Same-day death notification bill passes

Legislation that would require police to notify the families of deceased relatives within 24 hours was narrowly approved Monday in the legislative Public Safety and Security Committee over complaints from active and former police officers on the panel that it could make one of their hardest jobs even tougher.

Citing that the impetus for the bill was two cases in Bridgeport last year, state Sen. Dan Champagne, the mayor of Vernon and a retired police officer with 22 years of service, said the General Assembly is being asked to respond to the failure of that city’s police administration to do their job.

“This should have been the chief ’s issue,” Champagne said. “The chief should have disciplined those officers. The chief should have taken care of it.”

The bill passed 13-10, mostly along party lines, following an earlier 37-2 vote in the Judiciary Committee before the bill was referred to the Public Safety

Committee.

The legislation now goes back to the House calendar, where it will join more than 240 pending pieces of legislation vying for the focus of lawmakers as the May 4 adjournment date looms.

Champagne, who voted against the bill, said the legislation should have originated in the Public Safety Committee, and warned the unintended consequences could be less human contact with grieving families at critical times.

Instead of a uniformed officer arriving at the homes of next-of-kin to give them news of a death in the family, officers could have to make phone calls to make the notification within 24 hours of the discovery of the deceased.

Without a “best effort” to make the notification, the inspector general within the state Office of Criminal Justice could order investigations and possible disciplinary action.

There was a large-scale public backlash after the unrelated deaths of two Bridgeport women last

December when there were delays in notifying the families of Lauren SmithFields, 23, who died from an accidental overdose, and 53-year old Brenda Lee Rawls, whose death was from natural causes.

“If I have to make sure this notification is made, or I can to face some sort of discipline up to termination, or the loss of my certification,

I’m going to make sure I’m doing this myself,” said Champagne, noting that often a fatality in one part of the state will result in local police elsewhere knocking on the doors of families in their towns as a courtesy to law enforcement where the death occurred.

In the case of no one answering a door, a note is made for the next shift to make the notification, further delaying direct contact.

“I only have 24 hours, so personally, it’s easier for me to make a phone call,” Champagne said. “If I make the call and tell the next-ofkin over the phone, then I have met my obligations.”

But without face-to-face contact at the moment of notification, unforeseen medical issues could occur, he warned.

“What this is saying is that you have to make that notification so you are covered under law,” he said. “This should happen in person.”

State Rep. Rick Hayes, R-Putnam, a retired police chief, agreed that death notification is “one of the worst things” police officers do, but knocking on the door, and asking if families need assistance, is an important public-service moment.

“This bill is going to take away in-person death notifications,” said Hayes, who also voted against the bill, as did state Rep. Greg Howard, R-Stonington, a police detective.

State Rep. Antonio Felipe, D-Bridgeport, who voted for the bill, said there have been other instances throughout the state of prolonged periods when families have not been informed of deaths.

“The right to grieve, the right to know that your family member is gone, is a human right,” Felipe said. “To say we can’t do it just because there are a few instances, I think is shortsighted. I don’t think this is going to have this overarching effect on our police departments.”

He doubts there would be many police officers decertified or fired over it.

“We need to have as much faith in our police officers and our departments that this will get done, and unfortunately, there are multiple municipalities around the state, not just mine, that have these policies that are very robust and talk about everything that you need to do, but unfortunately one thing that isn’t mentioned is the timeliness in which that needs to happen,” Felipe said.

Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media file photo Family and friends of Lauren Smith-Fields gathered for a protest march in her memory in Bridgeport in January. Smith-Fields was found dead in her Bridgeport apartment in December and her family and friends said they were were not notified of her death in a timely manner.