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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | LCO No. 3070 1 of 2 |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | General Assembly Proposed Bill No. 708 |
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| 6 | 6 | | January Session, 2019 |
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| 7 | 7 | | LCO No. 3070 |
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| 8 | 8 | | |
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| 9 | 9 | | |
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| 10 | 10 | | Referred to Committee on PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY |
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| 11 | 11 | | |
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| 12 | 12 | | |
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| 13 | 13 | | Introduced by: |
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| 14 | 14 | | SEN. WITKOS, 8th Dist. |
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| 15 | 15 | | |
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| 16 | 16 | | |
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| 17 | 17 | | |
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| 18 | 18 | | AN ACT CONCERNING MENTAL HEALTH CARE AND WELLNESS |
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| 19 | 19 | | TRAINING AND SUICIDE PREVENTION FOR POLICE OFFICERS. |
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| 20 | 20 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General |
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| 21 | 21 | | Assembly convened: |
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| 22 | 22 | | |
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| 23 | 23 | | That the general statutes be amended to: (1) Provide certain job 1 |
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| 24 | 24 | | protections and assistance for specified public safety personnel, 2 |
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| 25 | 25 | | including police officers, who seek or receive mental health services; 3 |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2) prohibit municipalities or state agencies from discharging, 4 |
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| 27 | 27 | | disciplining, discriminating against or penalizing (A) specified public 5 |
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| 28 | 28 | | safety personnel because they seek or receive mental health services, 6 |
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| 29 | 29 | | and (B) police officers who, while receiving mental health treatment, 7 |
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| 30 | 30 | | return their firearms used in the performance of official duties to their 8 |
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| 31 | 31 | | law enforcement unit; (3) require a law enforcement unit to return a 9 |
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| 32 | 32 | | police officer's firearm used in the performance of the officer's official 10 |
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| 33 | 33 | | duties when a licensed mental health provider, psychiatrist or 11 |
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| 34 | 34 | | psychologist determines the officer is ready for duty; (4) require the 12 |
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| 35 | 35 | | Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to develop 13 |
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| 36 | 36 | | and maintain a list of at least thirty mental health providers with 14 |
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| 37 | 37 | | training in treating police officers and expertise in post-traumatic 15 |
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| 38 | 38 | | stress disorder; (5) allow police officers who are diagnosed with post-16 |
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| 39 | 39 | | traumatic stress disorder after being involved in a shooting or critical 17 Proposed Bill No. 708 |
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| 40 | 40 | | |
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| 41 | 41 | | |
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| 42 | 42 | | LCO No. 3070 2 of 2 |
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| 43 | 43 | | |
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| 44 | 44 | | incident to return to work within a year of the incident under certain 18 |
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| 45 | 45 | | conditions; (6) require the Police Officer Standards and Training 19 |
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| 46 | 46 | | Council to develop a model policy to support the mental health and 20 |
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| 47 | 47 | | wellness of police officers and require municipal police departments to 21 |
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| 48 | 48 | | adopt a policy that meets or exceeds such model policy's standards; (7) 22 |
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| 49 | 49 | | require the Division of State Police and Police Officer Standards and 23 |
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| 50 | 50 | | Training Council, in consultation with the Department of Mental 24 |
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| 51 | 51 | | Health and Addiction Services, to provide mental health care and 25 |
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| 52 | 52 | | wellness training and training in crisis intervention techniques to 26 |
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| 53 | 53 | | police officers hired on or after October 1, 2019; and (8) require the 27 |
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| 54 | 54 | | Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to establish 28 |
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| 55 | 55 | | and maintain a database of police officers who died by suicide and 29 |
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| 56 | 56 | | require each municipal police department to provide notice when one 30 |
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| 57 | 57 | | of its officers dies by suicide. 31 |
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| 58 | 58 | | Statement of Purpose: |
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| 59 | 59 | | To promote mental health and wellness training and suicide |
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| 60 | 60 | | prevention for police officers and other public safety personnel in the |
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| 61 | 61 | | state. |
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