The “Act Concerning Police Accountability” passed the state Senate 21-15 on Wednesday, July 29, and was signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont (D) on Friday, July 31.
State Sen. Craig Miner (R-30) voted against the bill.
In a phone interview Sunday, Aug. 2, Miner said the primary reason he voted “no” was he believes the effect of the bill “could be to destabilize public safety.”
Miner said the bill will create a new legal process in state (rather than federal) courts for handling complaints about police misconduct and noted that there are often several law enforcement officers present at an incident. He said he was worried that an entire group of officers could be held liable for the misconduct of one officer.
Miner said even though the majority Democrats supporting the bill argued that individual officers would not have to buy their own liability insurance, he noted that the bill creates a task force to report back to the Legislature on the cost of the legislation to municipalities.
Miner said the idea of individual officers buying insurance is “clearly contemplated.”
He also expressed concern that insurance costs for municipalities would rise.
“Towns are obligated to defend” against lawsuits, he said, adding that those lawsuits would now take place “in an uncertain court setting.”
He said ultimately he thinks the bill will make it harder for municipalities to hire and train public safety personnel.
Miner was also critical of a provision in the bill that changes the rules for a traffic stop search of a vehicle.
With a few exceptions, “under the new procedure a traffic stop can’t end up in a charge for anything else,” such as drugs or firearms.
“You’d have to smell marijuana” to have probable cause, he said.
Miner said that with the ongoing opioid epidemic, “you couldn’t have picked a worse time to make this change.”
Miner said there were parts of the bill he supported, such as provisions for additional mental health resources for law enforcement officers.
“But that could have been done by policy, not legislation.”
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