Section 51-277a - Investigation of the use of physical force by a peace officer that results in death of another person or use of deadly force. Reporting(a)(1) Whenever a peace officer, in the performance of such officer's duties, uses physical force upon another person and such person dies as a result thereof or uses deadly force, as defined in section 53a-3, upon another person, the Division of Criminal Justice shall cause an investigation to be made and the Inspector General shall have the responsibility of determining whether the use of physical force by the peace officer was justifiable under section 53a-22.(2)(A) Except as provided under subdivision (1) of this subsection, whenever a person dies in the custody of a peace officer or law enforcement agency, the Inspector General shall investigate and determine whether physical force was used by a peace officer upon the deceased person, and if so, whether the use of physical force by the peace officer was justifiable under section 53a-22. If the Inspector General determines the deceased person may have died as a result of criminal action not involving the use of force by a peace officer, the Inspector General shall refer such case to the Chief State's Attorney or a state's attorney for potential prosecution.(B) Except as provided under subdivision (1) of this subsection or subparagraph (A) of subdivision (2) of this subsection, whenever a person dies in the custody of the Commissioner of Correction, the Inspector General shall investigate and determine whether the deceased person may have died as a result of criminal action, and, if so, refer such case to the Chief State's Attorney or a state's attorney for potential prosecution.(3) Whenever a person who (A) is a next of kin of a deceased person, (B) is not notified of such deceased person's death as required pursuant to section 1 of this act and no other person who is a next of kin of the deceased person was so notified, and (C) requests of the Office of the Inspector General an investigation of the lack of notification or timely notification of such death, the Inspector General shall investigate and determine whether there was any malfeasance on the part of a peace officer or a supervisor of the peace officer in the failure to provide such notification or timely notification, and if so, may make recommendations to the Police Officer Standards and Training Council established under section 7-294b concerning censure, suspension, renewal, cancelation or revocation of the peace officer's or supervisor's certification, provided any such recommendation may be made to said council only in a case where such failure is found to be intentional or made with reckless indifference. If there is no finding that such failure was intentional or made with reckless indifference, a recommendation may be made to the officer's or supervisor's employing agency for any further disciplinary action as so determined by such employing agency.(4) The Inspector General shall request the appropriate law enforcement agency to provide such assistance as is necessary to investigate and make a determination under subdivision (1), (2) or (3) of this subsection.(5) Whenever a peace officer, in the performance of such officer's duties, uses physical force or deadly force upon another person and such person dies as a result thereof, the Inspector General shall complete a preliminary status report that shall include, but need not be limited to, (A) the name of the deceased person, (B) the gender, race, ethnicity and age of the deceased person, (C) the date, time and location of the injury causing such death, (D) the law enforcement agency involved, (E) the status on the toxicology report, if available, and (F) the death certificate, if available. The Inspector General shall complete the report and submit a copy of such report not later than five business days after the cause of the death is available to the Chief State's Attorney and, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary and public safety.(b) Upon the conclusion of the investigation of an incident described in subdivision (1) or (2) of subsection (a) of this section, the Inspector General shall file a report with the Chief State's Attorney which shall contain the following: (1) The circumstances of the incident, (2) a determination of whether the use of physical force by the peace officer was justifiable under section 53a-22, and (3) any future action to be taken by the Office of the Inspector General as a result of the incident. The Chief State's Attorney shall provide a copy of the report to the chief executive officer of the municipality in which the incident occurred and to the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection or the chief of police of such municipality, as the case may be, and shall make such report available to the public on the Division of Criminal Justice's Internet web site not later than forty-eight hours after the copies are provided to the chief executive officer and the commissioner or chief of police.(c) The Office of the Inspector General shall prosecute any case in which the Inspector General determines that the use of force by a peace officer was not justifiable under section 53a-22, and any failure to intervene in any such incident or to report any such incident, as required under subsection (a) of section 7-282e or section 42 of this act.Conn. Gen. Stat. § 51-277a
(P.A. 88-199; P.A. 90-230, S. 66, 101; P.A. 98-48 , S. 1 ; P.A. 11-51 , S. 134 ; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-4 , S. 4 .)
Amended by P.A. 22-0061, S. 2 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2022 Regular Session, eff. 10/1/2022.Amended by P.A. 22-0037, S. 31 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2022 Regular Session, eff. 10/1/2022.Amended by P.A. 20-0001, S. 34 of the 2020 July Special Session, eff. 10/1/2020.Amended by P.A. 19-0090, S. 3 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2019 Regular Session, eff. 10/1/2019.Amended by P.A. 15-0004, S. 4 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2015 Special Session, eff. 10/1/2015.