New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul committed to support state trooper mental health in her 2026 State of the State (SOTS) agenda.

The governor’s pledge to advance legislation to enhance and codify paid critical incident leave for troopers acknowledges that our members have one of the most demanding and high-stakes public safety missions in the state, if not the nation. They both need and deserve basic mental health protections to ensure they can safely and effectively protect and serve all New Yorkers. 

Make no mistake: every day that this policy is not in place is a day in which our members could be involved in a critical incident and not have access to essential resources. 

We look forward to working with the governor and our partners in the state legislature to enact this important policy early this session and give troopers who are involved in critical incidents sufficient time to recover, process the trauma, and return to duty in a healthy frame of mind. 

This is a strong start to a busy session in which we will fight tirelessly to make sure that troopers have the support they require. 

Charles W. Murphy, President
New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association
Albany, NY