Senator Witkos Statement Re. Passage of Police Accountability Legislation

Hartford – State Senator Kevin Witkos released the following statement in response to HB 6004 which recently passed the House and Senate :

“While there were many good parts of this bill, ultimately I felt that there were just too many sections of this bill that were unworkable and would have a detrimental impact on law enforcement departments across Connecticut and in our district, especially on their ability to retain and recruit fine young men and women into the profession.  As a retired officer myself I absolutely agree that bad officers have no place in our law enforcement agencies. Current statues already allowed and provided for the removal and termination of the “bad apples” this bill however subjects good officers to frivolous law suits which they were protected against prior to the passage of this legislation.

In addition, I am concerned that a bill of this magnitude was put together in just a few weeks outside of the normal legislative process where it could have been given the time, study, and attention it deserved.

Regretfully, because the House of Representatives adjourned last week, the Senate had no ability to try to improve this bill and were forced to vote on the bill as it was presented”