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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7074
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 5252
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY
Introduced by:
(PS)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE UNIFORM STATE -WIDE POLICE
PURSUIT POLICY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 14-283a of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 2
passage): 3
(b) (1) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public 4
Protection, in conjunction with the Chief State's Attorney, the Police 5
Officer Standards and Training Council, the Connecticut Police Chiefs 6
Association and the Connecticut Coalition of Police and Correctional 7
Officers, shall adopt, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, a 8
uniform, state-wide policy for handling pursuits by police officers. Such 9
policy shall specify: (A) [The conditions under which] That a police 10
officer may engage in a pursuit [and discontinue a pursuit] when the 11
police officer believes that a suspect committed a felony, as defined in 12
section 53a-25, (B) the factors that may be considered in a police officer's 13
decision to engage in a pursuit, including, but not limited to, the 14
protection of the public, the known or suspected offense, the apparent 15
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need for immediate apprehension, risks to police officers, motorists and 16
the public and alternative measures to be employed by any such police 17
officer in order to apprehend any occupant of the fleeing motor vehicle 18
or to impede the movement of such motor vehicle, (C) the factors that 19
may be considered in a police officer's decision to discontinue a pursuit, 20
including, but not limited to, risks to the public and any pursuing police 21
officer, the protection of the public, the known or suspected offense, the 22
apparent need for immediate apprehension, vehicular and pedestrian 23
traffic conditions, speeds, volume and safety, weather conditions and 24
whether the suspect is identified and may be apprehended at a later 25
time or whether the suspect is unknown, (D) the coordination and 26
responsibility, including control over the pursuit, of supervisory 27
personnel and the police officer engaged in such pursuit, [(D)] (E) in the 28
case of a pursuit that may proceed and continue into another 29
municipality, (i) the requirement to notify and the procedures to be used 30
to notify the police department in such other municipality or, if there is 31
no organized police department in such other municipality, the officers 32
responsible for law enforcement in such other municipality, that there 33
is a pursuit in progress, and (ii) the coordination and responsibility of 34
supervisory personnel in each such municipality and the police officer 35
engaged in such pursuit, [(E)] (F) the type and amount of training in 36
pursuits, that each police officer shall undergo, which may include 37
training in vehicle simulators, if vehicle simulator training is 38
determined to be necessary, and [(F)] (G) that a police officer 39
immediately notify supervisory personnel or the officer in charge after 40
the police officer begins a pursuit. The chief of police or Commissioner 41
of Emergency Services and Public Protection, as the case may be, shall 42
inform each officer within such chief's or said commissioner's 43
department and each officer responsible for law enforcement in a 44
municipality in which there is no such department of the existence of 45
the policy of pursuit to be employed by any such officer and shall take 46
whatever measures that are necessary to assure that each such officer 47
understands the pursuit policy established. 48
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(2) Not later than January 1, [2021] 2027, and at least once during each 49
five-year period thereafter, the Commissioner of Emergency Services 50
and Public Protection, in conjunction with the Chief State's Attorney, the 51
Police Officer Standards and Training Council, the Connecticut Police 52
Chiefs Association and the Connecticut Coalition of Police and 53
Correctional Officers, shall adopt regulations in accordance with the 54
provisions of chapter 54, to update such policy adopted pursuant to 55
subdivision (1) of this subsection. 56
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 14-283a(b)
Statement of Purpose:
To require the revision of the uniform state-wide policy for handling
pursuits by police officers.
[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.]