Substitute Senate Bill No. 135
Public Act No. 22-119
AN ACT CONCERNING ACCREDITATION STANDARDS FOR LAW
ENFORCEMENT UNITS.
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 Section 7-294ee of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) [Until December 31, 2024, the] The Police Officer Standards and
Training Council, established under section 7-294b, and the
Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection or the
commissioner's designee, shall jointly develop, adopt and revise, as
necessary, minimum standards and practices for the administration,
[and] management and operation of law enforcement units, as defined
in section 7-294a. Such minimum standards and practices shall be based
upon standards established by the International Association of Chiefs of
Police and the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement
Agencies, Inc., and shall include, but need not be limited to, standards
and practices regarding bias-based policing, use of force, response to
crimes of family violence, use of body-worn recording equipment,
complaints that allege misconduct by police officers, use of electronic
defense weapons, eyewitness identification procedures, notifications in
death and related events and pursuits by police officers and compliance
with the guidance issued by the council pursuant to subdivision (1) of Substitute Senate Bill No. 135
Public Act No. 22-119 2 of 4
subsection (g) of section 7-294d regarding reporting procedures to be
followed by chief law enforcement officers for certificate suspension,
cancellation or revocation. Not later than January 1, 2023, the council
shall, within available appropriations, divide the minimum standards
and practices into three state-accreditation tiers, to be known as tier one,
tier two and tier three. Tier one shall consist of minimum standards and
practices designed to protect law enforcement units from liability,
enhance the delivery of services and improve public confidence in law
enforcement units. Tier two shall consist of minimum standards and
practices for the administration, management and operation of law
enforcement units. Tier three shall consist of higher minimum standards
and practices for the administration, management and operation of law
enforcement units. The council shall post [such] the minimum standards
and practices of each tier on the council's Internet web site and
disseminate [such] the minimum standards and practices of each tier to
law enforcement units. The council and commissioner or the
commissioner's designee shall jointly develop a process to review a law
enforcement unit's compliance with [such] the minimum standards and
practices of each tier and issue a certificate of compliance with [law
enforcement] the minimum standards and practices of tier one, tier two
or tier three, as the case may be, to a law enforcement unit that meets or
exceeds [such] the minimum standards and practices of such tier.
(b) On and after January 1, 2019, and until December 31, [2024] 2022,
each law enforcement unit shall adopt and maintain (1) the minimum
standards and practices developed by the council pursuant to
subsection (a) of this section, or (2) a higher level of accreditation
standards developed by the council or the Commission on Accreditation
for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc.
(c) On and after January 1, 2023, and until December 31, 2023, each
law enforcement unit shall (1) be certified, at a minimum, as meeting the
requirements for state-accreditation tier one developed by the council Substitute Senate Bill No. 135
Public Act No. 22-119 3 of 4
pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, or (2) meet a higher level of
accreditation standards developed by the Commission on Accreditation
for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc.
(d) On and after January 1, 2024, and until December 31, 2025, each
law enforcement unit shall (1) be certified, at a minimum, as meeting the
requirements for state-accreditation tiers one and two developed by the
council pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, or (2) meet a higher
level of accreditation standards developed by the Commission on
Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc.
[(c)] (e) On and after January 1, [2025] 2026, each law enforcement
unit shall [obtain and maintain accreditation] (1) be certified as meeting
the requirements for state-accreditation tiers one, two and three
developed by the council pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, or
(2) meet a higher level of accreditation standards developed by the
Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc.
(f) If a law enforcement unit fails to obtain or maintain [such
accreditation] the appropriate certification for a state-accreditation tier
or tiers or the higher level of accreditation standards developed by the
Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., as
required by the provisions of subsections (b) to (e), inclusive, of this
section, the council shall work with the law enforcement unit to obtain
and maintain such certification or accreditation standards.
(g) If a law enforcement unit fails to comply with the guidance issued
by the council pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (g) of section 7-
294d regarding reporting procedures to be followed by chief law
enforcement officers for certificate suspension, cancellation or
revocation, the council may revoke the certificate of compliance with the
appropriate state-accreditation tier or tiers, as the case may be, issued
pursuant to this section. Substitute Senate Bill No. 135
Public Act No. 22-119 4 of 4
[(d)] (h) No civil action may be brought against a law enforcement
unit for damages arising from the failure of the law enforcement unit to
(1) adopt and maintain such minimum standards and practices or a
higher level of accreditation standards pursuant to subsection (b) of this
section, or (2) obtain and maintain the appropriate certificate of
compliance with the appropriate state-accreditation tier or tiers or
accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement
Agencies, Inc., [pursuant to subsection (c) of this section] as required by
subsections (c) to (e), inclusive, of this section.
Sec. 2. Subdivision (22) of subsection (a) of section 7-294d of the 2022
supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is
substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(22) (A) [Until December 31, 2024, to] To develop, adopt and revise,
as necessary, comprehensive accreditation standards, and designation
of such standards as state-accreditation tiers one, two and three, for the
administration and management of law enforcement units, to grant
accreditation to those law enforcement units that demonstrate their
compliance with such standards and, at the request and expense of any
law enforcement unit, to conduct such surveys as may be necessary to
determine such unit's compliance with such standards; and (B) on and
after January 1, [2025,] 2023 to work with any law enforcement unit that
has failed to obtain or maintain [accreditation from] its certification of
compliance with the appropriate tier or tiers or a higher level of
accreditation standards developed by the council or the Commission on
Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., pursuant to section
7-294ee, as amended by this act;