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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 Section 7-294ee of the general statutes is repealed and the 1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 4
and Public Protection or the commissioner's designee, shall jointly 5
develop, adopt and revise, as necessary, minimum standards and 6
practices for the administration, management and operation of law 7
enforcement units, as defined in section 7-294a. Such minimum 8
standards and practices shall be based upon standards established by 9
the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Commission 10
on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., and shall 11
include, but need not be limited to, standards and practices regarding 12
bias-based policing, use of force, response to crimes of family violence, 13 Bill No. 6622
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use of body-worn recording equipment, complaints that allege 14
misconduct by police officers, use of electronic defense weapons, 15
eyewitness identification procedures, notifications in death and related 16
events and pursuits by police officers and compliance with the 17
guidance issued by the council pursuant to subdivision (1) of 18
subsection (g) of section 7-294d regarding reporting procedures to be 19
followed by chief law enforcement officers for certificate suspension, 20
cancellation or revocation. Not later than January 1, 2023, the council 21
shall, within available appropriations, divide the minimum standards 22
and practices into three state-accreditation tiers, to be known as tier 23
one, tier two and tier three. Tier one shall consist of minimum 24
standards and practices designed to protect law enforcement units 25
from liability, enhance the delivery of services and improve public 26
confidence in law enforcement units. Tier two shall consist of 27
minimum standards and practices for the administration, management 28
and operation of law enforcement units. Tier three shall consist of 29
higher minimum standards and practices for the administration, 30
management and operation of law enforcement units. The council shall 31
post the minimum standards and practices of each tier on the council's 32
Internet web site and disseminate the minimum standards and 33
practices of each tier to law enforcement units. The council and 34
commissioner or the commissioner's designee shall jointly develop a 35
process to review a law enforcement unit's compliance with the 36
minimum standards and practices of each tier and issue a certificate of 37
compliance with the minimum standards and practices of tier one, tier 38
two or tier three, as the case may be, to a law enforcement unit that 39
meets or exceeds the minimum standards and practices of such tier. 40
(b) On and after January 1, 2019, and until December 31, 2022, each 41
law enforcement unit shall adopt and maintain (1) the minimum 42
standards and practices developed by the council pursuant to 43
subsection (a) of this section, or (2) a higher level of accreditation 44
standards developed by the council or the Commission on 45
Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., except a law 46
enforcement unit that serves a municipality and consists solely of 47 Bill No. 6622
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constables or resident state troopers shall adopt and maintain such 48
standards and practices or accreditation on and after January 1, 2019, 49
and until December 31, 2023. 50
(c) On and after January 1, 2023, and until December 31, 2023, each 51
law enforcement unit shall (1) be certified, at a minimum, as meeting 52
the requirements for state-accreditation tier one developed by the 53
council pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, or (2) meet a higher 54
level of accreditation standards developed by the Commission on 55
Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., except a law 56
enforcement unit that serves a municipality and consists solely of 57
constables or resident state troopers shall be so certified or meet such 58
accreditation standards on and after January 1, 2024, and until 59
December 31, 2024. 60
(d) On and after January 1, 2024, and until December 31, 2025, each 61
law enforcement unit shall (1) be certified, at a minimum, as meeting 62
the requirements for state-accreditation tiers one and two developed 63
by the council pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, or (2) meet a 64
higher level of accreditation standards developed by the Commission 65
on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., except a law 66
enforcement unit that serves a municipality and consists solely of 67
constables or resident state troopers shall be so certified or meet such 68
accreditation standards on and after January 1, 2025, and until 69
December 31, 2026. 70
(e) On and after January 1, 2026, each law enforcement unit shall (1) 71
be certified as meeting the requirements for state-accreditation tiers 72
one, two and three developed by the council pursuant to subsection (a) 73
of this section, or (2) meet a higher level of accreditation standards 74
developed by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement 75
Agencies, Inc., except a law enforcement unit that serves a 76
municipality and consists solely of constables or resident state troopers 77
shall be so certified or meet such accreditation standards on and after 78
January 1, 2027. 79 Bill No. 6622
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(f) If a law enforcement unit fails to obtain or maintain the 80
appropriate certification for a state-accreditation tier or tiers or the 81
higher level of accreditation standards developed by the Commission 82
on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., as required by 83
the provisions of subsections (b) to (e), inclusive, of this section, the 84
council shall work with the law enforcement unit to obtain and 85
maintain such certification or accreditation standards. 86
(g) If a law enforcement unit fails to comply with the guidance 87
issued by the council pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (g) of 88
section 7-294d regarding reporting procedures to be followed by chief 89
law enforcement officers for certificate suspension, cancellation or 90
revocation, the council may revoke the certificate of compliance with 91
the appropriate state-accreditation tier or tiers, as the case may be, 92
issued pursuant to this section. 93
(h) No civil action may be brought against a law enforcement unit 94
for damages arising from the failure of the law enforcement unit to (1) 95
adopt and maintain such minimum standards and practices or a higher 96
level of accreditation standards pursuant to subsection (b) of this 97
section, or (2) obtain and maintain the appropriate certificate of 98
compliance with the appropriate state-accreditation tier or tiers or 99
accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Law 100
Enforcement Agencies, Inc., as required by subsections (c) to (e), 101
inclusive, of this section. 102
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 7-294ee
PS Joint Favorable