Police shootings bring new life to transparency bills

HARTFORD — Three bills aimed at encouraging more transparency and accountability after police shootings have failed to get out of committee.

But a recent shooting during which officers from both Hamden and Yale University fired on an unarmed couple, wounding a woman, may lead to some version of the bills being resurrected before the end of the legislative session June 5.

Based on a 911 call, the officers believed the man, Paul Witherspoon, had tried to rob a newspaper delivery man with a gun on April 16.

A detailed search warrant released last week indicated that Witherspoon told police he was unarmed and was getting out of his car with his hands up as Hamden officer Devin Eaton and Yale University officer Terrance Pollock opened fire. Eaton fired 13 bullets, striking Witherspoon’s passenger, Stephanie Washington. Witherspoon has not been charged.

Less than a week later, Wethersfield officer Layau Eulizier shot 18-year-old Anthony Jose Vega Cruz, known as “Chulo,” as the teen tried to avoid being pulled over for a license plate violation. Vega Cruz died a few days later.

Both shootings have drawn loud protests calling for the release of dashboard camera or body camera video recordings — a practice that State Police and the state’s attorneys who investigate police shootings rarely allow until an investigation is complete.

In an unprecedented move, state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner James Rovella released the body camera footage of the New Haven shooting to the public about a week after the incident occurred. Hartford State’s Attorney Gail Hardy, who is investigating the Wethersfield shooting, said she will release what she can as her investigation moves forward.

“There’s more and more demand from the public for the early release of the videos,” Chief State’s Attorney Kevin Kane said. “We’ve given this issue a lot of thought in the past year.”

Kane’s office submitted public testimony on all three bills, expressing “reservations at the concepts as suggested.” But his office officially took no stance on the bills since the specific language of the proposed legislation had yet to be written.

Kane conceded last week that he and other law enforcement officials throughout the state are now considering releasing more information based on the public outcry. “We’re going to be making decisions about releasing information before the investigation is complete,” Kane said. “We want to explore this and see what happens and we’ll do some other cases, too.”

The move may circumvent the calls for legislative changes that would make the investigations more transparent, he also conceded.