OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sHB-6597
AN ACT CONCERNING ACCREDITATION, REPORTING
REQUIREMENTS, MENTAL HEALTH, DATA STORAGE SERVICES
AND TRAINING OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.
Primary Analyst: ME 4/6/21
Contributing Analyst(s): DC, DD, EMG, AN
Reviewer: PR
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 22 $ FY 23 $
Department of Emergency
Services and Public Protection
GF - Cost 139,312 143,491
State Comptroller - Fringe
Benefits
1
GF - Cost 57,536 59,262
Treasurer, Debt Serv. GF - Potential
Cost
See Below See Below
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 22 $ FY 23 $
Various Municipalities Potential
Cost
See Below See Below
Various Municipalities Potential
Savings
See Below See Below
Explanation
The bill makes numerous changes affecting state and local law
enforcement resulting in the various impacts described below.
Sections 1-2 require the Police Officer Standards and Training
Council (POST) to develop three tiers of minimum standards and
1
The fringe benefit costs for most state employees are budgeted centrally in accounts
administered by the Comptroller. The estimated active employee fringe benefit cost
associated with most personnel changes is 41.3% of payroll in FY 22 and FY 23. 2021HB-06597-R000310-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 3
practices for law enforcement units resulting in POST needing to hire
two field program assistants for a cost of $196,848 in FY 22 and
$202,753 (costs include salary and fringe benefits). The new employees
are needed to help develop the standards, accredit and reaccredit law
enforcement units, review and certify unit compliance, and
recommend to the Office of Policy and Management an appropriate
penalty for units not in compliance. It's anticipated that 150 law
enforcement units will have to meet the new standards, 50 currently
meet tier one but approximately 100 would need to start the process
from the beginning.
Sections 1 and 2 also result in potential savings to municipalities
from eliminating the requirement that law enforcement units receive
accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law
Enforcement Agencies, Inc (CALEA) by 2025. There is a cost to
receiving accreditation from CALEA related to compliance and
payment to CALEA.
There is also a potential cost to any municipality that does not
comply with guidance regarding reporting procedure, to the extent
that the Office of Policy and Management may withhold state funds
from the local law enforcement unit.
Section 3 prohibits a law enforcement unit from disciplining or
penalizing a police officer as a result of a behavioral health assessment
resulting in no fiscal impact.
Sections 4-5 require the Department of Administrative Services, in
consultation with DESPP, to study and make recommendations on
ways to lower the costs incurred by municipal police departments for
digital data storage devices and services related to body-worn
recording equipment and enter into a cooperative purchasing plan
with municipalities for data storage resulting in no fiscal impact to the
state.
Section 6 requires POST to develop a training curriculum for police
officers interacting with people who have mental or physical 2021HB-06597-R000310-FN.DOCX Page 3 of 3
disabilities resulting in no fiscal impact because POST has the expertise
to meet the requirements of this section.
Section 7 increases reimbursement rates for the municipal purchase
of body-worn cameras and related technology from 30 percent of costs
to 50 percent for non-distressed municipalities; the bill does not change
the current 50 percent reimbursement rate for distressed
municipalities. State reimbursements for body-worn cameras are
funded through General Obligation (GO) bond funds. Future General
Fund debt service costs may be incurred sooner under the bill to the
degree that it causes authorized GO bond funds to be expended or to
be expended more rapidly than they otherwise would have been.
As of March 1, 2021, the unallocated bond balance available under
the relevant authorization is $4 million. The bill does not change GO
bond authorizations relevant to the program.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation and the terms of any bonds
issued.