City officials: Reform bill a ‘good start’
DANBURY — Local officials said the draft of a state police reform bill is a good start, but has some flaws and missing pieces.
Danbury police and other departments in Connecticut already follow some of the reforms called for in the draft of a bill that the state legislature is expected to take up this summer.
“Generally I don’t have an issue with most of the proposals, and I believe that CT police departments already have many of the policies in place to satisfy the intent of the bill,” Danbury Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour said. “Sometimes I don’t think the Legislature gives themselves enough credit
for the accountability reforms that they have already established and I believe our state is ahead of the curve when compared to many others.”
Locally and nationwide, protesters have called for policing to be transformed in the country following the killings of Black people, including George Floyd, by officers.
Mayor Mark Boughton said the draft was good, but could have better examined giving municipalities the tools to discipline officers who break rules.
“It’s a good start on some of the things that need to be addressed,” Boughton said. “There is a disconnect and I think there is a reluctance among legislators to address some of the challenges that we have as it relates to union contracts.”
Ahead of the game
In Danbury, officers are not authorized to use neck restraints, including chokeholds, which would be banned under the draft bill unless it was the only way for the cop to defend themselves.
Nor does Danbury have a quota system for pedestrian or motor vehicle stops, Ridenhour said. The bill would also prevent departments from requiring a particular number of citations to be issued in a certain period of time.
The draft asks departments to study the feasibility of using social workers to respond remotely, in-person or with an officer to mental health calls.
Danbury already has a mental health clinician who goes with officers to these types of calls. The clinician with the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services spends four days with Danbury and one day with Newtown.
Ridenhour said he would be fine with additional clinicians or social workers.
“However, these have to be in addition to the police, not in lieu of them,” he said. “We still have to respond to these types of calls to ensure physical safety and then it would be great if a clinician or social worker could take over from there. So there has to be funding for these additional services.”
The clinician usually goes to calls related to homeless individuals or substance abuse, Boughton said. Often these calls are nonviolent, he said.
“If we’re looking to reduce excessive use of force, I don’t know if that’s really the play,” Boughton said. “Certainly, any resources you bring to bear are good in terms of that population of people.”
The bill urges the recruitment of minority officers, suggesting using police athletic leagues or explorer programs to encourage young people to become officers
“We have both, including one of the largest and most diverse explorer programs in the region,” Ridenhour said. “But these programs are not a direct pipeline into any police department because of the open competitive testing process. This is
not unique to Danbury.”
Firing, suing officers
One of the biggest areas in need of reform is the appeals process for officers who have been fired, Boughton said.
“If you’re serious about this and you want to ‘weed out the bad apples,’ then you’ve got to be able to weed out the bad apples,” he said.
Danbury was prevented from doing this in 2018, when it was ordered to rehire two officers that the city had fired after determining they had violated policies.
Boughton said the state arbitration board that rules on these cases is ineffective, and suggested a special magistrate or retired judge decide on these issues.
The bill calls for a civilian review board and a new inspector general position to investigate and prosecute law enforcement officials involved in excessiveforce incidents.
“Revocation of certification for certain offenses, including excessive force and discrimination (racial, etc) is appropriate, provided the accused is given due process,” Ridenhour said. “Again, the concept is good but the details need to be worked out.”
There have been calls to end qualified immunity for officers, which protects officers from being personally sued.
But Boughton and Ridenhour were worried people would not want to become officers without that protection.
“I would never take a job that would make me personally liable in a situation where I have a splitsecond to make a decision,” Boughton said. “You’re asking to lose your home, lose your pension.”
He said it would be likely that these lawsuit costs would be pushed onto the city.
Ridenhour expects there could be further changes to the bill before a vote.
“It’s a lot to digest so I, like many, would have to study it more carefully when the final draft is released,” he said.