News & Commentary

We’ve filed a Freedom of Information request to all state’s attorneys in Connecticut, including the office of the chief state’s attorney, seeking copies of those lists and of state’s attorneys’ policies and procedures for updating, maintaining, and disclosing them to defendants.

The conversation around CRBs is decades-old, but activists are showing renewed interest in creating them. If you’re thinking about creating or changing a CRB in your town, there are some important things to know about how they’ve been used – and stymied -- in the past.

After hours of debate, the Connecticut General Assembly house of representatives this morning passed LCO #3700, “An Act Concerning Police Accountability.” The version passed by the house is slightly different than the original bill, which was introduced under a different LCO number (3741).

Right now, Connecticut’s legislature is considering a bill that, among other things, would ban “qualified immunity” for police in Connecticut. As a result, the phrase “qualified immunity” is getting tossed around now more than any time we can remember, at least outside of legal circles. In Connecticut courts, qualified immunity is called “governmental immunity.”

Below, you'll find a copy of the ACLU of Connecticut's testimony regarding LCO No. 3471, "An Act Concerning Police Accountability," as introduced. Regardless of what happens next at the legislature, this bill cannot be the end of the conversation.

It’s about bigger towns and cities, especially those where policing most harms Black and Latinx people, getting the same chance to do what other Connecticut towns have long done: investing hard-earned resources into schools, healthcare, food security, housing security, and jobs instead of policing.

This movement has been around since the early days of policing and has always been led by activists and organizers from communities that have been harmed by the police. It’s time people in power listen.

Information is power, and this transparency bill is a necessary step – but only the first step – toward placing power over police squarely where it belongs: with the people.

Connecticut is the Land of Steady Habits, and many government officials here mistake the habit of letting police do whatever they want for a requirement, even when it is not. The Hamden Police Commission's response to residents is the latest example.