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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 431
February Session, 2024
LCO No. 2893
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT CONCERNING FEES FOR COPYING, REVIEWING AND
REDACTING RECORDS CREATED BY POLICE BODY-WORN
RECORDING EQUIPMENT AND DASHBOARD CAMERAS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 29-6d of the 2024 supplement to the general statutes 1
is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 2
October 1, 2024): 3
(a) For purposes of this section, [and] section 2 of this act and section 4
7-277b: 5
(1) "Law enforcement unit" has the same meaning as provided in 6
section 7-294a; 7
(2) "Police officer" means a sworn member of a law enforcement unit 8
or any member of a law enforcement unit who performs police duties; 9
(3) "Body-worn recording equipment" means an electronic recording 10
device that is capable of recording audio and video; 11
(4) "Dashboard camera" means a dashboard camera with a remote 12 Raised Bill No. 431
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recorder, as defined in section 7-277b; 13
(5) "Digital data storage device or service" means a device or service 14
that retains the data from the recordings made by body-worn recording 15
equipment using computer data storage; [and] 16
(6) "Police patrol vehicle" means any state or local police vehicle other 17
than an administrative vehicle in which an occupant is wearing body-18
worn camera equipment, a bicycle, a motor scooter, an all-terrain 19
vehicle, an electric personal assistive mobility device, as defined in 20
subsection (a) of section 14-289h, or an animal control vehicle; 21
(7) "Freedom of Information Act" has the same meaning as provided 22
in section 1-200; 23
(8) "Requesting party" means the person requesting a record created 24
using body-worn recording equipment or a dashboard camera pursuant 25
to the Freedom of Information Act; 26
(9) "Involved person" means (A) any individual depicted in the 27
record created using body-worn recording equipment or a dashboard 28
camera, (B) any individual directly involved in the incident that led to 29
the police officer being called to respond, or (C) any police officer 30
responding to such incident, including the police officer whose body-31
worn recording equipment or dashboard camera created the record; and 32
(10) "Redact" means to obscure, pixelate or mute any portion of a 33
record created using body-worn recording equipment or a dashboard 34
camera. 35
(b) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection 36
and the Police Officer Standards and Training Council shall jointly 37
evaluate and approve the minimal technical specifications of body-worn 38
recording equipment that shall be worn by police officers pursuant to 39
this section, dashboard cameras that shall be used in each police patrol 40
vehicle and digital data storage devices or services that shall be used by 41
a law enforcement unit to retain the data from the recordings made by 42 Raised Bill No. 431
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such equipment. The commissioner and council shall make such 43
minimal technical specifications available to each law enforcement unit 44
in a manner determined by the commissioner and council. The 45
commissioner and council may revise the minimal technical 46
specifications when the commissioner and council determine that 47
revisions to such specifications are necessary. 48
(c) (1) Each police officer shall use body-worn recording equipment 49
while interacting with the public in such sworn member's law 50
enforcement capacity, except as provided in subsection (g) of this 51
section, or in the case of a municipal police department, in accordance 52
with the department's policy adopted by the department and based on 53
guidelines maintained pursuant to subsection (j) of this section, 54
concerning the use of body-worn recording equipment. 55
(2) Each police officer shall wear body-worn recording equipment on 56
such officer's outer-most garment and shall position such equipment 57
above the midline of such officer's torso when using such equipment. 58
(3) Body-worn recording equipment used pursuant to this section 59
shall conform to the minimal technical specifications approved 60
pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, except that a police officer may 61
use body-worn recording equipment that does not conform to the 62
minimal technical specifications approved pursuant to subsection (b) of 63
this section, if such equipment was purchased prior to January 1, 2016, 64
by the law enforcement unit employing such officer. 65
(4) Each law enforcement unit shall require usage of a dashboard 66
camera in each police patrol vehicle used by any police officer employed 67
by such unit in accordance with the unit's policy adopted by the unit 68
and based on guidelines maintained pursuant to subsection (j) of this 69
section, concerning dashboard cameras. 70
(d) Except as required by state or federal law, no person employed by 71
a law enforcement unit shall edit, erase, copy, share or otherwise alter 72
or distribute in any manner any recording made by body-worn 73
recording equipment or a dashboard camera or the data from such 74 Raised Bill No. 431
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recording. 75
(e) A police officer may review a recording from his or her body-worn 76
recording equipment or a dashboard camera in order to assist such 77
officer with the preparation of a report or otherwise in the performance 78
of his or her duties. 79
(f) (1) If a police officer is giving a formal statement about the use of 80
force or if a police officer is the subject of a disciplinary investigation in 81
which a recording from body-worn recording equipment or a 82
dashboard camera is being considered as part of a review of an incident, 83
the officer shall have the right to review (A) such recording in the 84
presence of the officer's attorney or labor representative, and (B) 85
recordings from other body-worn recording equipment capturing the 86
officer's image or voice during the incident. Not later than forty-eight 87
hours following an officer's review of a recording under subparagraph 88
(A) of this subdivision, or if the officer does not review the recording, 89
not later than ninety-six hours following the initiation of such 90
disciplinary investigation, whichever is earlier, such recording shall be 91
disclosed, upon request, to the public, subject to the provisions of 92
subsection (g) of this section. Public disclosure may be delayed if the 93
officer, due to a medical or physical response or an acute psychological 94
stress response to the incident, is not reasonably able to review a 95
recording under this subdivision, but in no event shall disclosure be 96
delayed more than one hundred forty-four hours following the 97
recorded event. 98
(2) If a request is made for public disclosure of a recording from body-99
worn recording equipment or a dashboard camera of an incident about 100
which (A) a police officer has not been asked to give a formal statement 101
about the alleged use of force, or (B) a disciplinary investigation has not 102
been initiated, any police officer whose image or voice is captured on 103
the recording shall have the right to review such recording in the 104
presence of the officer's attorney or labor representative. Not later than 105
forty-eight hours following an officer's review of a recording under this 106
subdivision, or if the officer does not review the recording, not later than 107 Raised Bill No. 431
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ninety-six hours following the request for disclosure, whichever is 108
earlier, such recording shall be disclosed to the public, subject to the 109
provisions of subsection (g) of this section. Public disclosure may be 110
delayed if the officer, due to a medical or physical response or an acute 111
psychological stress response to the incident, is not reasonably able to 112
review a recording under this subdivision, but in no event shall 113
disclosure be delayed more than one hundred forty-four hours 114
following the recorded event. 115
(g) (1) Except as otherwise provided by any agreement between a law 116
enforcement unit and the federal government, no police officer shall use 117
body-worn recording equipment or a dashboard camera, if applicable, 118
to intentionally record (A) a communication with other law enforcement 119
unit personnel, except that which may be recorded as the officer 120
performs his or her duties, (B) an encounter with an undercover officer 121
or informant or an officer performing detective work described in 122
guidelines developed pursuant to subsection (j) of this section, (C) when 123
an officer is on break or is otherwise engaged in a personal activity, (D) 124
a person undergoing a medical or psychological evaluation, procedure 125
or treatment, (E) any person other than a suspect to a crime if an officer 126
is wearing such equipment in a hospital or other medical facility setting, 127
or (F) in a mental health facility, unless responding to a call involving a 128
suspect to a crime who is thought to be present in the facility. 129
(2) No record created using body-worn recording equipment or a 130
dashboard camera of (A) an occurrence or situation described in 131
subparagraphs (A) to (F), inclusive, of subdivision (1) of this subsection, 132
(B) a scene of an incident that involves (i) a victim of domestic or sexual 133
abuse, (ii) a victim of homicide or suicide, or (iii) a deceased victim of an 134
accident, if disclosure could reasonably be expected to constitute an 135
unwarranted invasion of personal privacy in the case of any such victim 136
described in this subparagraph, or (C) a minor, shall be subject to 137
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, [as defined in section 138
1-200,] and any such record shall be confidential and redacted in 139
accordance with section 2 of this act, except that (i) a record of an 140
involved person or the requesting party undergoing a medical or 141 Raised Bill No. 431
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psychological evaluation, procedure or treatment shall be disclosed to 142
such involved person or the requesting party, and (ii) a record of a minor 143
shall be disclosed if [(i)] (I) the minor and the parent or guardian of such 144
minor consent to the disclosure of such record, [(ii)] or, if the minor is 145
an involved person, the minor's parent or guardian is the requesting 146
party or an involved person, (II) a police officer is the subject of an 147
allegation of misconduct made by such minor or the parent or guardian 148
of such minor, and the person representing such officer in an 149
investigation of such alleged misconduct requests disclosure of such 150
record for the sole purpose of preparing a defense to such allegation, or 151
[(iii)] (III) a person is charged with a crime and defense counsel for such 152
person requests disclosure of such record for the sole purpose of 153
assisting in such person's defense and the discovery of such record as 154
evidence is otherwise discoverable. 155
(3) Any record created using body-worn recording equipment or a 156
dashboard camera, the disclosure of which the public agency 157
determines could reasonably be expected to constitute an invasion of 158
personal privacy and that depicts the following shall be redacted prior 159
to disclosure of such record under the Freedom of Information Act: (A) 160
The inside of a private residence, except that a record showing the inside 161
of a private residence of the requesting party or an involved person may 162
be disclosed to such requesting party or involved person, as applicable, 163
or (B) an individual in a state of undress or nudity, except that a record 164
showing the requesting party or an involved party in a state of undress 165
or nudity may be disclosed to such requesting party or involved person, 166
as applicable. 167
(h) No police officer shall use body-worn recording equipment prior 168
to being trained in accordance with section 7-294s in the use of such 169
equipment and in the retention of data created by such equipment. A 170
law enforcement unit shall ensure that each police officer such unit 171
employs receives such training at least annually and is trained on the 172
proper care and maintenance of such equipment. 173
(i) If a police officer is aware that any body-worn recording 174 Raised Bill No. 431
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equipment or dashboard camera is lost, damaged or malfunctioning, 175
such officer shall inform such officer's supervisor in writing as soon as 176
is practicable. Upon receiving such information, the supervisor shall 177
ensure that the body-worn recording equipment or dashboard camera 178
is inspected and repaired or replaced, as necessary. Each police officer 179
shall inspect and test body-worn recording equipment prior to each shift 180
to verify proper functioning, and shall notify such officer's supervisor 181
of any problems with such equipment. 182
(j) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection 183
and the Police Officer Standards and Training Council shall jointly 184
maintain guidelines pertaining to the use of body-worn recording 185
equipment and dashboard cameras, including the type of detective 186
work an officer might engage in that should not be recorded, retention 187
of data created by such equipment and dashboard cameras and methods 188
for safe and secure storage of such data. The guidelines shall not require 189
a law enforcement unit to store such data for a period longer than one 190
year, except in the case where the unit knows the data is pertinent to any 191
ongoing civil, criminal or administrative matter. Each law enforcement 192
unit and any police officer and any other employee of such unit who 193
may have access to such data shall adhere to such guidelines. The 194
commissioner and council may update and reissue such guidelines, as 195
the commissioner and council determine necessary. The commissioner 196
and council shall, upon issuance of such guidelines or any update to 197
such guidelines, submit such guidelines in accordance with the 198
provisions of section 11-4a to the joint standing committees of the 199
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary 200
and public safety. 201
(k) (1) Not later than October 1, 2023, the Police Officer Standards and 202
Training Council, in consultation with the Institute for Municipal and 203
Regional Policy at The University of Connecticut, shall prescribe a form 204
to be used by law enforcement units to report each unit's compliance 205
with the provisions of subsection (c) of this section. Such form shall 206
require the compilation of information including, but not limited to, (A) 207
the number of body-worn recording devices in operation in a law 208 Raised Bill No. 431
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enforcement unit, (B) the number of dashboard cameras in operation in 209
a law enforcement unit, (C) the number of police patrol vehicles not 210
equipped with a dashboard camera in a law enforcement unit and the 211
reasons such vehicles are not so equipped, (D) information regarding 212
any incidents in which a police officer of a law enforcement unit was 213
found in an internal investigation conducted by such unit to have 214
violated such unit's policy regarding the use of body-worn recording 215
equipment or dashboard cameras, and (E) any other information 216
deemed necessary. 217
(2) Not later than January 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, each law 218
enforcement unit shall submit a report on the form prescribed pursuant 219
to subdivision (1) of this subsection concerning the unit's compliance 220
with the provisions of subsection (c) of this section to the Institute for 221
Municipal and Regional Policy at The University of Connecticut. The 222
institute shall post such reports on the institute's Internet web site. 223
(3) Not later than July 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, the Institute 224
for Municipal and Regional Policy at The University of Connecticut 225
shall, within available appropriations, review the reports submitted 226
pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection, and report the results of 227
such review and any recommendations as a result of such review to the 228
Governor, the Police Officer Standards and Training Council, the 229
Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division within the Office of Policy 230
and Management and, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-231
4a, the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having 232
cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary and public safety and 233
security. 234
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2024) (a) Except as provided in 235
subsections (b) and (c) of this section, any public agency, as defined in 236
section 1-200 of the general statutes, that maintains a copy of a record 237
created using body-worn recording equipment or a dashboard camera 238
pursuant to section 29-6d of the general statutes, as amended by this act, 239
may charge the requesting party a redaction fee for any such record that 240
requires redaction in accordance with the provisions of this section. 241 Raised Bill No. 431
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Such fee shall compensate the public agency for the time spent redacting 242
any portion of the requested record as required or authorized by state 243
or federal law, including, but not limited to, the provisions of subsection 244
(g) of section 29-6d of the general statutes, as amended by this act. Such 245
fee shall be calculated as follows: 246
(1) The public agency shall not charge the requesting party for the 247
time spent searching for the applicable record that is responsive to the 248
request. 249
(2) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this subdivision, 250
the first two hours of labor costs incurred by the public agency in 251
redacting the requested record shall not be charged to the requesting 252
party. 253
(B) The first four hours of labor costs incurred by the public agency 254
in redacting the requested record shall not be charged to the requesting 255
party if the requesting party is (i) an involved person in the record 256
requested, (ii) the parent or legal guardian of an involved person, or (iii) 257
an attorney representing an involved person in any civil, criminal or 258
administrative matter. 259
(3) Any additional labor costs associated with any time necessary to 260
redact the requested record beyond the applicable time set forth in 261
subdivision (2) of this subsection may be charged to the requesting party 262
at a rate not to exceed the hourly wage of the lowest-paid employee with 263
the requisite training for redacting the responsive record. For purposes 264
of this subdivision, the hourly wage of an employee shall be based upon 265
the employee's base salary and shall not include benefits. The 266
responding agency shall not charge the requesting party for the services 267
of any attorney hired by the responding agency to conduct a second 268
review of the requested record or any company providing digital 269
management services to the responding agency. 270
(4) Any fee charged to a requesting party under this subsection shall 271
not exceed one hundred dollars per hour of the actual length of time of 272
the record requested. In calculating the fee under this subsection, the 273 Raised Bill No. 431
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public agency may round up the actual length of time of the record 274
requested to the nearest half hour at a rate of fifty dollars per half hour. 275
(5) If the amount to be charged to the requesting party in accordance 276
with subdivision (3) of this subsection is estimated to exceed two 277
hundred fifty dollars, the public agency shall inform the requesting 278
party of the estimated fee and may require prepayment of such fee prior 279
to redacting the requested record. If the amount of prepaid fees exceeds 280
the actual labor costs incurred by the public agency in redacting the 281
requested record, the public agency shall reimburse the requesting 282
party for any difference between the prepaid amount and actual cost. 283
(b) The public agency shall waive any fee authorized under this 284
section if required under subsection (d) of section 1-212 of the general 285
statutes. 286
(c) A public agency shall not charge a fee to any requesting party (1) 287
if the record depicts (A) a police officer involved in a shooting, (B) a 288
police officer involved in a motor vehicle accident, or (C) a police officer 289
giving a formal statement about the use of force, or (2) if (A) there is an 290
allegation of misconduct concerning the police officer involved, or (B) 291
the police officer involved is the subject of a disciplinary investigation, 292
subject to any limitations on disclosure set forth in subsection (g) of 293
section 29-6d of the general statutes, as amended by this act. A public 294
agency shall not charge a fee to any requesting party who is an involved 295
person in the record requested. 296
(d) The public agency shall maintain an original, unredacted copy of 297
any requested record that is redacted for public dissemination in 298
accordance with the provisions of this section. 299
(e) If the Freedom of Information Commission determines that a 300
public agency has violated any provision of this section, the Freedom of 301
Information Commission may order the public agency to refund any 302
payment made under this section. 303
Sec. 3. Subsections (a) and (b) of section 1-212 of the general statutes 304 Raised Bill No. 431
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are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 305
October 1, 2024): 306
(a) Any person applying in writing shall receive, promptly upon 307
request, a plain, facsimile, electronic or certified copy of any public 308
record. The type of copy provided shall be within the discretion of the 309
public agency, except (1) the agency shall provide a certified copy 310
whenever requested, and (2) if the applicant does not have access to a 311
computer or facsimile machine, the public agency shall not send the 312
applicant an electronic or facsimile copy. [The] Except as provided in 313
section 2 of this act, the fee for any copy provided in accordance with 314
the Freedom of Information Act: 315
(A) By an executive, administrative or legislative office of the state, a 316
state agency or a department, institution, bureau, board, commission, 317
authority or official of the state, including a committee of, or created by, 318
such an office, agency, department, institution, bureau, board, 319
commission, authority or official, and also including any judicial office, 320
official or body or committee thereof but only in respect to its or their 321
administrative functions, shall not exceed twenty-five cents per page; 322
and 323
(B) By all other public agencies, as defined in section 1-200, shall not 324
exceed fifty cents per page. If any copy provided in accordance with said 325
Freedom of Information Act requires a transcription, or if any person 326
applies for a transcription of a public record, the fee for such 327
transcription shall not exceed the cost thereof to the public agency. 328
(b) The fee for any copy provided in accordance with subsection (a) 329
of section 1-211 shall not exceed the cost thereof to the public agency. 330
[In] Except as provided in section 2 of this act, in determining such costs 331
for a copy, other than for a printout which exists at the time that the 332
agency responds to the request for such copy, an agency may include 333
only: 334
(1) An amount equal to the hourly salary attributed to all agency 335
employees engaged in providing the requested computer-stored public 336 Raised Bill No. 431
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record, including their time performing the formatting or programming 337
functions necessary to provide the copy as requested, but not including 338
search or retrieval costs except as provided in subdivision (4) of this 339
subsection; 340
(2) An amount equal to the cost to the agency of engaging an outside 341
professional electronic copying service to provide such copying 342
services, if such service is necessary to provide the copying as requested; 343
(3) The actual cost of the storage devices or media provided to the 344
person making the request in complying with such request; and 345
(4) The computer time charges incurred by the agency in providing 346
the requested computer-stored public record where another agency or 347
contractor provides the agency with computer storage and retrieval 348
services. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the fee for 349
any copy of the names of registered voters shall not exceed three cents 350
per name delivered or the cost thereof to the public agency, as 351
determined pursuant to this subsection, whichever is less. The 352
Department of Administrative Services shall provide guidelines to 353
agencies regarding the calculation of the fees charged for copies of 354
computer-stored public records to ensure that such fees are reasonable 355
and consistent among agencies. 356
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2024 29-6d
Sec. 2 October 1, 2024 New section
Sec. 3 October 1, 2024 1-212(a) and (b)
Statement of Purpose:
To authorize a public agency to charge a redaction fee for the disclosure
of a record created by police body-worn equipment or dashboard
cameras that contains portions not authorized to be disclosed under
state or federal law.
[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.]