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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6597
January Session, 2021
AN ACT CONCERNING AC CREDITATION, REPORTING
REQUIREMENTS, MENTAL HEALTH, DATA STORAG E SERVICES
AND TRAINING OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 7-294ee of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 2
(a) [Until December 31, 2024, the] The Police Officer Standards and 3
Training Council, established under section 7-294b, and the 4
Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection or the 5
commissioner's designee, shall jointly develop, adopt and revise, as 6
necessary, minimum standards and practices for the administration, 7
[and] management and operation of law enforcement units, as defined 8
in section 7-294a. Such minimum standards and practices shall be based 9
upon standards established by the International Association of Chiefs of 10
Police and the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement 11
Agencies, Inc., and shall include, but need not be limited to, standards 12
and practices regarding bias-based policing, use of force, response to 13
crimes of family violence, use of body-worn recording equipment, 14
complaints that allege misconduct by police officers, use of electronic 15
defense weapons, eyewitness identification procedures, notifications in 16
death and related events and pursuits by police officers and compliance 17 Substitute Bill No. 6597
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with the guidance issued by the council pursuant to subdivision (1) of 18
subsection (g) of section 7-294d regarding reporting procedures to be 19
followed by chief law enforcement officers for certificate suspension, 20
cancellation or revocation. The minimum standards and practices shall 21
be divided into three tiers, known as tier one, tier two and tier three. Tier 22
one shall consist of minimum standards and practices designed to 23
protect law enforcement units from liability, enhance the delivery of 24
services and improve public confidence in law enforcement units. Tier 25
two shall consist of minimum standards and practices for the 26
administration, management and operation of law enforcement units. 27
Tier three shall consist of higher minimum standards and practices for 28
the administration, management and operation of law enforcement 29
units. The council shall post [such] the minimum standards and 30
practices of each tier on the council's Internet web site and disseminate 31
[such] the minimum standards and practices of each tier to law 32
enforcement units. The council and commissioner or the commissioner's 33
designee shall jointly develop a process to review a law enforcement 34
unit's compliance with [such] the minimum standards and practices of 35
each tier and issue a certificate of compliance with [law enforcement] 36
the minimum standards and practices of tier one, tier two or tier three, 37
as the case may be, to a law enforcement unit that meets or exceeds 38
[such] the minimum standards and practices of such tier. 39
(b) On and after January 1, [2019] 2022, and until December 31, [2024] 40
2023, each law enforcement unit shall adopt and maintain (1) the 41
minimum standards and practices of tier one developed by the council 42
pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, or (2) a higher level of 43
accreditation standards developed by the council or the Commission on 44
Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. 45
(c) On and after January 1, 2023, and until December 31, 2024, each 46
law enforcement unit shall adopt and maintain (1) the minimum 47
standards and practices of tier two developed by the council pursuant 48
to subsection (a) of this section, or (2) a higher level of accreditation 49
standards developed by the council or the Commission on Accreditation 50 Substitute Bill No. 6597
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for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. 51
[(c)] (d) On and after January 1, 2025, each law enforcement unit shall 52
[obtain and maintain accreditation] adopt and maintain (1) the 53
minimum standards and practices of tier three developed by the council 54
pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, or (2) a higher level of 55
accreditation standards developed by the Commission on Accreditation 56
for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. 57
(e) If a law enforcement unit fails to [obtain] adopt or maintain [such 58
accreditation] the minimum standards and practices or a higher level of 59
accreditation standards developed by the council or the Commission on 60
Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., in accordance with 61
the provisions of subsections (b) to (d), inclusive, of this subsection, the 62
council shall work with the law enforcement unit to [obtain] assist such 63
unit to adopt and maintain [such] the minimum standards and practices 64
or the higher level of accreditation standards. 65
(f) If a law enforcement unit fails to comply with the guidance issued 66
by the council pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (g) of section 7-67
294d regarding reporting procedures to be followed by chief law 68
enforcement officers for certificate suspension, cancellation or 69
revocation, (1) the council may recommend to the Office of Policy and 70
Management, and the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management 71
may order, an appropriate penalty in the form of the withholding of 72
state funds from such law enforcement unit, and (2) the council may 73
revoke the certificate of compliance with the minimum standards and 74
practices of tier one, tier two or tier three, as the case may be, issued 75
pursuant to this section. 76
[(d)] (g) No civil action may be brought against a law enforcement 77
unit for damages arising from the failure of the law enforcement unit to 78
[(1)] adopt and maintain [such] the minimum standards and practices 79
or a higher level of accreditation standards developed by the council or 80
the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc, 81
pursuant to [subsection] subsections (b) to (d), inclusive, of this section. 82 Substitute Bill No. 6597
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[, or (2) obtain and maintain accreditation by the Commission on 83
Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., pursuant to 84
subsection (c) of this section.] 85
Sec. 2. Subdivision (22) of subsection (a) of section 7-294d of the 86
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 87
thereof (Effective from passage): 88
(22) (A) [Until December 31, 2024, to] To develop, adopt and revise, 89
as necessary, comprehensive accreditation standards for the 90
administration and management of law enforcement units, to grant 91
accreditation to those law enforcement units that demonstrate their 92
compliance with such standards and, at the request and expense of any 93
law enforcement unit, to conduct such surveys as may be necessary to 94
determine such unit's compliance with such standards; and (B) [on and 95
after January 1, 2025,] to work with any law enforcement unit that has 96
failed to [obtain] adopt or maintain [accreditation from] the minimum 97
standards and practices or a higher level of accreditation standards 98
developed by the council or the Commission on Accreditation for Law 99
Enforcement Agencies, Inc., pursuant to section 7-294ee, as amended by 100
this act; 101
Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 7-291d of the general statutes is 102
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 103
passage): 104
(a) (1) No law enforcement unit, as defined in section 7-294a, shall 105
discharge, discipline, discriminate against or otherwise penalize a police 106
officer, as defined in section 7-294a, who is employed by such law 107
enforcement unit solely because the police officer (A) seeks or receives 108
mental health care services, [or] including such services as a result of a 109
behavioral health assessment conducted pursuant to section 7-291e, or 110
(B) surrenders his or her firearm, ammunition or electronic defense 111
weapon used in the performance of the police officer's official duties to 112
such law enforcement unit during the time the police officer receives 113
mental health care services. 114 Substitute Bill No. 6597
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(2) The provisions of this subsection shall not be applicable to a police 115
officer who [(1)] (A) seeks or receives mental health care services to 116
avoid disciplinary action by such law enforcement unit, or [(2)] (B) 117
refuses to submit himself or herself to an examination as provided in 118
subsection (b) of this section. 119
Sec. 4. (Effective from passage) (a) The Commissioner of Administrative 120
Services, in consultation with the Commissioner of Emergency Services 121
and Public Protection, shall study and make recommendations 122
regarding ways to lower the costs incurred by municipal police 123
departments for digital data storage devices or services, as defined in 124
section 29-6d of the general statutes. Such study shall examine, at a 125
minimum, (1) the feasibility of, and costs associated with, expanding the 126
storage system used by the Department of Emergency Services and 127
Public Protection or building a new storage system to provide digital 128
data storage devices or services for municipal police departments, (2) 129
compliance with the Freedom of Information Act, as defined in section 130
1-200 of the general statutes, if a municipal police department stores 131
data from the recordings made by body-worn recording equipment on 132
a state-owned storage system, (3) cost-sharing arrangements with 133
municipal police departments that use a state-owned storage system 134
that consider a specific cost per police officer and police departments in 135
large municipalities and distressed municipalities, as defined in section 136
32-9p of the general statutes, and (4) any issues associated with a 137
municipal police department transferring data from one storage system 138
to a state-owned storage system. 139
(b) Not later than February 1, 2022, the Commissioner of 140
Administrative Services shall submit, in accordance with the provisions 141
of section 11-4a of the general statutes, its findings and 142
recommendations to the joint standing committee of the General 143
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public safety and 144
security. 145
Sec. 5. Section 4a-53 of the general statutes is repealed and the 146
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 147 Substitute Bill No. 6597
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(a) The Commissioner of Administrative Services may join with 148
federal agencies, other state governments, political subdivisions of this 149
state or nonprofit organizations in cooperative purchasing plans when 150
the best interests of the state would be served thereby. 151
(b) The state, through the Commissioner of Administrative Services, 152
may purchase equipment, supplies, materials and services from a 153
person who has a contract to sell such property or services to other state 154
governments, political subdivisions of this state, nonprofit 155
organizations or public purchasing consortia, in accordance with the 156
terms and conditions of such contract. 157
(c) The Commissioner of Administrative Services, in conjunction with 158
the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and within 159
available appropriations, shall make known to the chief executive 160
officer of each municipality the existence of cooperative plans for the 161
purchase of recycled paper. 162
(d) The Commissioner of Administrative Services, in conjunction 163
with the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, shall 164
enter into a cooperative purchasing plan with each municipality that 165
seeks to enter into such plan for the purchase of digital data storage 166
devices or services, as defined in section 29-6d, for use by municipal 167
police departments. 168
Sec. 6. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) Not later than July 1, 2022, 169
the Police Officer Standards and Training Council, after consultation 170
with persons with mental or physical disabilities and advocates on 171
behalf of such persons, shall develop a training curriculum for police 172
officers regarding interactions with persons who have mental or 173
physical disabilities. 174
(b) On and after October 1, 2022, each police basic or review training 175
program conducted or administered by the Police Officer Standards and 176
Training Council, the Division of State Police within the Department of 177
Emergency Services and Public Protection or a municipal police 178 Substitute Bill No. 6597
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department shall include the training curriculum developed pursuant 179
to subsection (a) of this section. 180
Sec. 7. Subsection (c) of section 7-277c of the general statutes is 181
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 182
passage): 183
(c) The Office of Policy and Management shall distribute grants-in-184
aid to any municipality pursuant to this section during the fiscal years 185
ending June 30, 2021, and June 30, 2022. Any such grant-in-aid shall be 186
for up to fifty per cent of the cost of such purchase of body-worn 187
recording equipment, digital data storage devices or services or 188
dashboard cameras with a remote recorder, [if the municipality is a 189
distressed municipality, as defined in section 32-9p, or up to thirty per 190
cent of the cost of such purchase if the municipality is not a distressed 191
municipality,] provided the costs of such digital data storage services 192
covered by a grant-in-aid shall not be for a period of service that is 193
longer than one year. 194
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 7-294ee
Sec. 2 from passage 7-294d(a)(22)
Sec. 3 from passage 7-291d(a)
Sec. 4 from passage New section
Sec. 5 from passage 4a-53
Sec. 6 from passage New section
Sec. 7 from passage 7-277c(c)
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(a) and (f), "subdivision (1) of" was inserted for accuracy.
PS Joint Favorable Subst.