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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6622
January Session, 2023
LCO No. 3946
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY
Introduced by:
(PS)
AN ACT CONCERNING CERTIFICATION OR ACCREDITATION
REQUIREMENT DEADLINES FOR A LAW ENFORCEMENT UNIT THAT
SERVES A MUNICIPALITY AND CONSISTS SOLELY OF
CONSTABLES OR RESIDENT STATE TROOPERS.
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 Section 7-294ee of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 2
(a) The Police Officer Standards and Training Council, established 3
under section 7-294b, and the Commissioner of Emergency Services and 4
Public Protection or the commissioner's designee, shall jointly develop, 5
adopt and revise, as necessary, minimum standards and practices for 6
the administration, management and operation of law enforcement 7
units, as defined in section 7-294a. Such minimum standards and 8
practices shall be based upon standards established by the International 9
Association of Chiefs of Police and the Commission on Accreditation for 10
Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., and shall include, but need not be 11
limited to, standards and practices regarding bias-based policing, use of 12
force, response to crimes of family violence, use of body-worn recording 13
equipment, complaints that allege misconduct by police officers, use of 14 Raised Bill No. 6622
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electronic defense weapons, eyewitness identification procedures, 15
notifications in death and related events and pursuits by police officers 16
and compliance with the guidance issued by the council pursuant to 17
subdivision (1) of subsection (g) of section 7-294d regarding reporting 18
procedures to be followed by chief law enforcement officers for 19
certificate suspension, cancellation or revocation. Not later than January 20
1, 2023, the council shall, within available appropriations, divide the 21
minimum standards and practices into three state-accreditation tiers, to 22
be known as tier one, tier two and tier three. Tier one shall consist of 23
minimum standards and practices designed to protect law enforcement 24
units from liability, enhance the delivery of services and improve public 25
confidence in law enforcement units. Tier two shall consist of minimum 26
standards and practices for the administration, management and 27
operation of law enforcement units. Tier three shall consist of higher 28
minimum standards and practices for the administration, management 29
and operation of law enforcement units. The council shall post the 30
minimum standards and practices of each tier on the council's Internet 31
web site and disseminate the minimum standards and practices of each 32
tier to law enforcement units. The council and commissioner or the 33
commissioner's designee shall jointly develop a process to review a law 34
enforcement unit's compliance with the minimum standards and 35
practices of each tier and issue a certificate of compliance with the 36
minimum standards and practices of tier one, tier two or tier three, as 37
the case may be, to a law enforcement unit that meets or exceeds the 38
minimum standards and practices of such tier. 39
(b) On and after January 1, 2019, and until December 31, 2022, each 40
law enforcement unit shall adopt and maintain (1) the minimum 41
standards and practices developed by the council pursuant to 42
subsection (a) of this section, or (2) a higher level of accreditation 43
standards developed by the council or the Commission on Accreditation 44
for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., except a law enforcement unit that 45
serves a municipality and consists solely of constables or resident state 46
troopers shall adopt and maintain such standards and practices or 47
accreditation on and after January 1, 2019, and until December 31, 2023. 48 Raised Bill No. 6622
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(c) On and after January 1, 2023, and until December 31, 2023, each 49
law enforcement unit shall (1) be certified, at a minimum, as meeting the 50
requirements for state-accreditation tier one developed by the council 51
pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, or (2) meet a higher level of 52
accreditation standards developed by the Commission on Accreditation 53
for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., except a law enforcement unit that 54
serves a municipality and consists solely of constables or resident state 55
troopers shall be so certified or meet such accreditation standards on 56
and after January 1, 2024, and until December 31, 2024. 57
(d) On and after January 1, 2024, and until December 31, 2025, each 58
law enforcement unit shall (1) be certified, at a minimum, as meeting the 59
requirements for state-accreditation tiers one and two developed by the 60
council pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, or (2) meet a higher 61
level of accreditation standards developed by the Commission on 62
Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., except a law 63
enforcement unit that serves a municipality and consists solely of 64
constables or resident state troopers shall be so certified or meet such 65
accreditation standards on and after January 1, 2025, and until 66
December 31, 2026. 67
(e) On and after January 1, 2026, each law enforcement unit shall (1) 68
be certified as meeting the requirements for state-accreditation tiers one, 69
two and three developed by the council pursuant to subsection (a) of 70
this section, or (2) meet a higher level of accreditation standards 71
developed by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement 72
Agencies, Inc., except a law enforcement unit that serves a municipality 73
and consists solely of constables or resident state troopers shall be so 74
certified or meet such accreditation standards on and after January 1, 75
2027. 76
(f) If a law enforcement unit fails to obtain or maintain the 77
appropriate certification for a state-accreditation tier or tiers or the 78
higher level of accreditation standards developed by the Commission 79
on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., as required by the 80
provisions of subsections (b) to (e), inclusive, of this section, the council 81 Raised Bill No. 6622
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shall work with the law enforcement unit to obtain and maintain such 82
certification or accreditation standards. 83
(g) If a law enforcement unit fails to comply with the guidance issued 84
by the council pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (g) of section 7-85
294d regarding reporting procedures to be followed by chief law 86
enforcement officers for certificate suspension, cancellation or 87
revocation, the council may revoke the certificate of compliance with the 88
appropriate state-accreditation tier or tiers, as the case may be, issued 89
pursuant to this section. 90
(h) No civil action may be brought against a law enforcement unit for 91
damages arising from the failure of the law enforcement unit to (1) 92
adopt and maintain such minimum standards and practices or a higher 93
level of accreditation standards pursuant to subsection (b) of this 94
section, or (2) obtain and maintain the appropriate certificate of 95
compliance with the appropriate state-accreditation tier or tiers or 96
accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement 97
Agencies, Inc., as required by subsections (c) to (e), inclusive, of this 98
section. 99
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 7-294ee
Statement of Purpose:
To delay, by one year, certification or accreditation requirements for a
law enforcement unit that serves a municipality and consists solely of
constables or resident state troopers.
[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.]