Rep. O'Dea Disappointed By Outcome Of Police Accountability Vote

Press release courtesy of State Representative Tom O’Dea's Office: State Representative Tom O’Dea (R-New Canaan), a Deputy House Republican Leader and attorney, expressed his disappointment with the final outcome of the House debate and vote on H.B. 6004, An Act Concerning Police Accountability, which passed during a special session largely along party lines, 86-58-7. The bill passed in the Senate 21-15 with only one Democratic member voting with Republicans, and CT police.

House Republicans proposed an amendment removing the limit on qualified immunity from the bill. The amendment had support on both sides of the aisle, including 17 Democrats, but fell one vote short in a 72-72 tie.

“We tried to reach a fair comprise on an issue that affects everyone in the state of Connecticut. Members of the public, police chiefs, legislators, and many others weighed in, and their feedback is greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, the final bill was something I could not support because while it addressed some legitimate concerns raised by state residents, it will make our public less safe, cost our municipalities millions of dollars, and cause good police officers to be exposed to lawsuits and personal exposure without getting rid of the few bad officers” said Rep. O’Dea.

“Qualified immunity, which has been in place and litigated since 1967, allows our police officers to make very difficult decisions in what can often be life or death situations, without fearing legal repercussions for judgement calls they believe to be the correct course of action at that point in time. Limiting this necessary protection and eliminating consent searches will make good active policing very difficult. Exposing good officers to personal liability without the ability to appeal until after a jury verdict will make it extremely challenging to recruit quality candidates for these vital roles in our communities, as well as retain current members of the force. There is no doubt this bill will have much broader implications for public safety and our local communities. This bill will make all of us less safe.”

This bill will also put a strain on local budgets. It will cost our municipalities millions of dollars to buy equipment and millions more for certifications, and millions more for insurance. All that money will have to come from property tax increases or by diverting funds from other areas. Finally, there were complaints from both sides of the aisle that the bill did not receive adequate public input since it was rushed as an emergency bill in special session during a pandemic without a traditional hearing process when the most egregious part of the bill does not go into effect until a year from now.

Continued Rep. O’Dea, “If it was such an emergency, why does it go into effect in a year? This bill should have been raised during the 2021 regular session during which further public participation and criticism would have been possible.”

Some of the positives in the bill included greater mental health and drug testing for officers, as well as a requirement that body worn and dashboard cameras be used by all law enforcement personnel.

Another positive is that this legislation addresses an issue from the 2019 session concerning the state police union contract and the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. Under the 2019 contract, which was approved by Democratic legislators and opposed by Republicans, police records concerning disciplinary actions were shielded from FOI requests. Under H.B. 6004, this is will no longer be the case.

Concluded Rep. O’Dea, “Please call Governor Lamont and ask him to veto House Bill 6004 so we can do this properly, in a bipartisan way, like we did with telehealth, absentee balloting and the insulin bills.”

This press release was produced by State Representative Tom O’Dea's Office. The views expressed here are the author's own.