HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont signed an executive order on Monday that imposes new use-of-force rules for members of the Connecticut State Police, including a ban on chokeholds and other tactics, as well as a move toward “demilitarizing” the agency in the wake of George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis.
Lamont called on state lawmakers to pass legislation in an upcoming special session of the General Assembly that codifies the new rules in state statute and ultimately applies them and other reforms to municipal police departments across Connecticut as well.
“Let’s not wait. I’ve got the legislature coming into session, but I don’t want to wait another minute,” Lamont said during a news conference at the governor’s executive residence, where he was joined by Democratic leaders of the Public Safety Committee and the chairman of the legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus. Lamont said he wants to “do what we can right now” and then work with the legislature, going forward, to build upon a police reform bill that passed in 2019.
Lawmakers have said they intend to pass new reforms soon, but have not yet released a package of specific proposals.
Under Lamont’s executive order, which is unrelated to orders he has signed during the COVID-19 public health emergency, the state police will be forbidden from using chokeholds and “other tactics that restrict oxygen or blood flow to the head or neck.” Last week, the Police Officer Standards and Training Council adopted similar restrictions for all Connecticut police officers unless “the use of deadly physical force is authorized.”
Like Lamont’s executive order, the newly updated POST standards also require officers to exhaust all other reasonable methods to de-escalate a situation, including verbal warnings, before using force. Also, both troopers under Lamont’s order, and officers under the POST standards, are required to intervene and stop another officer from using excessive force.
Similar measures barring chokeholds and neck restraints are included in a list of 20 preliminary recommendations from the state’s Police Transparency & Accountability Task Force, which is scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss the proposals. The group was charged by the General Assembly to recommend new legislation.
Kelly McConney Moore, the policy counsel for the ACLU of Connecticut, said police reforms such as banning chokeholds won’t work. She said the state needs to overhaul the system, divest money from police and spend more on housing, mental health and other social services.
“Politicians in this state have demonstrated that they want to take the smallest, most incremental measures possible when it comes to policing. The governor is calling for things like body cams and ending choke holds. I haven’t seen a lot of evidence that choke holds are a problem in the state,” she said.
“Police violence is a systemic problem and it requires systemic solutions,” she added. “I’m not confident we have the elected leadership to do that.”
But Lamont received praise on Monday from legislators for his order, which he called a first step.
“I really commend the governor for making out clear outlines of what we’re going to be in the state of Connecticut, to no longer tolerate these chokeholds, to make sure that we empower police officers with cameras to make sure that we are protecting our citizens, that we no longer look at each other as a problem, but that we police from the sense of service,” said state Sen. Dennis Bradley, D-Bridgeport, co-chairman of the legislature’s Public Safety Committee.
Rep. Brandon McGee, D-Hartford, chairman of the legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, credited Lamont for laying the foundation for “a much larger conversation” for the planned special session. No date has been set yet.
Last year, Lamont signed a wide-ranging bill into law that requires police to publicly release body camera and dashboard camera recordings within 96 hours after a police employee uses force against a person. Additionally, police pursuit laws were updated to prohibit officers from shooting at or into a fleeing vehicle, or from standing in front of one.
The new law also required all Connecticut police departments to submit annual use of force reports. Under Lamont’s new executive order, state troopers must report all uses of force, including drawing a firearm on any civilian.
Also, under Lamont’s executive order, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection is barred from purchasing or acquiring “military and military-style equipment” from the federal government until further notice. The agency must appoint and train one or more troopers in each troop as “community trust liaisons” in an effort to build relationships within the community. This will be in addition to the existing resident state trooper program.
Additionally, all uniformed members of the State Police must be equipped with a body camera and every marked vehicle must be have a dashboard camera by Jan. 1, 2021. The state has been working to outfit all troopers with body cameras since 2018.
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