Bill Text: CT SB01104 | 2015 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: An Act Concerning The Militarization Of Law Enforcement Agencies.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-04-06 - Motion Failed JFS [SB01104 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2015-SB01104-Introduced.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 1104
January Session, 2015		LCO No. 5243
		*05243_______JUD*
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)

AN ACT CONCERNING THE MILITARIZATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) For purposes of this section and sections 2 to 4, inclusive, of this act:

(1) "Law enforcement agency" means the Division of State Police within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection or any municipal police department;

(2) "Controlled equipment" means military designed equipment on the United States Department of State Munitions Control List, as provided in 22 CFR 121, as amended from time to time, or United States Department of Commerce Control List, as provided in Subtitle B of 15 CFR 774, as amended from time to time, such as small arms, night vision devices, High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles, aircraft and watercraft;

(3) "Police officer" means a state police officer or a sworn member of a municipal police department;

(4) "Tactical team" means a special unit within a law enforcement agency, or a multiagency team, specifically trained and equipped to respond to emergency scenarios;

(5) "Reportable incident" means a deployment of a tactical team; and

(6) "No-knock provision" means a provision in a warrant that authorizes a police officer executing a warrant to enter without giving audible notice of the police officer's presence, authority and purpose before entering.

Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2016) Any municipal police department applying to acquire controlled equipment from the program authorized by Section 1033 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 1997, or for funds under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program to acquire controlled equipment shall make any such application available for review by the municipality's legislative body and shall hold a public hearing on such application not fewer than thirty days prior to the submission of the application. The department shall provide legal notice, as described by section 1-2 of the general statutes, of such hearing. Approval of the application by the legislative body is not required.

Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2016) Not later than January fifteenth of each year, each law enforcement agency shall submit an annual inventory of any controlled equipment acquired during the previous calendar year through the program authorized by Section 1033 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 1997, and controlled equipment acquired with Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program funds to the Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division within the Office of Policy and Management with the following information for each item of such equipment:

(1) A description of any such equipment;

(2) The acquisition date of any such equipment;

(3) The initial cost of any such equipment;

(4) The percentage of the acquisition cost paid by a state or federal agency;

(5) Any location where such equipment is in use or being stored;

(6) Any associated storage and maintenance costs; and

(7) A photograph of each aircraft, watercraft, tactical vehicle or weapon.

Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) Not later than January fifteenth of each year, each law enforcement agency shall report whether it participated in a reportable incident during the previous calendar year. The agency shall submit such annual report to the Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division within the Office of Policy and Management. Such report shall contain the following information for each such reportable incident:

(1) The organizational title of the agency and tactical team deployed;

(2) The address, city, county and zip code of the location where the reportable incident occurred;

(3) The reason for the reportable incident;

(4) The type of warrant executed, if any, and whether the warrant contained a no-knock provision or authorized execution between the hours of ten o'clock p.m. and seven o'clock a.m.;

(5) If a warrant was obtained, the name of the judge, judge trial referee or magistrate who authorized the warrant;

(6) The number of arrests made, if any;

(7) A detailed description of any contraband seized and whether any property was seized, other than contraband;

(8) If an armored personnel carrier was used, and, if so, how was it used and why was it needed;

(9) If a forcible entry was made, and, if so, what equipment was used and how it was used in forcing the entry and why it was needed;

(10) If an explosive device was used either for breaching or distraction purposes, and, if so, what type of device was used and how and why was it used;

(11) If a firearm was discharged by a police officer, and, if so, how many shots were fired by any such officer;

(12) If a weapon was brandished by a person other than a police officer;

(13) If a weapon was used by a person against a police officer, and, if such weapon was a firearm, the number or approximate number of shots fired by the person;

(14) The identity of any law enforcement agency that participated or provided resources for the reportable incident and a description of which agencies provided which resources;

(15) The race, gender and age of each person encountered during the reportable incident, including any suspect or bystander;

(16) If a person or domestic animal was injured or killed, and, if so, a detailed description of the circumstances leading to the injury or death, and a detailed description of any injury, including whether death resulted from such injury; and

(17) If a police officer was injured or killed, and, if so, a detailed description of the circumstances leading to the injury or death, and a detailed description of any injury, including whether death resulted from such injury.

(b) As part of such report submitted pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, each law enforcement agency shall report the number of arrest warrants served that required a forced entry that were not served in conjunction with a search warrant that resulted in a reportable incident.

(c) In the case of any reportable incident involving a multiagency team or any warrant served by a multiagency team, the law enforcement agency that is the commanding agency shall submit the report pursuant to subsection (a) of this section concerning such warrant or incident.

(d) Not later than July 1, 2015, the Police Officer Standards and Training Council established under section 7-294b of the general statutes shall develop a standardized form for reporting that each law enforcement agency shall use in reporting the information required in this section.

(e) The Office of Policy and Management shall post each report submitted pursuant to subsection (a) of this section on its Internet web site.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	from passage	New section
Sec. 2	January 1, 2016	New section
Sec. 3	January 1, 2016	New section
Sec. 4	from passage	New section

Statement of Purpose:

To ensure greater transparency concerning the acquisition and use of military designed equipment.

[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.]