BRISTOL, Conn. — It’s been just five days since the tragedy in Bristol, and already, we’ve seen body camera video, a report by the Office of the Inspector General, and cause of death information from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. So what has contributed to this expedited flow of information?
The answer is the police accountability bill. Signed into law in 2020, it was controversial, but one of the many things it did was lay out a structure and a process for how police-involved shootings are investigated.
We are seeing the practical application of part of that law play out in real-time with the ambush killings of two Bristol Police officers.
“At the end of the day it’s important for citizens and the public at large to see this kind of stuff,” said Mike Lawlor, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven.
With regard to police-involved shootings, it does three things. It requires body camera video to be released within four days of the incident. It creates the Office of the Inspector General and it requires them to issue an expedited preliminary report. The law also has safeguards that would limit the release of certain body camera footage. For example, footage that depicts a murder.
This timely and transparent flow of information is meant to cut down on rumor and speculation.
“Sometimes people are going to jump to conclusions one way or the other and usually these videos help people understand what really happened,” said Lawlor.
Prior to this law police-involved shooting investigations were backlogged, sometimes for years, and were handled by the state's attorney's office from a judicial district other than where the incident occurred.
“The thought with the inspector general is they provide a level of independence and public confidence that the investigation is being done by someone who doesn’t work with those same police officers on a day-in and day-out basis,” explained State Rep. Steve Stafstrom, A Democrat and the Chair of the Judiciary Committee. He was one of the key architects of the law.
“We have continued to see increased transparency and increased public access to the operations of our police departments,” he said.
Mike Lawlor adds that early information can sometimes have unintended consequences.
“If there is an ongoing investigation you run the risk of potentially jeopardizing that investigation by putting too much information out there,” he said.
Lawlor explained how in this case, where the police use of deadly force was justified, it can help both law enforcement agencies and the officers involved.
“Oftentimes when officers are involved in a shooting like this they are placed on administrative leave for a period of time until investigators get to the bottom of what happened so for the benefit of this hero officer it’s good that he is in effect exonerated virtually immediately,” he said.
This section of the hotly contested and much larger police accountability bill essentially is meant to catch state law up to the advancements in technology.
Nowadays, there are surveillance cameras almost everywhere and it’s easy to become your own investigator by searching on Google and social media. That can often lead to wrong or misleading information.
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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