task force
About

Task force charge

Public Act 19-90, Section 6 established a task force to study police transparency and accountability. During a July 2020 special session, the Connecticut General Assembly passed Public Act 20-1, which made modifications to the task force by adding additional priorities for evaluation and recommendation.

The law requires the task force to examine: 

  1. Police officer interactions with individuals who are individuals with a mental, intellectual or physical disability
  2. The merits and feasibility of police officers who conduct traffic stops issuing a receipt to each individual being stopped that includes the reason for the stop and records the demographic information of the person being stopped
  3. Strategies that can be utilized by communities to increase the recruitment, retention, and promotion of minority police officers, as required by section 7-291a of the general statutes
  4. Strategies that can be utilized by communities to increase the recruitment, retention, and promotion of female police officers
  5. The merits and feasibility of requiring police officers to procure and maintain professional liability insurance as a condition of employment
  6. The merits and feasibility of requiring a municipality to maintain professional liability insurance on behalf of its police officers
  7. The establishment of primary and secondary traffic violations in the general statutes;
  8. The establishment of a requirement in the general statutes that any police traffic stops be based on the enforcement of a primary traffic violation
  9. How a police officer executes a warrant to enter a residence without giving audible notice of the police officer's presence, authority and purpose before entering in this state and under the laws of other states, including verification procedures of the address where the warrant is to be executed and any documentation that a police officer should leave for the residents where the warrant was executed
  10. How a professional bondsman under chapter 533 of the general statutes, a surety bail bond agent under chapter 700f of the general statutes or a bail enforcement agent under sections 29-152f to 29-152i, inclusive, of the general statutes take into custody the principal on a bond who has failed to appear in court and for whom a rearrest warrant or a capias has been issued pursuant to section 54-65a of the general statutes, in this state and other states, including what process of address verification is used and whether any documentation is left with a resident where the warrant was executed
  11. Whether any of the grounds for revocation or cancellation of a police officer certification under section 7-294d of the general statutes should result in mandatory revocation by the Police Officer Standards and Training Council, as opposed to discretionary revocation
  12. Any other police officer and transparency and accountability issue the task force deems appropriate

The Task Force established three subcommittees to advise them on various aspects of its legislative charge in preparation for the issuance of its final report. Each subcommittee is chaired by a Task Force member. The subcommittees are comprised of a minimum of 4 Task Force members and 4 community members.

The Public Awareness Subcommittee

The main objectives of the Public Awareness Subcommittee include:

  1. Coordinating public awareness and outreach efforts;
  2. Determining how and where to conduct public listening sessions, coupled with community surveys; and
  3. Assessing efficacy of annual community surveys.
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Improving Police Interactions with Disability Community Subcommittee

The main objectives of the Improving Police Interactions with Disability Community Subcommittee include:

  1. Examining police officers’ interactions with individuals with a mental, intellectual, or physical disability; and
  2. Assessing resource allocation for diversionary programs.
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Logistics
Subcommittee

The main objectives of the Logistics Subcommittee include:

  1. Reviewing and developing a course of action for the remaining preliminary priorities and recommendations;
  2. Engaging with the Governor and Connecticut General Assembly to ensure coordination of efforts with respect to legislative and administrative actions relative to the Task Force’s purview; and
  3. Determining structure and scope of final report.
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Membership

Daryl McGraw

Co-Chairperson

James Rovella

Commissioner
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection
Non-Voting Member

John "Jack" Drumm

Chief
Madison Police department

John Szewczyk

Sergeant
Hartford Police Department
Retired

Jonathan Slifka

Executive Assistant
Aging and Disability Services Commission

Joshua Hall

State Representative
7th House District

Keith Mello

Chief
Milford Police Department

Maggie Silver

Deputy Police Chief
UCONN Police Department

Marc Pelka

Undersecretary
Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division, Office of Policy and Management
Non-Voting Member

Rev. Steven Cousin

New Haven Bethel AME Church

Richard Colangelo

Chief State’s Attorney
Non-Voting Member

Shafiq Abdussabur

Sergeant
New Haven Police Department (Retired)
Retired

William Wright

Chief
Wallingford Police Department