Black Lives Matter 860 is operating as the voice of the people. We have sat down with each other, the elders in our communities, religious leaders, and individuals that have been directly impacted by the poor work done by officers all over CT that they call “policing”. In reality, officers, community servants, have not been operating in the interests or safety of the people especially those of the African diaspora. Below, we have come up with a list of demands that we want adhered to. Trump’s executive order has made our requests are 100% feasible. It is not our job to come up with solutions Ned Lamont it is yours and your constituents. We hope that you see this and realize just how little the bill you proposed helps and make the necessary changes. 

Demands (Updated Sunday, June 21st, 2020) :

Abolish Qualified Immunity. Much like Senate Bill 217 passed by Colorado Senate we need to eliminate qualified immunity which will allow people to bring civil rights claims to court. People who allege civil rights violations under the state’s constitution will be able to sue officers in their individual capacities. 

Body cams. I have refined this demand after reading SB20-217. They turn on the minute the officer clocks in and turn off when he clocks out; meaning these cameras should virtually be on at all times during an officers shift outside of private times needed. Officers should not be able to turn it off before approaching a suspect and if they do then it should count against their claim of innocence; it should be counted against them in court as evidence tampering. It should record everything and if changes need to be made in order to protect identities of sensitive individuals make the necessary changes within the precinct in order to do so. It's important that it records all interactions between those who have been arrested and the officer. In the event that sensitive information is involved the officer must ask the individual in question whether or not they want their sensitive information recorded and Mirandize them in accordance with the questioning and laws. At this time the suspect or detainee may agree or disagree to being recorded as well as advise of requesting legal representation before the officer questions them. Undercover officer work will not require this but there will need to be safe guards created to prevent officers operating undercover from acting in a way that is a violation of human and civil rights. 

Remove officers from schools. The school shooting in Parkland showed us that police officers in schools do not help protect as many might believe. What they’re doing is creating a false sense of security for some and contributing to the school to prison pipeline for others. In fact, their presence creates more unintended consequences like suspensions, expulsions and arrests for students of color. Therefore, they should be removed and replaced with security guards and issues should be handled at the schools by school officials long before escalated to involve police presence. Schools don’t need police presence they need foolproof lockdown procedures and security guards trained in how to deal with situations that require escalation (including but not limited to school shootings, weapons brought to schools by students, etc.)

Racial sensitivity training. Officers that work in inner cities should understand their differences and respect others that don't look like them. They should build inter community relationships. Communicate with the people they are assigned to protect. Training from psychologists for de-escalation. Don't just come by to arrest, come by and talk to us. 

Officer’s records should be regularly audited. Executive Order 13929 section 3 and section 5 have shown the support of transparency and have given the ability for states to request grant money and funding that will allow the creation of systems that supports transparency. With those funds we should also be creating jobs for individuals to audit records and reopen cases that may have racially charged undertones. If an officer has a history of acts of racism or suspicious activity then they should have to go through sensitivity training again. If it continues then they should not be able to keep the job. In fact, there should be more criminal charges for those acting against the people they are supposed to protect. Revisit unjust cases. Simple. You know what unjust looks like.

Officers have to be vetted more vigorously before being allowed to work for the people. They need to be tested and their backgrounds have to be thoroughly investigated. This means lie detector tests, extensive background checks, internet history checks, etc. If you were let go from one dept. or not hired for any reason related racial bias and violent behaviors or mannerisms you should not be eligible for hire. Please see Sec. 2. Certification and Credentialing of Executive Order 13929.

Use of force. As Trump’s EO has described as well as Senate Bill 217, there needs to be a bulleted list of 4-6 steps done prior to using deadly force. Senate Bill 217 changes that standard to require that officers face an imminent threat before they use deadly force, a change lawmakers hope will remove some of the subjectivity from the decision-making process. Officers should be prohibited from using deadly physical force to apprehend a “suspect” who is only suspected of committing minor or non-violent crimes. There needs to be a sufficient time of warning prior to use of deadly force as well. Senate Bill 217’s issue is that Officers are exempt from the requirement if the warnings would place themselves or others at risk of death or injury. The problem with that is that we have laws in place like Sec. 53a-22 of the 2011 Connecticut Code Title 53a Penal Code Chapter 951 Penal Code: Statutory Construction; Principles of Criminal Liability that make it possible for Officers to use deadly force immediately if they feel threatened. To amend laws like this we need a “Suspect flight-risk” law. 

Suspect flight risk Law. Excuse the terminology as flight risk is usually used to describe someone fleeing the country to avoid trial. In this case. This law is intended to protect a suspect as well as the officer. Through this law, an officer will not be able to use deadly force against a suspected fleeing party who may be armed unless there is an imminent threat of that person using the weapon as a part of their escape. That weapon must also be capable of killing and completely incapacitating who it is used on. For example, the instance with Rayshard Brooks running away with the taser in hand would not have called for his death. There were two officers and one taser was pointed at them. Taser related deaths are rare as only 500 have occurred in the last 19 years. If it incapacitated an officer but was not deadly then Rayshard Brooks should not have been killed as no one’s life was in danger but his own. 

Tighten up broken window policing.  It's led to the over policing of predominantly black neighborhoods and has damaged any semblance of a relationship between communities of color and the police. The statement is that broken window policing is supposed to stop crimes before they happen but in cities where Broken Windows has taken root, there’s little evidence that it’s worked as intended. Marijuana possession, consumption of alcohol on the street, and disturbing the peace are things that don't require extreme scrutiny. Stop and frisk needs to also needs to be looked at as we feel as though it can lead to over policing where it’s not needed. This goes hand in hand with how to deal with possible mental illness related issues. 

Mental Health Unit. Although, not directly tied to policing as a whole it is something I think we should be looking into as a way to get grant funds allotted from the attorney general. Mental health crises should not be excuses for heavy-handed police interventions and are best handled by mental health professionals. Just like the fire department and paramedic shows up, a team of mental health professionals should as well. Which should be a conversation held outside of this as we need to discuss the roadmap for the changes needed in Connecticut across the board. But, we need a Mental Health Unit. Sec 4 of Executive Order 13929 suggests that we train officers and better prepare them to deal with mental health in the community but it can’t stop there. The issue needs its own unit and should be taken just as serious as medical emergency and crime. You have less than 80 days to come up with a solution as per the executive order sec sec 4c. 

Implementation of Citizen's Review Boards in municipalities to hold police departments accountable and build public confidence. Much like juries are formed we should be forming boards of individuals from the communities to review a crime or an instance of crime that has resulted in the death or has seriously impacted the community in the same way we call people for jury duty. This is in addition to public visibility and transparency of police records. These review boards can be funded by sec 6 of Executive Order 13929 and need to hold a semblance of power granted by one of the branches of government, the judiciary.   

Instead of PAL officers should get their own insurance and rates should be impacted by what occurs. This will help cops police each other instead of staying silent.