Increase civilian presence within police departments as another way to support diversity within law enforcement overall.

EXAMPLE: New Haven, CT and Hartford, CT are currently in the process of developing CIT’s with the input of community and police. The City of New Haven sought community input by conducting 14 community focus groups and 3 town halls in October and November 2021 and will use this feedback to inform the design of the pilot program. Their CIT will specialize in de-escalation, harm reduction, and providing rapid access to social services during moments of crisis. Learn more here.

ACTION STEP: The Institute for Municipal & Regional Policy at UCONN hosted a panel conversation with experts in policing and social work. Listen to that full conversation here.

EXAMPLE OF IMPLEMENTATION: Eastern Connecticut State University and the Willimantic Police Department have partnered to create the Social Work and Law Enforcement Project which pairs interns with police departments and helps train social workers and officers to work together.

The SWLE Project has grown from the partnership between Eastern Connecticut State University and the Willimantic Police Department to include four municipal Police Departments in Connecticut and seven undergraduate and graduate social work students from five universities from two states and continues to expand.

EXAMPLE OF IMPLEMENTATION: Police in Westport, Connecticut created a voluntary registry for people with any disability or mental illness in 2018. It allows people with disabilities, or their relatives, to sign up for the list. Learn more here.

To pursue and implement the Intercept 0 and 1 recommendations (Number 7 and 8) in a substantive, sustained way, municipalities shall explore and apply for specific funding opportunities for the Fiscal Year 2022 cycle through two primary agencies:
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1. Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) offers funding for implementation of the above recommendation
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2. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) offers funding for statistical evaluation of that implementation- in short, data gathering and analysis.

Both the BJA and BJS are housed within the federal Department of Justice (DOJ).

It is recommended that municipalities consider adopting the minimum standards developed by the task force when creating a CRB pursuant to Section 17(a) of Public Act20-1. Although Section 17(a) outlines the minimum qualifying standard for a town's implementing ordinance, the legislation does not offer specific guidance for establishing a CRB. This is understandable, given the variety of communities that a CRB might serve.

ACTION STEPS:
-Establish the scope of the civilian review board based on the following questions:
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1. Does the police department have a history of being open and transparent with the community?
2. Is the police department currently under a consent decree /federal oversight, or does it have a history of being under a consent decree/federal oversight?
3. Does the municipality have the funding and resources needed to finance an investigative CRB (including office equipment, investigators, computers, video equipment)?
4. What are the implications for failure to comply with subpoenas?
5. What are the enforcement measures available to compel subpoena compliance?
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-Establish the number of members of the civilian police review board. It is recommended that a CRB not contain less than five or more than eleven members.
-Establish the process for selection of board members; elected or appointed.
-Establish the term of office for board members.
-Establish the procedure for filling any vacancy for the membership of the CRB.

Suggested Groups from which to select board members from:
-Chamber of Commerce/local business groups or boards
-Local Non-profit organizations (soup kitchens, shelters, etc.)
-Local religious organizations (churches, synagogues, mosques)
-Local cultural organizations (NAACP, Latinx organizations, Jewish organizations, Muslim organizations, LGBTQ organizations etc.)
-Youth groups (who better to know and understand the young people than those who have worked with them before –Boys/Girls Clubs; YMCA; PAL; Youth-Baseball/softball/basketball, etc.)
-Neighborhood Watch organizations/neighborhood community organizations-One member should be a patrolman/woman from a surrounding town who has not worked within the town doing the hiring.

EXAMPLE:
West Hartford, CT established one of the state’s first CRB in May 2021. The town council appointed seven members and three alternates who trained for 24 hours over 3 days. Their role is to review internal investigations of all companies received to the WHPD and annually provide the Town Council with a report and policy recommendations. More than 80 people applied to serve on the board in response to the announcement of its creation. Click here to learn more.

‍Municipalities should establish a Civilian Interview Panel as part of the police officer hiring process. Where allowable under existing contracts and where feasible, the Civilian Interview Panel should also be used to evaluate officers being put up for Command Staff level promotions. A Civilian Interview Panel would be advisory and not have veto power of an applicant, but their input and advice would be a requirement in the hiring process.

The state shall engage an authorized agent or agency to maintain and disseminate information on promising practices in recruiting, hiring, promotion, and training that effectively support police diversification.

ACTION STEPS:
RECRUITING
-Diversify the types of outreach activities conducted related to recruiting. Expand beyond job fair, military, cultural event, and university recruiting. Depending on when and where events are held, these events can lead to less diversity in the candidate pool. While cultural events seem like a good way to access diverse populations, some evidence suggests that they are ineffective at generating applications.

Openly address concerns about sexism in law enforcement when recruiting women. Evidence suggests that women that have experience in the workforce are more likely to be aware of the impact of sexism in organizations, and concerns about these issues in law enforcement may limit interest. Transparency and willingness or organizations to openly discuss these issues suggest an organizational culture capable of supporting women.

EXAMPLE: Milford, CT has pledged to reach a 30% female department by 2030 as part of the 30x30 initiative.

-Openly address concerns about ability when recruiting college-age women. Evidence suggests that younger women are more likely to be concerned about their ability to work in policing. Emphasizing that women can work in the career is an important message.

-Emphasize the challenge aspects of law enforcement careers to attract more female and racial/ethnic minority candidates. Evidence suggests that service messages are ineffective at increasing applicant pools. Challenge messages increase the number of applicants and increases the relative number of applications from diverse groups.

-Emphasize job security in law enforcement careers to attract more female and racial/ethnic minority candidates. Similar to the previous recommendation, emphasis on job security can increase the relative number of applications from diverse groups.

HIRING
-Reduce processing times for applicants to limit loss through attrition. Evidence suggests that hiring applicants more quickly limits the number of applicants lost in the process. Importantly, this has been demonstrated to be more important among female and minority applicants.
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-Simplify hiring process instructions/processes to limit confusion among applicants. Evidence suggests that complex hiring processes create confusion increasing attrition.-Incorporate supportive messaging (nudging – e.g., statements like “most applicants complete this process within a week”). Evidence suggests that loss due to attrition, particularly among diverse applicants, is reduced through nudging.
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-Analyze qualification criteria to determine which aspects disproportionately impact female and racial/ethnic minority candidates. Hiring processes and pre-employment qualification issues can serve as barriers that disproportionately impact diverse applicants limiting diversity in the hiring process.
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-Set standards for evaluating disproportionate impact at equal passing rates rather than at the 80% EEOC compliance threshold. While agencies largely understand EEOC compliance, less attention is paid to the fact that 80% passing rates for diverse applicants necessarily fails to diversify.

TRAINING
-Adopt or expand adult or active learning principles in academy training. Shifting training models supports best practices in adult learning and alters training academy dynamics which may contribute to attrition.

-Reduce emphasis on paramilitary approaches to training. The paramilitary training model is related to the concept of a “hidden academy” where organizational values are learned. These experiences can lead to attrition, particularly among diverse cadets.
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-Increase support networks for cadets through mentoring programs. Evidence suggests that mentoring programs for female and minority cadets can increase retention rates by helping these cadets navigate the challenges of the environment.
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-Monitor developments in training academies in other jurisdictions that are advancing these issues through novel training protocols. Several other jurisdictions are grappling with these same issues, and many novel attempts at addressing the problems are underway. Some jurisdictions within the region are likely candidates for monitoring.
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-Compare implementation of similar curriculum across other jurisdictions to determine best approach to content delivery and format. Shifts in training protocols (e.g., moving to an active learning model) may be insufficient without changes to the underlying curriculum.

PROMOTION
-Regularly evaluate promotional tests for disparity. Organizational diversification requires increasing diversity at the executive and managerial levels as well as among staff overall.
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-Consider involving outside participants like civilian review boards in the promotional process. Increasing diversity in the promotional process may support increased diversity in the promotions that result. Implementing changes like this are complex and may involve issues like union contracts which may specify promotional rules.

‍The Connecticut Police Officer Standards Training Council establishes a specialized unit within its compliance unit to address diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and to implement a statewide law enforcement DEI program to manage progress toward diversification and assist departments where progress is limited.

‍The Police Officer Standards and Training Council shall develop, with input from the disability community and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a standardized mandatory in-service training regarding interactions with the disability community.

‍POSTC shall adopt standards for compliance with the mandatory reporting requirement in the CT Law Enforcement Standards Policies and Practices (CLESP). Failure to comply shall result in loss of accreditation in one or more POSTC accreditation tiers.

The POSTC should be tasked with updating the current model form and develop a standardized, statewide reporting form and process for reporting citizen complaints. The complaint form should make clear that those reporting can do so anonymously, do not need to have the form notarized and the form should ask for information about the race, ethnicity, and gender of the officer and complainant among other categories. The complaint form must be easy to find, be available electronically, but hard copies should be maintained at the police station and at other municipal buildings, including the library in the town or city, with versions in languages that reflect the needs of the local population.

The data from the complaints must then promptly be submitted by each police department to a database maintained by the Police Officer Standards and Training Council without the names or other identifying information of complainants or officers but tracked through a number system so that it is possible to determine whether the same officer or complainant are being reported against or reporting.

The Police Office Standards and Training Council shall establish pre-service and in-service training courses for police officers conducting and supervising internal investigations. Details regarding the core course curriculum is provided in this report. All police officers of any rank assigned to conduct or supervise internal investigations shall be required to successfully complete the POSTC pre-service internal investigator training program and complete in-service training in internal investigations during active assignment to conduct or supervise internal investigations. POSTC shall determine the content, curriculum, and credit hours of the pre- and in-service training modules.

‍All state and municipal law enforcement agencies shall be required to post annually on its website census data for all full-, part- and per diem employees.

ACTION STEP:
POSTC requires agencies to post the following information on their websites for all full-,part-, and per diem employees:
-Total number of sworn and civilian employees-Total number of employees at each sworn rank (e.g., patrol officer, detective, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, deputy or assistant chief, chief, etc.);
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-Breakdown of number of years of service in five-year increments (e.g., total number of probationary employees, total number of employees with less than 5 years of service, total with 5 to less than 10 years, total with 10 to less than 15 years, etc.);
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-Breakdown of sworn and civilian employees by race and ethnicity, gender, and age group(e.g., <20, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, etc.); and
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-Total number of sworn and civilian employees who are residents in the municipality (yes or no).

All state and municipal law enforcement agencies shall be required to post annually on their websites all policies in which they are required to meet or exceed the mandatory policies issued by the Connecticut Police Officer Standards and Training Council.

ACTION STEP: Connecticut’s ACLU has recently launched “Project Flashlight” which “shines light on the ways CT’s more than 100 police agencies operate” This website is comprised of four sections including:
1. Contracts, which govern a range of topics from wages and hours to healthcare and disciplinary procedures.
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2. Police Commissions, which identifies the municipalities that have a police oversight body and shows who has been appointed/elected.
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3. Use of Force, which will track any incidents where an officer uses force that is likely to cause serious physical injury.4. Suits and Settlements, which includes lawsuits against police employees being sued for misconduct.

-21A. POSTC shall offer a mandatory seminar for all police chiefs and command staff on the statutory duty to intervene and changing police department culture to accept and support those police officers who intervene when necessary. This seminar should stress the importance of active and strong leadership to shift the police culture around intervening and the adoption and enforcement of peer intervention and anti-retaliation policies and protocols.

-21B. POSTC in collaboration with a state institute of high education shall consider operating a pilot peer intervention training program in at least five departments across the state. An existing peer intervention training program may be utilized(e.g. EPIC or ABLE) or a new program designed specifically for CT police departments may be implemented. The preliminary work on the pilot program should begin in 2022 and implemented in participating police departments by Jan. 2023 and should include consideration of funding sources and federal, state and other grants to support the pilot program.