Bill Text: CT HB05437 | 2015 | General Assembly | Comm Sub
Bill Title: An Act Concerning The Alvin W. Penn Racial Profiling Prohibition Act.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-05-20 - File Number 866 [HB05437 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2015-HB05437-Comm_Sub.html
General Assembly |
|||
January Session, 2015 |
LCO No. 5288 | ||
*05288HB05437JUD* | |||
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY |
|||
Introduced by: |
|||
(JUD) |
|||
AN ACT CONCERNING THE ALVIN W. PENN RACIAL PROFILING PROHIBITION ACT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 54-1l of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):
(a) This section and section 54-1m, as amended by this act, shall be known as the "Alvin W. Penn Racial Profiling Prohibition Act".
(b) For the purposes of this section, "racial profiling" means the detention, interdiction or other disparate treatment of an individual solely on the basis of the racial or ethnic status of such individual.
(c) No member of the Division of State Police within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, a municipal police department or any other law enforcement agency shall engage in racial profiling. The detention of an individual based on any noncriminal factor or combination of noncriminal factors is inconsistent with this policy.
(d) The race or ethnicity of an individual shall not be the sole factor in determining the existence of probable cause to place in custody or arrest an individual or in constituting a reasonable and articulable suspicion that an offense has been or is being committed so as to justify the detention of an individual or the investigatory stop of a motor vehicle.
(e) Any individual who believes that such individual has been subjected to a discriminatory practice, as defined in section 46a-51, as amended by this act, including racial profiling or in violation of the standardized method implemented pursuant to section 54-1m, as amended by this act, may file a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities pursuant to section 46a-82.
Sec. 2. Section 54-1m of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2015):
(a) Each municipal police department, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and any other department with authority to conduct a traffic stop shall adopt a written policy that prohibits the stopping, detention or search of any person when such action is solely motivated by considerations of race, color, ethnicity, age, gender or sexual orientation, and such action would constitute a violation of the civil rights of the person. For the purposes of this section: (1) "Department with authority to conduct a traffic stop" means any department that includes, or has oversight of, a police officer, and (2) "police officer" means a police officer within a municipal police department or the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection or a person with the same authority pursuant to any provision of the general statutes to make arrests or issue citations for violation of any statute or regulation relating to motor vehicles and to enforce said statutes and regulations as policemen or state policemen have in their respective jurisdictions, including, but not limited to: (A) Special policemen or state policemen acting under the provisions of section 29-18, 17a-24 or 17a-465; (B) policemen acting under the provisions of section 29-19; (C) the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, each deputy commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles and any salaried inspector of motor vehicles designated by the commissioner pursuant to section 14-8; (D) State Capitol Police officers acting under the provisions of section 2-1f; (E) special police forces acting under the provisions of section 10a-156b; (F) state policemen acting under the provisions of section 27-107; and (G) fire police officers acting under the provisions of section 7-313a.
(b) Not later than July 1, [2013] 2016, the Office of Policy and Management, in consultation with the Racial Profiling Prohibition Project Advisory Board established in section 54-1s, and the Criminal Justice Information System Governing Board shall, within available resources, develop and implement a standardized method:
(1) To be used by police officers of municipal police departments, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and any other department with authority to conduct a traffic stop to electronically record traffic stop information unless the police officer is required to leave the location of the stop prior to completing [such] an electronic form in order to respond to an emergency or due to some other exigent circumstance within the scope of such police officer's duties. (A) The standardized method and any electronic form developed and implemented pursuant to such standardized method shall allow the following information to be recorded: [(A)] (i) The date and time of [the] each stop, including any stop for which no warning, citation or summons was issued or no custodial arrest was made; [(B)] (ii) the specific geographic location of the stop; [(C)] (iii) the unique identifying number of the police officer making the stop, or the name and title of the person making the stop if such person does not have a unique identifying number; [(D)] (iv) the race, color, ethnicity, age and gender of the operator of the motor vehicle that is stopped, provided the identification of such characteristics shall be based on the observation and perception of the police officer responsible for reporting the stop; [(E)] (v) the nature of the alleged traffic violation or other violation that caused the stop to be made and the statutory citation for such violation; [(F)] (vi) the disposition of the stop including whether a warning, citation or summons was issued, whether a search was conducted, the authority for any search conducted, the result of any search conducted, the statute or regulation citation for any warning, citation or summons issued and whether a custodial arrest was made; and [(G)] (vii) any other information deemed appropriate. (B) The method shall also provide for the printing of a receipt to be given to the person stopped that shall include the traffic stop information recorded pursuant to this subdivision, and, in English and Spanish, (i) a notice [to be given to the person stopped] providing that if such person believes that such person has been stopped, detained or subjected to a search solely because of race, color, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion or membership in any other protected class, such person may file a complaint with the appropriate law enforcement agency, [unless the police officer was required to leave the location of the stop prior to providing such notice in order to respond to an emergency or due to some other exigent circumstance within the scope of such police officer's duties,] and (ii) instructions [to be given to the person stopped] on how to file such complaint, unless the police officer was required to leave the location of the stop prior to providing such [instructions] printed receipt in order to respond to an emergency or due to some other exigent circumstance within the scope of such police officer's duties;
(2) To be used to report complaints pursuant to this section by any person who believes such person has been subjected to a motor vehicle stop by a police officer solely on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation or religion; and
(3) To be used by each municipal police department, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and any other department with authority to conduct a traffic stop to report data to the Office of Policy and Management pursuant to subsection (h) of this section.
(c) Not later than July 1, [2013] 2016, the Office of Policy and Management, in consultation with the Racial Profiling Prohibition Project Advisory Board, shall develop and implement guidelines to be used by each municipal police department, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and any other department with authority to conduct a traffic stop in (1) training police officers of such agency in the completion of the electronic form developed and implemented pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section, and (2) evaluating the information collected by police officers of such municipal police department, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection or other department with authority to conduct a traffic stop pursuant to subsection (e) of this section for use in the counseling and training of such police officers.
(d) (1) Prior to the date a standardized method and electronic form have been developed and implemented pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section, each municipal police department, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and any other department with authority to conduct a traffic stop shall, using the form developed and promulgated pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (1) of subsection [(h)] (b) of this section in effect on [January 1, 2012] June 30, 2015, [record and retain the following information: (A) The number of persons stopped for traffic violations; (B) characteristics of race, color, ethnicity, gender and age of such persons, provided the identification of such characteristics shall be based on the observation and perception of the police officer responsible for reporting the stop and the information shall not be required to be provided by the person stopped; (C) the nature of the alleged traffic violation that resulted in the stop; (D) whether a warning or citation was issued, an arrest made or a search conducted as a result of the stop; and (E)] and any additional information that such municipal police department, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection or any other department with authority to conduct a traffic stop, as the case may be, deems appropriate, provided such information shall not include any other identifying information about any person stopped for a traffic violation such as the person's operator's license number, name or address.
(2) On and after the date a standardized method and electronic form have been developed and implemented pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section, each municipal police department, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and any other department with authority to conduct a traffic stop shall record and retain the information required to be recorded pursuant to such standardized method and any additional information that such municipal police department or the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection or other department with authority to conduct a traffic stop, as the case may be, deems appropriate, provided such information shall not include any other identifying information about any person stopped for a traffic violation such as the person's operator's license number, name or address.
(e) Each municipal police department, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and any other department with authority to conduct a traffic stop shall provide to the Chief State's Attorney and the Office of Policy and Management (1) a copy of each complaint received pursuant to this section, and (2) written notification of the review and disposition of such complaint. No copy of such complaint shall include any other identifying information about the complainant such as the complainant's operator's license number, name or address.
(f) Any police officer who in good faith records traffic stop information pursuant to the requirements of this section shall not be held civilly liable for the act of recording such information unless the officer's conduct was unreasonable or reckless.
(g) If a municipal police department, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection or any other department with authority to conduct a traffic stop fails to comply with the provisions of this section, the Office of Policy and Management shall recommend and the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management may order an appropriate penalty in the form of the withholding of state funds from such municipal police department, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection or such other department with authority to conduct a traffic stop.
(h) Not later than October 1, 2012, each municipal police department and the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall provide to the Office of Policy and Management a summary report of the information recorded pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. On and after October 1, 2013, each municipal police department, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and any other department with authority to conduct a traffic stop shall provide to the Office of Policy and Management a monthly report of the information recorded pursuant to subsection (d) of this section for each traffic stop conducted, in a format prescribed by the Office of Policy and Management. On and after January 1, 2015, such information shall be submitted in electronic form, and shall be submitted in electronic form prior to said date to the extent practicable.
(i) The Office of Policy and Management shall, within available resources, review the prevalence and disposition of traffic stops and complaints reported pursuant to this section. Not later than July 1, 2014, and annually thereafter, the office shall report the results of any such review, including any recommendations, to the Governor, the General Assembly and any other entity deemed appropriate.
(j) Not later than January 1, 2014, the Office of Policy and Management shall submit a report to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary and public safety, and to the African-American Affairs Commission, the Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission and the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus of the General Assembly, on the office's progress in developing a standardized method and guidelines pursuant to this section. Such report may include recommendations for amendments to this section.
(k) Not later than October 1, 2015, the Office of Policy and Management shall provide to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles a copy of the notice and instructions provided pursuant to subparagraph (B) of subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section, for inclusion by said commissioner in any notification mailed pursuant to subsection (d) of section 14-41, as amended by this act.
Sec. 3. Subsection (d) of section 14-41 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2016):
(d) The commissioner may, at least fifteen days before the date on which each motor vehicle operator's license or identity card expires, notify the holder of such license or identity card of the expiration date, in a manner determined by the commissioner. Any such notification shall include a copy of the notice and instructions described in subparagraph (B) of subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of section 54-1m, as amended by this act. The commissioner shall not provide such notification by mail to any such licensee or identity card holder if the United States Postal Service has determined that mail is undeliverable to the address for such person that is documented in the records of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Any previously licensed operator who operates a motor vehicle within sixty days after the expiration date of the operator's license without obtaining a renewal of the license shall be fined in accordance with the amount designated for the infraction of failure to renew a motor vehicle operator's license. Any operator so charged shall not be prosecuted under section 14-36 for the same act constituting a violation under this section but section 14-36 shall apply after the sixty-day period.
Sec. 4. Subdivision (8) of section 46a-51 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):
(8) "Discriminatory practice" means a violation of section 4a-60, 4a-60a, 4a-60g, 46a-58, 46a-59, 46a-60, 46a-64, 46a-64c, 46a-66, 46a-68, 46a-68c to 46a-68f, inclusive, or 46a-70 to 46a-78, inclusive, subsection (a) of section 46a-80, [or] sections 46a-81b to 46a-81o, inclusive, section 54-1l, as amended by this act, or of the standardized method implemented pursuant to section 54-1m, as amended by this act;
Sec. 5. (Effective July 1, 2015) Not later than June 30, 2016, each municipal police department, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and any other department with authority to conduct a traffic stop may submit an application to the Office of Policy and Management, in a manner determined by the secretary of said office, for reimbursement of the costs associated with equipping any police officer's vehicle with an electronic device for the purposes of completing the electronic form pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of section 54-1m, as amended by this act, and printing the receipt described in subparagraph (B) of said subdivision. The Office of Policy and Management shall reimburse the applicant for any such costs that said office deems reasonable.
Sec. 6. (Effective July 1, 2015) The sum of two million five hundred thousand dollars is appropriated to the Office of Policy and Management, from the General Fund, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016, for reimbursement provided pursuant to section 5 of this act.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
October 1, 2015 |
54-1l |
Sec. 2 |
July 1, 2015 |
54-1m |
Sec. 3 |
January 1, 2016 |
14-41(d) |
Sec. 4 |
October 1, 2015 |
46a-51(8) |
Sec. 5 |
July 1, 2015 |
New section |
Sec. 6 |
July 1, 2015 |
New section |
Statement of Purpose:
To amend the Alvin W. Penn Racial Profile Prohibition Act to provide that violation of the act is a discriminatory practice, to provide that each traffic stop, including those that do not result in a citation, results in an electronic record on an electronic device in the police vehicle, to provide that such electronic device print notice and information in English and Spanish to be given to each person stopped concerning how to file a claim under the act, to provide that a copy of such notice and information be provided as part of each motor vehicle operator's license renewal notification and to provide that each municipal police department, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and any other department with authority to conduct a traffic stop may be reimbursed for the costs associated with equipping any police officer's vehicle with such an electronic device.
[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.]