LCO \\PRDFS1\HCOUSERS\BARRYJN\WS\2021HB-06462-R01-
HB.docx
1 of 3
General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6462
January Session, 2021
AN ACT CONCERNING US E OF FORCE BY A PEACE OFFICER.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (Effective March 31, 2021) Section 29 of public act 20-1 of the 1
July special session shall take effect January 1, 2022. 2
Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 53a-22 of the general statutes, as 3
amended by section 29 of public act 20-1 of the July special session, is 4
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 5
1, 2022): 6
(c) (1) Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, a peace 7
officer, special policeman appointed under section 29-18b or authorized 8
official of the Department of Correction or the Board of Pardons and 9
Paroles is justified in using deadly physical force upon another person 10
for the purposes specified in subsection (b) of this section only when his 11
or her actions are objectively reasonable under the given circumstances 12
at that time, and: 13
(A) He or she reasonably believes such use to be necessary to defend 14
himself or herself or a third person from the use or imminent use of 15
deadly physical force; or 16
(B) He or she (i) has [exhausted the] reasonably determined that there 17 Substitute Bill No. 6462
LCO {\\PRDFS1\HCOUSERS\BARRYJN\WS\2021HB-06462-
R01-HB.docx }
2 of 3
are no available reasonable alternatives to the use of deadly physical 18
force, (ii) reasonably believes that the force employed creates no 19
[substantial] unreasonable risk of injury to a third party, and (iii) 20
reasonably believes such use of force to be necessary to (I) effect an 21
arrest of a person whom he or she reasonably believes has committed or 22
attempted to commit a felony which involved the infliction of serious 23
physical injury, and if, where feasible, he or she has given warning of 24
his or her intent to use deadly physical force, or (II) prevent the escape 25
from custody of a person whom he or she reasonably believes has 26
committed a felony which involved the infliction of serious physical 27
injury and who poses a significant threat of death or serious physical 28
injury to others, and if, where feasible, [under this subdivision,] he or 29
she has given warning of his or her intent to use deadly physical force. 30
(2) For purposes of evaluating whether actions of a peace officer, special 31
policeman appointed under section 29-18b or authorized official of the 32
Department of Correction or the Board of Pardons and Paroles are 33
reasonable under subdivision (1) of this subsection, factors to be 34
considered include, but are not limited to, whether (A) the person upon 35
whom deadly physical force was used possessed or appeared to possess 36
a deadly weapon, (B) the peace officer, special policeman appointed 37
under section 29-18b or authorized official of the Department of 38
Correction or the Board of Pardons and Paroles engaged in reasonable 39
deescalation measures prior to using deadly physical force, and (C) any 40
unreasonable conduct of the peace officer, special policeman appointed 41
under section 29-18b or authorized official of the Department of 42
Correction or the Board of Pardons and Paroles led to an increased risk 43
of an occurrence of the situation that precipitated the use of such force.44
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 March 31, 2021 New section
Sec. 2 January 1, 2022 53a-22(c)
Substitute Bill No. 6462
LCO {\\PRDFS1\HCOUSERS\BARRYJN\WS\2021HB-06462-
R01-HB.docx }
3 of 3
JUD Joint Favorable Subst.