple.<\/p>\n
The bill, introduced Thursday by GOP Minority Leader David Carr and Council Public Safety Chair Oswald Feliz, would create a one-year pilot program for the NYPD to offer ear protection that will reduce noise by at least 25 decibels.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew York is a very loud city and our police officers are exposed to these noises constantly, whether it\u2019s blaring sirens, car horns or even people screaming in their ears,\u201d Carr told The Post. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese devices will provide an important benefit not just to our officers but to all New Yorkers, by protecting the hearing of the people who protect us,\u201d Carr added.<\/p>\n
NYC Council Minority Leader David Carr introduced the new bill that would create a pilot program for protective hearing devices across all five boroughs. Matthew McDermott for NY Post<\/p>\n
Studies have shown that police officers across the country face higher levels of hearing loss than the general public, with more than a third of officers reporting some level of loss.<\/p>\n
Typical digital devices fit in the ear canal but could block sudden spikes in noise levels such as gunfire without muffling or dampening regular sounds the way traditional earplugs would.<\/p>\n
The equipment would be provided to at least one precinct in each borough and would be doled out on a \u201cfirst-come, first served\u201d basis to officers who don\u2019t exclusively work indoors under the pilot.<\/p>\n
Ohio has a program where local police departments can apply for the same type of electronic protective hearing devices in order to reduce job-related hearing loss. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice officers work long hours to keep New Yorkers safe. Too often, they deal with loud and prolonged noise that can have negative effects on their hearing,\u201d Feliz (D-Bronx) told The Post.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must make every effort to ensure they are able to carry out their duties without having to worry about the long term impact on their health and well-being,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n
The NYPD would be required to provide officers with information about hearing loss and release a report within two months of the pilot\u2019s conclusion assessing the program and whether it should be expanded.<\/p>\n
Public Safety Chair Oswald Feliz (D-Bronx) sponsored the bill that would create a year-long pilot program before NYPD would consider implementing a full program. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n
Ohio has a similar program where local departments can submit requests for the protective devices paid for by the state.<\/p>\n
The NYPD and the New York City Police Benevolence Association did not immediately respond to requests for comment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It gets loud on the big city beat. The City Council is mulling a bill that would offer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[301,57,9,11,10,103,58],"class_list":["post-321192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-city-council","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-nypd","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321192","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=321192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}