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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5349
February Session, 2022
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 who 1
is a sworn member of a law enforcement agency responds to an incident 2
involving a deceased person or the remains of a person or otherwise 3
encounters a deceased person or the remains of a person while such 4
officer is on duty, such officer shall ensure that a person who is a next 5
of kin of such person is notified of such person's death in a manner 6
provided for in applicable guidelines used by the law enforcement 7
agency employing such officer. Such law enforcement agency shall 8
ensure such notification is made as soon as practicable, but not later than 9
twenty-four hours following the identification of such person, except as 10
provided in subsection (b) of this section. 11
(b) If a peace officer is unable to notify a person who is a next of kin 12
of a deceased person as required under subsection (a) of this section, 13
such officer shall document the reason for the failure or delay of 14
notification and any attempts made to make such notification. 15
(c) If no person who is a next of kin of a deceased person is notified 16
of such person's death as required under subsection (a) of this section, a 17
person who is a next of kin of the deceased person may request of the 18 Substitute Bill No. 5349
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Office of the Inspector General, established under section 51-277e of the 19
general statutes, as amended by this act, an investigation of such lack of 20
notification or timely notification. 21
(d) For purposes of this section, "peace officer" has the same meaning 22
as provided in section 53a-3 of the general statutes, "next of kin" has the 23
same meaning as provided in section 19a-415a of the general statutes 24
and "law enforcement agency" means the Division of State Police within 25
the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection or any 26
municipal police department. 27
Sec. 2. Section 51-277a of the 2022 supplement to the general statutes 28
is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 29
October 1, 2022): 30
(a) (1) Whenever a peace officer, in the performance of such officer's 31
duties, uses physical force upon another person and such person dies as 32
a result thereof or uses deadly force, as defined in section 53a-3, upon 33
another person, the Division of Criminal Justice shall cause an 34
investigation to be made and the Inspector General shall have the 35
responsibility of determining whether the use of physical force by the 36
peace officer was justifiable under section 53a-22. 37
(2) (A) Except as provided under subdivision (1) of this subsection, 38
whenever a person dies in the custody of a peace officer or law 39
enforcement agency, the Inspector General shall investigate and 40
determine whether physical force was used by a peace officer upon the 41
deceased person, and if so, whether the use of physical force by the 42
peace officer was justifiable under section 53a-22. If the Inspector 43
General determines the deceased person may have died as a result of 44
criminal action not involving the use of force by a peace officer, the 45
Inspector General shall refer such case to the Chief State's Attorney or 46
state's attorney for potential prosecution. 47
(B) Except as provided under subdivision (1) of this subsection or 48
subparagraph (A) of subdivision (2) of this subsection, whenever a 49 Substitute Bill No. 5349
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person dies in the custody of the Commissioner of Correction, the 50
Inspector General shall investigate and determine whether the deceased 51
person may have died as a result of criminal action, and, if so, refer such 52
case to the Chief State's Attorney or state's attorney for potential 53
prosecution. 54
(3) Whenever a person who (A) is a next of kin of a deceased person, 55
(B) is not notified of such deceased person's death as required pursuant 56
to section 1 of this act and no other person who is a next of kin of the 57
deceased person was so notified, and (C) requests of the Office of the 58
Inspector General an investigation of the lack of notification or timely 59
notification of such death, the Inspector General shall investigate and 60
determine whether there was any malfeasance on the part of a peace 61
officer or a supervisor of the peace officer in the failure to provide such 62
notification or timely notification, and if so, may make 63
recommendations to the Police Officer Standards and Training Council 64
established under section 7-294b concerning censure, suspension, 65
renewal, cancelation or revocation of the peace officer's or supervisor's 66
certification. 67
[(3)] (4) The Inspector General shall request the appropriate law 68
enforcement agency to provide such assistance as is necessary to 69
investigate and make a determination under subdivision (1), [or] (2) or 70
(3) of this subsection. 71
[(4)] (5) Whenever a peace officer, in the performance of such officer's 72
duties, uses physical force or deadly force upon another person and 73
such person dies as a result thereof, the Inspector General shall complete 74
a preliminary status report that shall include, but need not be limited to, 75
(A) the name of the deceased person, (B) the gender, race, ethnicity and 76
age of the deceased person, (C) the date, time and location of the injury 77
causing such death, (D) the law enforcement agency involved, (E) the 78
status on the toxicology report, if available, and (F) the death certificate, 79
if available. The Inspector General shall complete the report and submit 80
a copy of such report not later than five business days after the cause of 81
the death is available to the Chief State's Attorney and, in accordance 82 Substitute Bill No. 5349
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with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of 83
the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the 84
judiciary and public safety. 85
(b) Upon the conclusion of the investigation of [the] an incident of the 86
use of force, the Inspector General shall file a report with the Chief 87
State's Attorney which shall contain the following: (1) The 88
circumstances of the incident, (2) a determination of whether the use of 89
physical force by the peace officer was justifiable under section 53a-22, 90
and (3) any recommended future action to be taken by the Office of the 91
Inspector General as a result of the incident. The Chief State's Attorney 92
shall provide a copy of the report to the chief executive officer of the 93
municipality in which the incident occurred and to the Commissioner 94
of Emergency Services and Public Protection or the chief of police of 95
such municipality, as the case may be, and shall make such report 96
available to the public on the Division of Criminal Justice's Internet web 97
site not later than forty-eight hours after the copies are provided to the 98
chief executive officer and the commissioner or chief of police. 99
(c) The Office of the Inspector General shall prosecute any case 100
involving an incident of the use of force in which the Inspector General 101
determines that (1) the use of force by a peace officer was not justifiable 102
under section 53a-22, or (2) there was a failure to intervene in such 103
incident or to report any such incident, as required under subsection (a) 104
of section 7-282e or section 18-81nn. 105
Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 51-277e of the 2022 supplement to the 106
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 107
thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 108
(a) There is established the Office of the Inspector General that shall 109
be a separate office within the Division of Criminal Justice. Not later 110
than October 1, 2021, the Criminal Justice Commission established 111
pursuant to section 51-275a shall appoint a deputy chief state's attorney 112
as Inspector General who shall lead the Office of the Inspector General. 113
The office shall: (1) Conduct investigations of peace officers in 114 Substitute Bill No. 5349
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accordance with section 51-277a, as amended by this act; (2) prosecute 115
any case in which the Inspector General determines a peace officer used 116
force found to not be justifiable pursuant to section 53a-22 or where a 117
police officer or correctional officer fails to intervene in any such 118
incident or to report any such incident, as required under subsection (a) 119
of section 7-282e or section 18-81nn, as applicable; [and] (3) investigate 120
any failure to report the death of a person in accordance with the 121
provisions of section 1 of this act; and (4) make recommendations to the 122
Police Officer Standards and Training Council established under section 123
7-294b concerning censure and suspension, renewal, cancelation or 124
revocation of a peace officer's certification. 125
Sec. 4. Subsection (c) of section 7-294d of the 2022 supplement to the 126
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 127
thereof (Effective October 1, 2022): 128
(c) (1) The council may refuse to renew any certificate if the holder 129
fails to meet the requirements for renewal of his or her certification. 130
(2) The council may cancel or revoke any certificate if: (A) The 131
certificate was issued by administrative error, (B) the certificate was 132
obtained through misrepresentation or fraud, (C) the holder falsified 133
any document in order to obtain or renew any certificate, (D) the holder 134
has been convicted of a felony, (E) the holder has been found not guilty 135
of a felony by reason of mental disease or defect pursuant to section 53a-136
13, (F) the holder has been convicted of a violation of section 21a-279, 137
(G) the holder has been refused issuance of a certificate or similar 138
authorization or has had his or her certificate or other authorization 139
cancelled or revoked by another jurisdiction on grounds which would 140
authorize cancellation or revocation under the provisions of this 141
subdivision, (H) the holder has been found by a law enforcement unit, 142
pursuant to procedures established by such unit, to have used a firearm 143
in an improper manner which resulted in the death or serious physical 144
injury of another person, (I) the holder has been found by a law 145
enforcement unit, pursuant to procedures established by such unit and 146
considering guidance developed under subsection (g) of this section, to 147 Substitute Bill No. 5349
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have engaged in conduct that undermines public confidence in law 148
enforcement, including, but not limited to, discriminatory conduct, 149
falsification of reports, issuances of orders that are not lawful orders, 150
failure to report or timely report a death in violation of section 1 of this 151
act or a violation of the Alvin W. Penn Racial Profiling Prohibition Act 152
pursuant to sections 54-1l and 54-1m, provided, when evaluating any 153
such conduct, the council considers such conduct engaged in while the 154
holder is acting in such holder's law enforcement capacity or 155
representing himself or herself to be a police officer to be more serious 156
than such conduct engaged in by a holder not acting in such holder's 157
law enforcement capacity or representing himself or herself to be a 158
police officer , [;] (J) the holder has been found by a law enforcement 159
unit, pursuant to procedures established by such unit, to have used 160
physical force on another person in a manner that is excessive or used 161
physical force in a manner found to not be justifiable after an 162
investigation conducted pursuant to section 51-277a, as amended by this 163
act, or (K) the holder has been found by a law enforcement unit, 164
pursuant to procedures established by such unit, to have committed any 165
act that would constitute tampering with or fabricating physical 166
evidence in violation of section 53a-155, perjury in violation of section 167
53a-156 or false statement in violation of section 53a-157b. Whenever the 168
council believes there is a reasonable basis for suspension, cancellation 169
or revocation of the certification of a police officer, police training school 170
or law enforcement instructor, it shall give notice and an adequate 171
opportunity for a hearing prior to such suspension, cancellation or 172
revocation. Such hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the 173
provisions of chapter 54. Any holder aggrieved by the decision of the 174
council may appeal from such decision in accordance with the 175
provisions of section 4-183. The council may cancel or revoke any 176
certificate if, after a de novo review, it finds by clear and convincing 177
evidence (i) a basis set forth in subparagraphs (A) to (G), inclusive, of 178
this subdivision, or (ii) that the holder of the certificate committed an act 179
set forth in subparagraph (H), (I), (J) or (K) of this subdivision. In any 180
such case where the council finds such evidence, but determines that the 181
severity of an act committed by the holder of the certificate does not 182 Substitute Bill No. 5349
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warrant cancellation or revocation of such holder's certificate, the 183
council may suspend such holder's certification for a period of up to 184
forty-five days and may censure such holder of the certificate. Any 185
police officer or law enforcement instructor whose certification is 186
cancelled or revoked pursuant to this section may reapply for 187
certification no sooner than two years after the date on which the 188
cancellation or revocation order becomes final. Any police training 189
school whose certification is cancelled or revoked pursuant to this 190
section may reapply for certification at any time after the date on which 191
such order becomes final. For purposes of this subdivision, a lawful 192
order is an order issued by a police officer who is in uniform or has 193
identified himself or herself as a police officer to the person such order 194
is issued to at the time such order is issued, and which order is 195
reasonably related to the fulfillment of the duties of the police officer 196
who is issuing such order, does not violate any provision of state or 197
federal law and is only issued for the purposes of (I) preventing, 198
detecting, investigating or stopping a crime, (II) protecting a person or 199
property from harm, (III) apprehending a person suspected of a crime, 200
(IV) enforcing a law, (V) regulating traffic, or (VI) assisting in emergency 201
relief, including the administration of first aid. 202
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 Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(a) and Section 2(a)(4), changes were made for consistency
and accuracy.
JUD Joint Favorable Subst.