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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 6462
AN ACT CONCERNING USE OF FORCE BY A PEACE OFFICER.
SUMMARY
This bill delays the effective date of 2020 legislative changes
affecting law enforcement use of force (§ 29 of PA 20-1, July Special
Session (JSS)) from April 1, 2021, to January 1, 2022. Among other
things, these provisions (1) limit the circumstances under which a law
enforcement officer’s use of deadly physical force is justified and
establish factors to consider when evaluating whether the officer’s
action was reasonable and (2) limit when officers may use chokeholds
or similar restraints (see BACKGROUND).
The bill also modifies the circumstances in which officers are
justified in using deadly physical force, established in PA 20-1, JSS (§
29), by, among other things, (1) basing the objective reasonableness
standard on the officer’s given circumstances at that time; (2) requiring
officers to have reasonably determined that no reasonable alternatives
exist, rather than having exhausted such alternatives, if using deadly
force when making an arrest or preventing escape; and (3) establishing
the condition that the escaping person poses a significant threat of
death or serious physical injury to others, among other requirements.
The bill also makes a technical and conforming change.
EFFECTIVE DATE: March 31, 2021, for the effective date provision
and January 1, 2022, for the provision modifying the use of deadly
force justification.
USE OF DEADLY PHYSIC AL FORCE
Objectively Reasonable
Under PA 20-1, JSS (§ 29), one condition that justifies officers using
deadly physical force is that the officers’ actions are objectively 2021HB-06462-R000045-BA.DOCX
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reasonable under the circumstances. The bill specifies that the actions
must be objectively reasonable given the circumstances at that time.
PA 20-1, JSS (§ 29), allows officers to use deadly physical force to:
1. defend themselves or a third person from the use or imminent
use of deadly physical force or
2. (a) arrest a person they reasonably believe has committed or
attempted to commit a felony that involved the infliction of
serious physical injury or (b) prevent the escape from custody of
a person they reasonably believe has committed a felony that
involved the infliction of serious physical injury.
As under existing law, officers must reasonably believe the use of
force is necessary.
Making an Arrest or Preventing Escape
In situations where an officer is making an arrest or preventing an
escape, PA 20-1, JSS (§ 29), places additional conditions on when
deadly physical force may be used. The bill modifies these conditions
as follows.
It eliminates the requirement for officers to exhaust reasonable
alternatives to the use of deadly force; instead, it requires that they
reasonably determine that there are no available reasonable
alternatives to using deadly force. Additionally, the bill requires that
they reasonably believe the force they used does not create
unreasonable, rather than substantial, risk to a third party.
Unchanged by the bill, PA 20-1, JSS (§ 29), also eliminates the
justification of using deadly physical force on someone the officer
reasonably believes only threatened the infliction of serious physical
injury, both when making an arrest or preventing an escape.
Preventing Escape. In situations where an officer is preventing an
escape, the bill additionally establishes the condition that, to justify an
officer’s use of deadly force, the escaping person must pose a 2021HB-06462-R000045-BA.DOCX
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significant threat of death or serious physical injury to others.
DETERMINING WHETHER DEADLY FORCE WAS REA SONABLE
PA 20-1, JSS (§ 29), establishes factors for evaluating whether an
officer’s use of deadly physical force was objectively reasonable. These
factors include, among others, whether the officer’s conduct led to an
increased risk of the situation that preceded the use of force. The bill
narrows this factor to whether the officer’s unreasonable conduct led
to such an increased risk.
BACKGROUND
Law Enforcement Officers
For purposes of the bill, a law enforcement officer includes peace
officers (see below), special police officers for the Department of
Revenue Services, and authorized officials of the Department of
Correction (DOC) or the Board of Pardons and Paroles. By law, the
following individuals are designated peace officers: state and local
police, Division of Criminal Justice inspectors, state marshals
exercising statutory powers, judicial marshals performing their duties,
conservation or special conservation officers, constables who perform
criminal law enforcement duties, appointed special policemen, adult
probation officers, DOC officials authorized to make arrests in a
correctional institution or facility, investigators in the Office of the
State Treasurer, POST-certified motor vehicle inspectors, U.S. marshals
and deputy marshals, U.S. special agents authorized to enforce federal
food and drug laws, and certified police officers of a law enforcement
unit created and governed under a state-tribal memorandum (CGS §
53a-3(9)).
Limits on Chokeholds or Similar Restraints
By law, law enforcement officers are justified in using physical force
to the extent they reasonably believe it is necessary to:
1. arrest or prevent the escape from custody of someone they
reasonably believe has committed an offense (unless the officers
know that the arrest or custody is unauthorized) or 2021HB-06462-R000045-BA.DOCX
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2. defend themselves or a third person from the use or imminent
use of physical force while arresting or attempting to arrest
someone or preventing or attempting to prevent an escape.
PA 20-1, JSS (§ 29), limits when an officer may use a chokehold or
similar methods of restraint (i.e., those that are applied to the neck
area, impede the ability to breathe, or restrict blood circulation to the
brain). It does so by allowing these methods only when the officer
reasonably believes they are necessary to defend himself or herself
from the use or imminent use of deadly physical force.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Judiciary Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 38 Nay 0 (03/08/2021)