Connecticut legislators have advanced a bill that would require police to contact the family of a person who has died within 24 hours.
The state Public Safety and Security Committee voted 13-10 on the bill. It was created following two separate, high-profile cases in Bridgeport last year in which police did not quickly notify the families of 23-year-old Lauren Smith-Field and 53-year-old Brenda Lee Rawls, both of whom are Black.
The bill also allows the state inspector general to conduct investigations if police do not make a documented effort to notify families in a timely fashion.
Several Republican officials voted against the measure over the inspector general’s role.
It now goes to the House for a vote before the current legislative session wraps up on May 4.
