Police Transparency & Accountability Task Force (PT&ATF)
Established by Public Act 19-90 Section 6 and continued by the passage of Public Act 20-1 which added additional priorities for evaluation and recommendation.
Mission and Background
- The task force is comprised of 11 voting members and 3 non-voting members, with two of the members serving as co-chairs.
- The task force shall issue two reports, a preliminary and a final report, the latter of which shall be filed by December 31, 2020.
- Universally agreed by all members of the Task Force was the utilization of President Obama’s 21st Century Policing Task Force Final Report to form the basis from which the task force can systematically address police transparency and accountability. The 21st Century Policing report lays out 6 pillars that form the foundation for change.
Six Pillars
On June 16, 2020, the Task force adopted a list of 22 preliminary priorities and recommendations organized under the 6 pillars.
PILLAR ONE: Building Trust and Legitimacy
- Change the culture of policing – adopt a guardian versus warrior culture of policing.
- Publicly address the role of policing in past injustices.
- Make all departmental policies and procedures available online.
- Task force should conduct regional listening sessions, couples with community surveys to seek public input in the final report.
- Examine police officers’ interactions with individuals with mental, intellectual, or physical disability.
- Ensure each officer commits to 500 hours of community engagement activities within Connecticut’s major urban centers prior to receiving initial officer certification.
- Duty to intervene and requirement of Peer Intervention Program
PILLAR TWO: Policy & Oversight
- Develop an independent external investigating authority.
- Prohibit chokeholds and neck restraints.
- Reform internal affairs and citizen complaint processes.
- Require officers to identify themselves by their full name, rank, and command (as applicable) and provide that information in writing to individuals they have stopped. In addition, policies should require officers to state the reason for the stop and the reason for the search if one is conducted.
- Law enforcement agencies should report and make available to the public census data regarding the composition of their departments including race, gender, age, and other relevant demographic data.
- Identify state labor issues that prevent police administrators from easily removing unfit officers.
- Amend Alvin Penn Law to include racial/ethnic/gender/religious data collection of pedestrian stops (trespass, loitering, disorderly conduct), breach of peace, and interfering with police officer.
PILLAR THREE: Technology & Social Media
- Evaluate the effectiveness of other less than lethal force tools.
- Mandate body-worn cameras in all departments.
PILLAR FOUR: Community Policing & Crime Reduction
- End “Broken Windows” policing
- Mandate community oversight of all police departments
PILLAR FIVE: Training & Education
- Review State’s accreditation program and explore ways to support both state or national accreditation for all police departments in Connecticut.
PILLAR SIX: Officer Wellness & Safety
- Ensure early intervention through assistance, correction action and discipline
- Implement psychological evaluation of officers into the recertification process
Subcommittees
Public Awareness Subcommittee – Coordinates public awareness and outreach efforts; determines how and where to conduct public listening sessions, coupled with community surveys; assesses the efficacy of annual community surveys.
Improving Police Interactions with Disability Community Subcommittee – Examines police officers’ interactions with individuals with a mental, intellectual, or physical disability and assesses resources allocation for diversionary programs.
Logistics Subcommittee – Reviews and develops a course of action for the remaining preliminary priorities and recommendations; engages with the Governor and General Assembly to ensure coordination of efforts with respect to legislation and administration actions relative to the Task Force’s purview and determines structure and scope of final report.
Publications
To view the Task Force implementation guide, preliminary and annual reports, please visit the IMRP’s Library page for archived publications.
See Archives