\n\n<\/aside>\nAmong other elements, the bill would require GPS monitoring of youths arrested on violent crime charges while awaiting trial, make it easier for police to detain juvenile offenders, and automatically transfer cases involving certain violent crimes to adult court.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The legislation also calls for the state to scale back elements of the police accountability law passed in response to George Floyd\u2019s murder at the hands of a former Minneapolis police officer. That law included a provision which limited the situations when a police officer could use qualified immunity as a defense in a lawsuit. The Republican bill would restore that immunity except in cases where the officer demonstrated \u201cextreme indifference to human life.\u201d<\/p>\n
In October, Kelly told reporters the legislation had gone too far, making some officers wary of responding to dangerous situations.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<\/aside>\n\u201cWhat you want are police officers who are proactive in their approach to law enforcement and you want somebody that\u2019s not worried about losing everything they\u2019ve worked for and ending up with a lawsuit,\u201d Kelly said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Laws governing police and the issue of juvenile crime in Connecticut are sure to be among the issues stressed by Republican candidates during this year\u2019s election season. Republicans opposed the police accountability legislation in 2020 and began calling unsuccessfully for a special legislative session on juvenile crime last year.<\/p>\n
Democrats have resisted those calls, saying any increase in crime has been the result of disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and have been experienced across the country in red and blue states alike.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<\/aside>\nDuring a Tuesday Zoom call with reporters, Sen. Gary Winfield, a New Haven Democrat who co-chairs the legislature\u2019s Judiciary Committee, said the policies in the Republican proposal would get a fair hearing before the committee. But Winfield was wary of making broad changes to how young offenders are handled by police and the court system.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one thing we don\u2019t want to do in a policy discussion is scare people into making a decision they otherwise wouldn\u2019t make,\u201d Winfield said. \u201cWe saw that 20 years ago in this country \u2014 30 years ago now, with the crime bills we did in the 90s. That wasn\u2019t smart policy then and it\u2019s not smart policy now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winfield said there were elements of the Republican bill that Democrats were willing to have a conversation about. He pointed to proposals to have school guidance counselors discuss the benefits of trade schools with students and another element which would develop summer jobs programs for young people in high risk communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<\/aside>\nOn the other hand, Winfield said he was not inclined to make the Republicans\u2019 recommended modifications to the police accountability law.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cAt a certain point, the bill has become law, has been re-litigated and I don\u2019t think it should be re-litigated again this session,\u201d Winfield said. \u201cBut, if people want to do that, this bill will be up. People can come and say what they have to say. We should never foreclose that someone says something that changes a perspective you have. I don\u2019t see it as likely, but that\u2019s within the realm of possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n
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