Lamont Signs Police Accountability Bill Into Law

CONNECTICUT — Gov. Ned Lamont followed through on his promise to sign the police accountability bill into law Friday. The new law will represent some of the biggest changes to law enforcement in the state in decades.

“Ultimately, what we are enacting today are policies focused on providing additional safeguards to protect peoples’ lives and make our communities stronger,” Lamont said. Our nation and our state has been having a conversation on this topic for decades, and these reforms are long overdue.”

The bill passed mostly along party lines in both the state Senate and House of Representatives with Democratic legislators in favor and Republican legislators opposed. Legislators also tackled issues of absentee ballot voting, insulin price caps and telehealth in a bipartisan manner.

State Sen. Gary Winfield (D-New Haven) one of the chief architects of the bill said that there are many important parts of the bill, including the inspector general office and changes to use of force protocol that will work in tandem.

“I think when you put those parts together it offers the public that may see law enforcement a little different than some of us might see something that they can believe in,” he said.

The bill isn’t meant to harm law enforcement, but rather to help it, Winfield said. The bill will help change the perceptions of the profession that some people have for the better if it’s done right.

Related: CT Senate Passes Police Reform Bill

Lamont’s Chief of Staff Paul Mounds held a meeting with some police union representatives Thursday to inform them that Lamont intended to sign the bill and that the administration is willing to have ongoing conversations about the implementation of the bill.

The state is also at a point where around 40 percent of the state police force will be retiring within the next several years, said Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz. That will give the state a huge opportunity to bolster the number of women and people of color in the ranks, she said.