Bill Text: CT HB05303 | 2018 | General Assembly | Comm Sub
Bill Title: An Act Concerning Minimum Standards And Practices For The Administration Of Law Enforcement Units And Reports Of Police Pursuits.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-04-10 - Referred by House to Committee on Appropriations [HB05303 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2018-HB05303-Comm_Sub.html
General Assembly |
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February Session, 2018 |
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AN ACT CONCERNING MINIMUM STANDARDS AND PRACTICES FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT UNITS AND REPORTS OF POLICE PURSUITS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2018) (a) The Police Officer Standards and Training Council, established under section 7-294b of the general statutes, shall develop, adopt and revise, as necessary, minimum standards and practices for the administration and management of law enforcement units, as defined in section 7-294a of the general statutes. Such minimum standards and practices shall be based upon internationally recognized standards of excellence in law enforcement and shall include, but need not be limited to, standards and practices regarding fair and impartial 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. The council shall post such minimum standards and practices on the council's Internet web site and disseminate such standards and practices to law enforcement units. The council shall develop a process to review and assess a law enforcement unit's compliance with such minimum standards and practices and issue a certificate of compliance with law enforcement standards and practices to a law enforcement unit that meets or exceeds such standards and practices.
(b) On and after January 1, 2019, 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.
Sec. 2. Section 14-283a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2018):
(a) As used in this section, "police officer" means a sworn member of an organized local police department or a state police officer, which member or officer is assigned to patrol duties on public streets or highways, and "pursuit" means an attempt by a police officer in an authorized emergency vehicle to apprehend any occupant of another moving motor vehicle, when the driver of the fleeing vehicle is attempting to avoid apprehension by maintaining or increasing the speed of such vehicle or by ignoring the police officer's attempt to stop such vehicle.
(b) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, in conjunction with the Chief State's Attorney, the Police Officer Standards and Training Council, the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association and the Connecticut Coalition of Police and Correctional Officers, shall adopt in accordance with chapter 54 a uniform, state-wide policy for handling pursuits by police officers. Such policy shall specify: (1) The conditions under which a police officer may engage in a pursuit and discontinue a pursuit, (2) alternative measures to be employed by any such police officer in order to apprehend any occupant of the fleeing motor vehicle or to impede the movement of such motor vehicle, (3) the coordination and responsibility, including control over the pursuit, of supervisory personnel and the police officer engaged in such pursuit, (4) in the case of a pursuit that may proceed and continue into another municipality, (A) the requirement to notify and the procedures to be used to notify the police department in such other municipality or, if there is no organized police department in such other municipality, the officers responsible for law enforcement in such other municipality, that there is a pursuit in progress, and (B) the coordination and responsibility of supervisory personnel in each such municipality and the police officer engaged in such pursuit, (5) the type and amount of training in pursuits, that each police officer shall undergo, which may include training in vehicle simulators, if vehicle simulator training is determined to be necessary, and (6) that a police officer immediately notify supervisory personnel or the officer in charge after the police officer begins a pursuit. The chief of police or Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, as the case may be, shall inform each officer within such chief's or said commissioner's department and each officer responsible for law enforcement in a municipality in which there is no such department of the existence of the policy of pursuit to be employed by any such officer and shall take whatever measures that are necessary to assure that each such officer understands the pursuit policy established.
(c) (1) Not later than December 1, 2018, the Police Officer Standards and Training Council, established under section 7-294b, shall develop and promulgate a standardized form for (A) reporting pursuits by police officers pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection, and (B) submitting annual reports pursuant to subdivision (3) of this subsection.
(2) On and after January 1, 2019, the chief of police or the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, as the case may be, shall require each police officer who engages in a pursuit to report such pursuit on the standardized form developed and promulgated under subdivision (1) of this subsection.
(3) Not later than January 30, 2020, and annually thereafter, each chief of police and the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall submit an annual report to the Police Officer Standards and Training Council regarding pursuits by police officers on the standardized form developed and promulgated under subdivision (1) of this subsection.
(4) Not later than April 30, 2020, and annually thereafter, the Police Officer Standards and Training Council shall compile, analyze and summarize the annual reports and submit, in accordance with section 11-4a, a consolidated report regarding police pursuits and any recommendations for legislation to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public safety and security. The council may contract with a third party to prepare or to assist in the preparation of the consolidated report.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
October 1, 2018 |
New section |
Sec. 2 |
October 1, 2018 |
14-283a |
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 2(c), Subdivs. (1) and (2) were redrafted for accuracy and clarity and in Subdiv. (3), "standardized" was inserted before "form" for clarity and "pursuant to" was changed to "under" for consistency.
PS |
Joint Favorable Subst. |