Sec. 51-277a. Investigation of the use of physical force by a peace officer that results in death of another person.

(a) Whenever a peace officer, in the performance of such officer's duties, uses physical force upon another person and such person dies as a result thereof, the Division of Criminal Justice shall cause an investigation to be made and shall have the responsibility of determining whether the use of physical force by the peace officer was appropriate under section 53a-22. The division shall request the appropriate law enforcement agency to provide such assistance as is necessary to determine the circumstances of the incident.

(b) In causing such an investigation to be made, the Chief State's Attorney shall, (1) as provided in section 51-281, designate a prosecutorial official from a judicial district other than the judicial district in which the incident occurred to conduct the investigation, or (2) as provided in subsection (a) of section 51-285, appoint a special assistant state's attorney or special deputy assistant state's attorney to conduct the investigation. The Chief State's Attorney shall, upon the request of such prosecutorial official or special prosecutor, appoint a special inspector or special inspectors to assist in such investigation.

(c) Upon the conclusion of the investigation of the incident, the division shall file a report with the Chief State's Attorney which shall contain the following: (1) The circumstances of the incident, (2) a determination of whether the use of physical force by the peace officer was appropriate under section 53a-22, and (3) any future action to be taken by the Division of Criminal Justice as a result of the incident. The Chief State's Attorney shall provide a copy of the report to the chief executive officer of the municipality in which the incident occurred and to the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection or the chief of police of such municipality, as the case may be.

(P.A. 88-199; P.A. 90-230, S. 66, 101; P.A. 98-48, S. 1; P.A. 11-51, S. 134; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-4, S. 4.)

History: P.A. 90-230 corrected the reference to “deadly physical force” in Subsec. (a); P.A. 98-48 added Subsec. (b) authorizing the designation of a prosecutorial official from another judicial district or the appointment of a special prosecutor to conduct the investigation, requiring the appointment of special inspectors when requested and authorizing any person to make a written request for the designation of a prosecutorial official from another judicial district or the appointment of a special prosecutor to conduct the investigation and relettered former Subsec. (b) as Subsec. (c); pursuant to P.A. 11-51, “Commissioner of Public Safety” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection” in Subsec. (c), effective July 1, 2011; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-4 amended Subsecs. (a) and (c)(2) to replace “deadly physical force” with “physical force”, amended Subsec. (b) to designate existing provision re designation of prosecutorial official from judicial district other than one in which incident occurred as Subdiv. (1), designate existing provision re appointment of special assistant state's attorney or special deputy assistant state's attorney as Subdiv. (2) and replace “may” with “shall”, and made technical and conforming changes.