Jamie DeLine
November 24, 2025
WATCH VIDEO HERE
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)— The New York State Inspector General’s Office issued a twenty-five-page report reviewing CUNY’s firearm policies and procedures.
According to the Inspector General, in 2020, a CUNY peace officer fired shots at two NYPD officers during a domestic violence incident.
“The peace officer himself was killed by police,” explained Lucy Lang, New York State’s Inspector General. “Mercifully, although they were shot themselves, managed to save the woman. What came out of that was an investigation into how it was that this CUNY peace officer had previously violated CUNY’s firearms policies. Although in the incident in question, he used his personal firearm, it had turned out that he had previously brought a state issued firearm home and that he had been previously charged with domestic violence incidents.”
This incident, as well as a few others involving CUNY public safety staff, are highlighted in the report.
“What we found was that across the state agency there was a wide variety of policies in place that were inconsistent,” said Lang. “Many of them lacked updates and they weren’t necessarily being enforced as they should have been.”
When it comes to firearm safety, Lang shared recommendations across the CUNY system such as:
- Implementing firearm controls such as logbooks and daily locker checks
- Mandating fitness-for-duty reviews after any domestic violence allegation, mental health crisis, or suspension of firearm license
- Updating all firearm policies
This report also resulted in statewide agency changes as well.
“In the time since we have undertaken this assessment, those policies have been addressed and now, every agency is required to update their policies consistent with best practices and to submit them to the Division of Criminal Justice Services for review and assessment annually,” shared Lang.
The Division of Criminal Justice Services issued a statement saying, “DCJS is responsible for setting the minimum standards for firearms policies to be followed by all agencies and authorities that employ police and peace officers who carry firearms in the performance of their official duties. Each agency shall review and update its firearms policies by April 1, 2026 to ensure compliance with these minimum standards.”
The Inspector General hopes this will help stop domestic and firearm violence before it begins.
