How will a new accountability law change policing in Connecticut?
Young people have banned together in the movement against systemic racism, calling for police accountability and holistic changes.
Photo by Elliott Stallion via Unsplash
In response to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and the months of Black Lives Matter protests and civil unrest that followed, Connecticut lawmakers moved swiftly to adopt police reform legislation.
The 71-page Police Accountability Act, signed by Gov. Ned Lamont in July 2020, enacts new standards for investigating police use of deadly force and calls for increased training in de-escalation tactics. It also requires all officers to wear body cameras and to intervene when witnessing a fellow officer using excessive force.
UConn sociology professor Noel Cazenave, an expert in racism theory and criminal justice, said the police accountability law attempts to remove layers of protection granted to officers so that they will act more responsibly in their role.
“Part of the reason that they have been able to remain unaccountable despite some of the egregious actions that they’ve engaged in, like killing unarmed people, is because there is a system with many layers of protection that police have that ordinary citizens don’t have,” Cazenave said.
In his research, Cazenave looks into the racial control mechanisms of policing as they date back to slave patrols in the pre-Civil War period. He views systemic racism in the criminal justice system, where African Americans are disproportionally targeted in police stops and incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses, as a modernized racial control mechanism.
“We have to put these variant forms of violence by police and vigilantes into the historical context of American racism and the need of the system to keep African Americans down and keep us under control,” Cazenave argued.
Opponents and Qualified Immunity
There is opposition to the accountability law from police officers and law enforcement supporters, particularly regarding the limitations on “qualified immunity.” This is the doctrine that shields police from being held accountable in cases where there is no “clearly established” law that deems their actions unconstitutional. The new law makes it easier for survivors of police violence and families of those killed by police to file lawsuits when they believe their rights have been violated.
CTNewsJunkie reporter Lisa Backus, who has been covering crime and courts in Connecticut since 2007, said part of the reason so many police officers go uncharged for use of deadly force is due to the way these cases are investigated.
There have been 76 inquiries into police use of deadly force or deaths while in police custody since 2001 and only one of those cases resulted in a criminal charge, according to the Connecticut Post. That charge did not result in a conviction.
Currently in Connecticut, a state’s attorney from a different jurisdiction is assigned to conduct an investigation on the alleged police misconduct in order to maintain a degree of independence.
“Ultimately, police know each other in the field and so although that was an attempt at independence, it wasn’t truly independent,” Backus said.
The Police Accountability Act created a new Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Inspector General to bypass this issue and rebuild trust in Connecticut’s criminal justice system. The inspector general will investigate all incidents involving the use of deadly force by police and in-custody deaths.
Republicans leaders in Connecticut have been vocal in opposition to the new law, citing concerns about escalating crime rates in Connecticut cities.
J.R. Romano, chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party, told WNPR that the bill is “anti-police” and it “has made our communities less safe because it’s hamstrung police officers from doing their job.”
After portions of the law went into effect on Oct. 1., State Sen. Len Fasano (R-North Haven) and Rep. Vincent Candelora (R-North Branford) urged Lamont to use his executive powers to suspend the law until February, giving the legislature an opportunity to make changes based on police concerns.
Fasano told Backus of CTNewsJunkie that “the new law ties the hands of officers, makes proactive policing more difficult, and has already begun to hurt recruitment and retention of good officers.”
A Movement, Not a Moment for Racial Justice
UConn student Mason Holland joins protestors in Hoboken, NJ (Photo courtesy of Mason Holland)
For UConn sophomore Mason Holland, president of the university’s NAACP chapter, the police accountability law is a step in the right direction but more work needs to be done.
“I hope that when people look at that bill, they see that it is progress, and while it is progress, we have such a way to go,” Holland said.
Holland is an outward proponent for defunding the police, a movement which he says is largely misconstrued by the general public and in the media. Defunding the police is a call to redirect funds where they are being misappropriated by police agencies and allocate them toward community programs.
“I don’t understand why budget-cutting a police department that has accumulated a multitude of capital and is not utilizing it correctly is controversial,” said Holland. “I don’t see the issue in taking that away and redirecting it to a different source.”
Holland reflected on this summer where hundreds of thousands of Americans took to the streets in solidarity and support of the Black Lives Matter movement. He said it was incredible to see the outpouring of support, but that it should not be reduced to a moment in time. The movement to hold police accountable is an ongoing fight.
UConn History Professor Melanie Newport, echoed this sentiment. She said she is impressed with the way young people have banned together in this movement, calling for police accountability and holistic changes in the social welfare system.
“Going out into the streets, particularly during a pandemic, really showed how high stakes people felt this was and the extent to which, even in a blue state, we still deal with profound racial inequality and segregation,” Newport said. “The question is are we going to keep the status quo in Connecticut or are we going to imagine a more equal and just future.”