O F F I C E O F L E G I S L A T I V E R E S E A R C H
P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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PA 21-33—sSB 1093
Judiciary Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING CI VILIAN POLICE REVIEW BOARDS,
SECURITY GUARDS, BOD Y-WORN RECORDING EQUIP MENT,
SEARCHES BY POLICE, LIMITATIONS ON OFFEN SES SUBJECT TO
AUTOMATIC ERASURE, E NTICING A JUVENILE T O COMMIT A
CRIME, LAWFUL ORDERS BY POLICE OFFICERS A ND NOTICE TO
A VICTIM CONCERNING AUTOMATIC ERASURE OF CRIMINAL
RECORD HISTORY
SUMMARY: This act makes various changes in the laws regarding (1) police
procedures, (2) juvenile criminal matters, (3) security guards, and (4) criminal
record erasure under PA 21-32. Specifically, the act:
1. establishes a process for a person to object to a civilian police review
board’s subpoena and allows the court to order compliance with a board’s
subpoena;
2. allows a police officer whose image or voice is captured on certain
recordings (e.g., body camera) to review the recordings before they are
disclosed in certain instances where there is a request for public
disclosure;
3. allows a trier of fact (e.g., judge or jury) in civil cases that involve
depriving someone’s equal protection or privileges and immunities to
draw an unfavorable inference from the deliberate failure of a police
officer who wears a body camera to record their use of force or other
relevant incidents;
4. prohibits former police officers who were decertified in other states from
being licensed as security guards and other related jobs;
5. prohibits law enforcement from using no-knock warrants;
6. expands the reasons a police officer’s certification may be canceled or
revoked by specifying that undermining public confidence in law
enforcement includes issuing unlawful orders;
7. establishes the crime of “enticing a juvenile to commit a criminal act”; and
8. requires the judicial branch to conduct a study to determine the feasibility
of (a) decreasing the time between a child’s arrest and initial court
appearance and (b) establishing a diversionary program for certain
children who are arrested.
The act also expands the list of convictions ineligible for erasure under PA 21-
32 to include (1) specified class D felonies and class A misdemeanors, such as
several assault crimes, and (2) any offense for which the person has not completed
serving the sentence, including probation or parole. (PA 21-32 establishes a new
process for automatic erasure of certain criminal records, starting in 2023.)
Under certain circumstances, the act also requires prosecutors, before the O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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court accepts a plea agreement, to notify the victim as to whether the defendant’s
conviction may be eligible for erasure under PA 21-32.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2021, except that a conforming change is
effective July 1, 2022, and the provisions on (1) the judicial branch study are
effective upon passage; (2) crimes ineligible for erasure and victim notification
are effective January 1, 2023; and (3) unfavorable inferences for failure to record
for (a) use of force is effective July 1, 2021, and (b) civil cases is effective
January 1, 2022.
§ 1 — CIVILIAN POLICE REVIEW BOARD SUBPOENA OBJECTIONS
The act provides a process for a person to object to a subpoena issued by a
civilian police review board and allows the court to order compliance with a
board’s subpoena.
It allows the person issued such a subpoena to, within specified timeframes,
(1) serve the board with a written objection to the subpoena and (2) file the
objection in the Superior Court, which must adjudicate the objection under court
rules. A person who wishes to object must do so within 15 days after the
subpoena was served or on or before the time the subpoena specifies for
compliance, if the time is less than 15 days after service.
Under the act, if the person issued a subpoena fails to appear or refuses to
testify or produce the evidence the subpoena requires after appearing, the Superior
Court, upon the board’s application, may order the person to appear, give
testimony, or produce the evidence, as the case may be.
§§ 2, 3, 9 & 10 — BODY-WORN AND DASHBOARD C AMERA REVIEW
AND UNFAVORABLE INFE RENCE IF CAMERA IS OFF
Right to Review (§§ 2 & 3)
Under existing law, police officers have a right to review recordings, with
their labor representative or attorney present, when they are (1) giving a formal
statement about the use of force or (2) the subject of a disciplinary investigation
where a body-worn recording equipment (e.g., body camera) or dashboard camera
recording is part of the review. In these instances, the recordings are disclosable
to the public, upon request, by the earlier of (1) 48 hours after an officer has
reviewed it or (2) 96 hours after the recorded incident if the officer does not
review the recording. The act changes the latter to 96 hours after the initiation of a
disciplinary investigation, thus potentially increasing the timeframe before public
disclosure.
The act also extends this right to review to instances when a police officer’s
image or voice is captured on a recording for which a public disclosure request
has been made and (1) the officer has not been asked to give a formal statement or
(2) a disciplinary investigation has not been initiated. The act requires public
disclosure by the earlier of (1) 48 hours after the officer has reviewed the
recording or (2) 96 hours after the disclosure request, if the officer does not O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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review it.
As under existing law, certain scenarios are, generally, not disclosable,
including the following:
1. communications with other law enforcement personnel, unless within the
performance of duties;
2. encounters with undercover officers or informants;
3. officers on break or engaged in personal activity;
4. people undergoing medical or psychological evaluations, procedures, or
treatment;
5. people, other than suspects, in a hospital or medical facility;
6. activities in mental health facilities, unless responding to a call involving a
suspect in the facilities; or
7. certain crime victims if it would be an invasion of personal privacy (e.g.,
domestic or sexual abuse) (CGS § 29-6d(g)).
Unfavorable Inference (§§ 8 & 9)
Use of Force. Beginning January 1, 2022, the act allows the trier of fact (e.g.,
judge or jury), in determining whether the use of force by a police officer who
wears a body camera (see BACKGROUND) is justified, to draw an unfavorable
inference from the officer's deliberate failure, in violation of the police body
camera law, to record the use of physical force.
Governmental Immunity. PA 20-1, July Special Session (JSS), § 41,
established a civil cause of action against a police officer who deprives an
individual or class of individuals of state law’s equal protection or privileges and
immunities. In creating a statutory cause of action against the police officer, in
certain circumstances it eliminated the possibility of claiming governmental
immunity (i.e., common law protection from civil suit) as a defense to these suits.
This act allows the trier of fact in these civil actions to draw an adverse
inference from a police officer's deliberate failure, in violation of the police body
camera law, to record any event that is relevant to the action.
§§ 4 & 5 — DECERTIFIED POLICE OFFICERS IN OTHER STA TES
SERVING AS SECURITY GUARDS
The act adds decertification as a police officer in other states, including
cancelation, revocation, or refusal to renew a certification, to the list of criteria
that make a person ineligible for (1) a security service license, (2) a security
officer license, and (3) employment with a security service to perform security
officer duties while his or her security officer license application is pending.
Existing law already makes police officers decertified in Connecticut ineligible.
§ 6 — CONSENT SEARCHES ON THE PERSON
Under prior law, an individual’s consent to conduct a search of his or her body
was not justification for a law enforcement official to conduct the search, unless O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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there was probable cause. The act instead allows a law enforcement official to ask
a person if he or she may conduct a search of their person, if the officer has
reasonable and articulable suspicion that weapons, contraband, or other evidence
of a crime is contained on the person, or the search is reasonably necessary to
further an ongoing law enforcement investigation.
Under the act, officers who ask to search a person, whether or not the consent
is granted, must complete a police report documenting the reasonable and
articulable suspicion for soliciting consent or the facts and circumstances that
support the search as being reasonably necessary to further an ongoing law
enforcement investigation.
§ 7 — NO-KNOCK WARRANTS PROHIBITE D
The act prohibits police officers of a regularly organized police department,
state police officers, Division of Criminal Justice inspectors, conservation
officers, special conservation officers or patrolpersons, or sworn motor vehicle
inspectors from seeking, executing, or participating in the execution of a no-
knock warrant. Under the act, search warrants must require an officer to provide
notice of the officer’s identity, authority, and purpose before entering the place to
be searched under the search warrant.
The act requires the executing officer, before searching or seizing anything, to
read and give a copy of the search warrant to the person to be searched or the
owner of the place to be searched or, if the owner is not present, to any occupant
of the place to be searched. If the place is unoccupied, the officer must leave a
copy of the search warrant suitably affixed to the place being searched.
Under the act, a “no-knock warrant” means a warrant allowing police officers
to enter certain premises without first knocking and announcing their presence or
purpose before entering the property.
§ 10 — CONVICTION ERASURE INELIGIBILITY
Under PA 21-32, eligible (1) misdemeanors are subject to erasure seven years
after the person’s most recent conviction and (2) felonies are subject to erasure 10
years after the most recent conviction. The periods are calculated from the date
the court entered the person’s most recent conviction for any crime (with an
exception for certain drug possession crimes). These erasure provisions generally
apply to (1) classified or unclassified misdemeanors; (2) class D or E felonies;
and (3) unclassified felonies with up to five-year prison terms. However, PA 21-
32 excludes from erasure (1) family violence crimes and (2) nonviolent or violent
sexual offenses requiring sex offender registration.
This act makes the following additional crimes ineligible for this erasure, as
shown in the table below.
This Act’s Additions to List of Criminal Convictions Ineligible for
PA 21-32’s Erasure Process
The following Class D Felonies: O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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Assault 2nd degree with a firearm (not resulting in serious physical injury; other
cases are class C felonies) (CGS § 53a-60a)
Assault of an elderly, blind, disabled, or pregnant person or person with intellectual
disability 2nd degree, with or without a firearm (CGS §§ 53a-60b & -60c)
Strangulation or suffocation 2nd degree (CGS § 53a-64bb)
Sexual assault 3rd degree (victim age 16 or older; other cases are class C felonies)
(CGS § 53a-72a)
Enticing a minor (1st offense, victim age 13 or older; other cases are class B or C
felonies) (CGS § 53a-90a)
Burglary 3rd degree with a firearm (CGS § 53a-103a)
Stalking 1st degree (CGS § 53a-181c)
Voyeurism (cases not covered by the sexual offender registration law; 2nd offenses
and certain other cases are class C felonies) (CGS § 53a-189a(a)(1))
Incest (CGS § 53a-191)
Obscenity as to minors (CGS § 53a-196)
Possession of child pornography 3rd degree (CGS § 53a-196f)
Possession of sawed-off shotgun or silencer (CGS § 53a-211)
Criminal use of firearm or electronic defense weapon (CGS § 53a-216)
Criminally negligent storage of a firearm (CGS § 53a-217a)
Abuse of an elderly, blind, or disabled person or person with intellectual disability
2nd degree (CGS § 53a-322)
Failure to register as a sexual offender when required (CGS §§ 54-251 to -254)
The following Class A Misdemeanors:
Assault of an elderly, blind, disabled, or pregnant person or person with intellectual
disability 3rd degree (CGS § 53a-61a)
Strangulation or suffocation 3rd degree (CGS § 53a-64cc)
Abuse of an elderly, blind, or disabled person or person with intellectual disability
3rd degree (CGS § 53a-323)
Any offense for which the defendant has not served or completed serving the sentence,
including any period of incarceration, special parole, parole, or probation, until the required
seven- or 10-year period has elapsed and the defendant has completed the sentence.
§ 11 — CANCELLATION OR REVO CATION OF POLICE CERTIFICATION
Existing law sets various grounds upon which the Police Officer Standard
Training Council (POST) may cancel or revoke a police officer’s certification,
including for undermining public confidence in law enforcement. The act expands
these grounds by specifying that undermining public confidence includes issuing
orders that are not lawful.
For this provision, a lawful order is an order that (1) is issued by a police
officer who is in uniform or has identified him or herself as an officer to the
person the order is issued to at the time the order is issued, (2) is reasonably
related to fulfilling the officer’s duties, and (3) does not violate any state or
federal law. The order must only be issued to (1) prevent, detect, investigate, or O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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stop a crime; (2) protect a person or property from harm; (3) apprehend a crime
suspect; (4) enforce a law; (5) regulate traffic; or (6) assist in emergency relief,
including administering first aid.
As under existing law, the law enforcement unit, under its procedures, must
have found that the officer engaged in this conduct before cancelling or revoking
an officer’s certification.
As with other actions for undermining public confidence, POST must (1) give
the officer notice and an adequate opportunity for a hearing and (2) make a
finding of the improper conduct by clear and convincing evidence.
§ 12 — ENTICING A JUVENILE TO COMMIT A CRIMINAL ACT
The act establishes the crime of “enticing a juvenile to commit a criminal act.”
A person is guilty of this crime if he or she is at least age 23 and knowingly
causes, encourages, solicits, recruits, intimidates, or coerces a person under age 18
to commit or participate in the commission of a criminal act.
The act makes (1) a first violation a class A misdemeanor and (2) subsequent
offenses a class D felony (see Table on Penalties).
The act defines a “criminal act” as conduct constituting a felony or a
misdemeanor but does not include recruiting a member of a criminal gang.
§ 13 — FEASIBILITY STUDY ON REDUCING CHILD RECIDIVISM
The act requires the judicial branch to conduct a study to determine the
feasibility of the following to reduce the likelihood of recidivism:
1. decreasing the time between a child’s arrest and initial court appearance,
in order to increase the likelihood the child will attend the appearance, and
2. establishing a diversionary program for arrested children, where the
participants must report to a judge, juvenile probation officer, or licensed
clinical social worker on a weekly basis from arrest until the matter’s
adjudication.
The act requires the judicial branch to report its findings to the Children and
Judiciary committees by January 1, 2022.
§ 14 — VICTIM NOTIFICATION
By law, before the court accepts a proposed plea agreement, prosecutors must
provide crime victims with written terms of the plea agreement upon request,
except in juvenile matters or youthful offender cases.
Under the act, if the proposed agreement would include a definite or total
effective prison term of more than two years, the prosecutor must also indicate to
the victim whether the defendant’s conviction may be eligible for automatic
erasure under PA 21-32.
For these purposes, a “victim” includes a crime victim, his or her legal
representative, a member of a deceased victim’s immediate family, or a person the
deceased victim designated to make certain decisions on his or her behalf. O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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BACKGROUND
Body Camera Requirement
Current law generally requires police officers to use body cameras while
interacting with the public in their law enforcement capacity if they are sworn
members of (1) the State Police, (2) a municipal police department that has
received reimbursement for body camera purchases under the state’s grant
program, or (3) a public university or college special police force. It allows sworn
members of all other municipal police departments to use body cameras as
directed by their departments and in accordance with state law. Beginning July 1,
2022, all sworn members of law enforcement units and members of those units
who perform police duties must wear body cameras, among other requirements
(PA 20-1, JSS, § 19).