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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5349
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 2443
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE TIMELY REPORTING BY THE POLICE OF
A DEATH.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2022) (a) If a peace officer 1
responds to an incident involving a deceased person or the remains of a 2
person or otherwise encounters a deceased person or the remains of a 3
person while such officer is on duty, such officer shall ensure that the 4
next of kin of such person is notified of such person's death in a manner 5
provided for in applicable guidelines used by the law enforcement 6
agency employing such officer. Such officer shall ensure such 7
notification is made as soon as practicable, but not later than twenty-8
four hours following the identification of such person, except as 9
provided in subsection (b) of this section. 10
(b) If a peace officer is unable to notify the next of kin of a deceased 11
person as required under subsection (a) of this section, such officer shall 12
document the reason for the failure or delay of notification and any 13
attempts made to make such notification. 14
(c) If the person who is the next of kin of a deceased person is not 15 Raised Bill No. 5349
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notified of such person's death as required under subsection (a) of this 16
section, such person may request of the Office of the Inspector General, 17
established under section 51-277e of the general statutes, as amended by 18
this act, an investigation of such lack of notification or timely 19
notification. 20
(d) For purposes of this section, "peace officer" has the same meaning 21
as provided in section 53a-3 of the general statutes, "next of kin" has the 22
same meaning as provided in section 19a-415a of the general statutes 23
and "law enforcement agency" means the Division of State Police within 24
the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection or any 25
municipal police department. 26
Sec. 2. Section 51-277a of the 2022 supplement to the general statutes 27
is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 28
October 1, 2022): 29
(a) (1) Whenever a peace officer, in the performance of such officer's 30
duties, uses physical force upon another person and such person dies as 31
a result thereof or uses deadly force, as defined in section 53a-3, upon 32
another person, the Division of Criminal Justice shall cause an 33
investigation to be made and the Inspector General shall have the 34
responsibility of determining whether the use of physical force by the 35
peace officer was justifiable under section 53a-22. 36
(2) (A) Except as provided under subdivision (1) of this subsection, 37
whenever a person dies in the custody of a peace officer or law 38
enforcement agency, the Inspector General shall investigate and 39
determine whether physical force was used by a peace officer upon the 40
deceased person, and if so, whether the use of physical force by the 41
peace officer was justifiable under section 53a-22. If the Inspector 42
General determines the deceased person may have died as a result of 43
criminal action not involving the use of force by a peace officer, the 44
Inspector General shall refer such case to the Chief State's Attorney or 45
state's attorney for potential prosecution. 46
(B) Except as provided under subdivision (1) of this subsection or 47 Raised Bill No. 5349
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subparagraph (A) of subdivision (2) of this subsection, whenever a 48
person dies in the custody of the Commissioner of Correction, the 49
Inspector General shall investigate and determine whether the deceased 50
person may have died as a result of criminal action, and, if so, refer such 51
case to the Chief State's Attorney or state's attorney for potential 52
prosecution. 53
(3) Whenever a person who (A) is the next of kin of a deceased person, 54
(B) is not notified of such deceased person's death as required pursuant 55
to section 1 of this act, and (C) requests of the Office of the Inspector 56
General an investigation of the lack of notification or timely notification 57
of such death, the Inspector General shall investigate and determine 58
whether there was any malfeasance on the part of a peace officer in the 59
failure to provide such notification or timely notification, and if so, may 60
make recommendations to the Police Officer Standards and Training 61
Council established under section 7-294b concerning censure and 62
suspension, renewal, cancelation or revocation of the peace officer's 63
certification. 64
[(3)] (4) The Inspector General shall request the appropriate law 65
enforcement agency to provide such assistance as is necessary to 66
investigate and make a determination under subdivision (1) or (2) of this 67
subsection. 68
[(4)] (5) Whenever a peace officer, in the performance of such officer's 69
duties, uses physical force or deadly force upon another person and 70
such person dies as a result thereof, the Inspector General shall complete 71
a preliminary status report that shall include, but need not be limited to, 72
(A) the name of the deceased person, (B) the gender, race, ethnicity and 73
age of the deceased person, (C) the date, time and location of the injury 74
causing such death, (D) the law enforcement agency involved, (E) the 75
status on the toxicology report, if available, and (F) the death certificate, 76
if available. The Inspector General shall complete the report and submit 77
a copy of such report not later than five business days after the cause of 78
the death is available to the Chief State's Attorney and, in accordance 79
with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of 80 Raised Bill No. 5349
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the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the 81
judiciary and public safety. 82
(b) Upon the conclusion of the investigation of [the] an incident of the 83
use of force, the Inspector General shall file a report with the Chief 84
State's Attorney which shall contain the following: (1) The 85
circumstances of the incident, (2) a determination of whether the use of 86
physical force by the peace officer was justifiable under section 53a-22, 87
and (3) any recommended future action to be taken by the Office of the 88
Inspector General as a result of the incident. The Chief State's Attorney 89
shall provide a copy of the report to the chief executive officer of the 90
municipality in which the incident occurred and to the Commissioner 91
of Emergency Services and Public Protection or the chief of police of 92
such municipality, as the case may be, and shall make such report 93
available to the public on the Division of Criminal Justice's Internet web 94
site not later than forty-eight hours after the copies are provided to the 95
chief executive officer and the commissioner or chief of police. 96
(c) The Office of the Inspector General shall prosecute any case 97
involving an incident of the use of force in which the Inspector General 98
determines that (1) the use of force by a peace officer was not justifiable 99
under section 53a-22, or (2) there was a failure to intervene in such 100
incident or to report any such incident, as required under subsection (a) 101
of section 7-282e or section 18-81nn. 102
Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 51-277e of the 2022 supplement to the 103
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 104
thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 105
(a) There is established the Office of the Inspector General that shall 106
be a separate office within the Division of Criminal Justice. Not later 107
than October 1, 2021, the Criminal Justice Commission established 108
pursuant to section 51-275a shall appoint a deputy chief state's attorney 109
as Inspector General who shall lead the Office of the Inspector General. 110
The office shall: (1) Conduct investigations of peace officers in 111
accordance with section 51-277a, as amended by this act; (2) prosecute 112 Raised Bill No. 5349
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any case in which the Inspector General determines a peace officer used 113
force found to not be justifiable pursuant to section 53a-22 or where a 114
police officer or correctional officer fails to intervene in any such 115
incident or to report any such incident, as required under subsection (a) 116
of section 7-282e or section 18-81nn, as applicable; [and] (3) investigate 117
any failure to report the death of a person in accordance with the 118
provisions of section 1 of this act; and (4) make recommendations to the 119
Police Officer Standards and Training Council established under section 120
7-294b concerning censure and suspension, renewal, cancelation or 121
revocation of a peace officer's certification. 122
Sec. 4. Subsection (c) of section 7-294d of the 2022 supplement to the 123
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 124
thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 125
(c) (1) The council may refuse to renew any certificate if the holder 126
fails to meet the requirements for renewal of his or her certification. 127
(2) The council may cancel or revoke any certificate if: (A) The 128
certificate was issued by administrative error, (B) the certificate was 129
obtained through misrepresentation or fraud, (C) the holder falsified 130
any document in order to obtain or renew any certificate, (D) the holder 131
has been convicted of a felony, (E) the holder has been found not guilty 132
of a felony by reason of mental disease or defect pursuant to section 53a-133
13, (F) the holder has been convicted of a violation of section 21a-279, 134
(G) the holder has been refused issuance of a certificate or similar 135
authorization or has had his or her certificate or other authorization 136
cancelled or revoked by another jurisdiction on grounds which would 137
authorize cancellation or revocation under the provisions of this 138
subdivision, (H) the holder has been found by a law enforcement unit, 139
pursuant to procedures established by such unit, to have used a firearm 140
in an improper manner which resulted in the death or serious physical 141
injury of another person, (I) the holder has been found by a law 142
enforcement unit, pursuant to procedures established by such unit and 143
considering guidance developed under subsection (g) of this section, to 144
have engaged in conduct that undermines public confidence in law 145 Raised Bill No. 5349
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enforcement, including, but not limited to, discriminatory conduct, 146
falsification of reports, issuances of orders that are not lawful orders, 147
failure to report or timely report a death in violation of section 1 of this 148
act or a violation of the Alvin W. Penn Racial Profiling Prohibition Act 149
pursuant to sections 54-1l and 54-1m, provided, when evaluating any 150
such conduct, the council considers such conduct engaged in while the 151
holder is acting in such holder's law enforcement capacity or 152
representing himself or herself to be a police officer to be more serious 153
than such conduct engaged in by a holder not acting in such holder's 154
law enforcement capacity or representing himself or herself to be a 155
police officer; (J) the holder has been found by a law enforcement unit, 156
pursuant to procedures established by such unit, to have used physical 157
force on another person in a manner that is excessive or used physical 158
force in a manner found to not be justifiable after an investigation 159
conducted pursuant to section 51-277a, as amended by this act, or (K) 160
the holder has been found by a law enforcement unit, pursuant to 161
procedures established by such unit, to have committed any act that 162
would constitute tampering with or fabricating physical evidence in 163
violation of section 53a-155, perjury in violation of section 53a-156 or 164
false statement in violation of section 53a-157b. Whenever the council 165
believes there is a reasonable basis for suspension, cancellation or 166
revocation of the certification of a police officer, police training school 167
or law enforcement instructor, it shall give notice and an adequate 168
opportunity for a hearing prior to such suspension, cancellation or 169
revocation. Such hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the 170
provisions of chapter 54. Any holder aggrieved by the decision of the 171
council may appeal from such decision in accordance with the 172
provisions of section 4-183. The council may cancel or revoke any 173
certificate if, after a de novo review, it finds by clear and convincing 174
evidence (i) a basis set forth in subparagraphs (A) to (G), inclusive, of 175
this subdivision, or (ii) that the holder of the certificate committed an act 176
set forth in subparagraph (H), (I), (J) or (K) of this subdivision. In any 177
such case where the council finds such evidence, but determines that the 178
severity of an act committed by the holder of the certificate does not 179
warrant cancellation or revocation of such holder's certificate, the 180 Raised Bill No. 5349
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council may suspend such holder's certification for a period of up to 181
forty-five days and may censure such holder of the certificate. Any 182
police officer or law enforcement instructor whose certification is 183
cancelled or revoked pursuant to this section may reapply for 184
certification no sooner than two years after the date on which the 185
cancellation or revocation order becomes final. Any police training 186
school whose certification is cancelled or revoked pursuant to this 187
section may reapply for certification at any time after the date on which 188
such order becomes final. For purposes of this subdivision, a lawful 189
order is an order issued by a police officer who is in uniform or has 190
identified himself or herself as a police officer to the person such order 191
is issued to at the time such order is issued, and which order is 192
reasonably related to the fulfillment of the duties of the police officer 193
who is issuing such order, does not violate any provision of state or 194
federal law and is only issued for the purposes of (I) preventing, 195
detecting, investigating or stopping a crime, (II) protecting a person or 196
property from harm, (III) apprehending a person suspected of a crime, 197
(IV) enforcing a law, (V) regulating traffic, or (VI) assisting in emergency 198
relief, including the administration of first aid. 199
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2022 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2022 51-277a
Sec. 3 October 1, 2022 51-277e(a)
Sec. 4 October 1, 2022 7-294d(c)
Statement of Purpose:
To require the timely reporting by the police of a death to the next of
kin.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]