LCO No. 1149 1 of 3
General Assembly Proposed Bill No. 5692
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 1149
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
REP. CANDELORA, 86th Dist.
REP. DEVLIN, 134th Dist.
REP. O'DEA, 125th Dist.
REP. PERILLO, 113th Dist.
REP. REBIMBAS, 70th Dist.
REP. ZUPKUS, 89th Dist.
AN ACT DELAYING CERTAIN EFFECTIVE DATES AND MAKING
OTHER REVISIONS OF THE POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY
LEGISLATION OF PUBLIC ACT 20 -1 OF THE JULY SPECIAL
SESSION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
That certain sections of the general statutes amended by or enacted 1
as part of public act 20-1 of the July special session be amended in the 2
following manners to: 3
(1) Postpone the effective dates of all sections of the bill until July 1, 4
2023, to allow for the development and offering of law enforcement 5
liability insurance policies to individual police officers; 6
(2) Amend subsection (d) of section 52-571k to allow governmental 7
immunity to be a defense except in cases where an officer is acting in a 8
manner evincing extreme indifference to human life, and to permit 9
interlocutory appeals of a trial court's denial of the application of 10
governmental immunity; 11 Proposed Bill No. 5692
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(3) Revise the prohibition on consent searches to ensure public safety, 12
officer safety, and that investigations into such incidents as sexual 13
assaults and officer-involved shootings are able to be completed with 14
exclusionary samples from witnesses and victims; 15
(4) Properly define justifiable force, to give officers certainty over 16
what is permissible and the ability to properly train to defend 17
themselves, including reestablishment of "threatened infliction" of 18
serious physical injury into subparagraph (B) of subdivision (1) of 19
subsection (c) of section 53a-22 of the general statutes as a justification; 20
(5) Strike in section 7-294d of the general statutes the language 21
allowing for decertification for conduct that "undermines public 22
confidence in law enforcement" and replace with examples of specific 23
conduct; 24
(6) Ensure that mental health assessments of officers required by 25
section 7-291e of the general statutes comply with the Americans with 26
Disabilities Act, and ensure that police officers are able to seek treatment 27
without fear of discipline or losing their jobs; 28
(7) Revise the process by which the Inspector General is chosen and 29
appointed to ensure constitutionality; 30
(8) Strike the phrase "unreasonable, excessive" where it appears in 31
section 7-282e of the general statutes, to ensure an officer is only 32
criminally liable for failing to intervene in another officer's use of force 33
if that force constitutes a crime; 34
(9) Establish due process in section 7-294aaa of the general statutes 35
by requiring subpoenas issued by civilian police review boards be 36
subject to objection proceedings in Superior Court; 37
(10) Increase to fifty per cent the reimbursement rate for 38
nondistressed municipalities for body-worn and dashboard camera 39
equipment; 40
(11) Make optional the requirements that municipalities gain 41 Proposed Bill No. 5692
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Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., 42
accreditation; 43
(12) Amend sections 29-161h and 29-161q of the general statutes to 44
ensure security guard licensure bar applies to out-of-state police; 45
(13) Permit additional equipment to be made available to police 46
departments under the federal excess military equipment program after 47
public hearing and allow municipalities to appeal decisions of the 48
Governor and Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public 49
Protection; 50
(14) Relax the zero-tolerance standard for officer drug testing, 51
understanding that officers often pick up trace amounts of controlled 52
substances while on duty; and 53
(15) Amend section 29-6d of the general statutes to ensure that 54
officers have the ability to review, with representation, video footage 55
from body-worn or dashboard cameras if an investigation is initiated 56
later than ninety-six hours after the recorded incident. 57
Statement of Purpose:
To revise the police accountability legislation of public act 20-1 of the
July special session in order to restore the due process rights of peace
officers entrusted to enforce our laws and protect public safety.