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Connecticut Lawmakers Propose Wide-Ranging Police Reform Bill

The Connecticut state Capitol building in Hartford.
Danielle Wedderburn
/
WSHU
The Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford

Connecticut state lawmakers have proposed an expansive police reform bill, which contains dozens of measures to address police misconduct and accountability.

The bill includes restrictions to police use of force. It also provides guidelines for how cities and towns can set up civilian review boards, among dozens of other clauses.

State Representative Steve Stafstrom of Enfield is co-chair of the Judiciary Committee.

“We gonna make sure that our local police departments are working towards recruiting a diverse police force. We’re gonna require that all police officers in the state have periodic mental health screenings, to make sure that those who are on our streets are mentally, as well as physically, fit to be doing so.”

The bill would ban police department arrest quotas, require body cameras and scale back departments’ use of a federal program that provides military-grade equipment to local police departments.

“I think everybody knows the moment that we’re in the United States of America, having seen what happened to Mr. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and a list of names that go on for a very long time,” said State Senator Gary Winfield, who co-chairs the committee with  Stafstrom.

A ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee said he hadn’t decided whether to endorse the bill.

Davis Dunavin loves telling stories, whether on the radio or around the campfire. He started in Missouri and ended up in Connecticut, which, he'd like to point out, is the same geographic trajectory taken by Mark Twain.
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