Inspector

prosecutors bri ef l y acknowledged past prosecutions involving law enforcement.

Theposition wascreated in a sweeping piece of police accountability legislation passed this summer in a special session amid a growing concern locally and nationwide that police were held legally blameless whentheyusedeadlyforce.

Whenthepoliceaccountability bill wascrafted, legislative researchers estimated that the office will conduct roughly 25 investigations a year into the use of deadly force by police, or any death that results from that use of force. The inspector general’s officeis also tasked with prosecuting any such cases that are deemed not justified by law.

Manyadvocates, activists and others see the inspector general as an important investigatory role that may hold police legally accountable when they kill. In the past 20 years, state’s attorneys have investigated roughly 80 deaths at the hands of police, but nearly all officers were found to be justified. Several people testified before the nomination was made, pressing for the needfor police accountability that some believe state’s attorneys have not pursued in the past.

“We don’t have the luxury of getting this one wrong,” said Corrie Betts, the chair of the criminal justice commission of the Connecticut NAACP. “Too many lives have been lost at the hands of law enforcement officers who have not been held accountable for their brutal, reckless actions. Families have been destroyedforever. We oweit to the loved onesleft behind to get it right. We owe it to thecommunity, mycommunity, that has been battered and bruised by this system.”

The names now go to the legislature’s judiciary committee for consideration and a final decision on who will serve the fouryear term.

It is unclear when the office will start conducting investigations. After a nomination is approved, the inspector general will have to both find a space to operate and staff the office with an assistant state’s attorney, inspectors and other positions. Both candidates expressed concerns with finding qualified staff willing to conduct the difficult investigations, along with receiving the funding necessary for the office to meet its mandate.

The commission Thursday also appointed Executive Assistant State’s Attorney Sharmese L. Walcott to serve an eightyear term as the Hartford’s state’s attorney, replacing Gail P. Hardy. Hardy, who held the post for 13 years, withdrew her consideration for reappointment during a hearing in June, a week after she was suspended without pay for leaving deadly police shooting investigations open for as long as 11 years.

The appointment means a return for Walcott, who spent about two years in the judicial district, trying four cases while she worked for the office. A prosecutor in Connecticut since 2007, Walcott spent 11 years in the Danbury Judicial District.

Walcott, who was interviewed for more than an hour, spoke of how she will bring a new energy to top leadership of the Division of Criminal Justice. She committed to connecting with the community across all levels to keep the public better engaged with what happens and why it happens within the judicial district.

“I believe I am the right person to move Hartford forward in way that brings together two large spheres: management and community relations,” Walcott told the commission.