OLR Report 2012-R-0375 summarizes the state's efforts to establish a statewide police officer response policy for officers to follow in all cases involving family violence or related protective order violations. The goal of the policy is to ensure that family violence laws are enforced evenhandedly throughout the state.
A 1986 state law requires the State Police and local police departments to develop and implement operational guidelines for making arrests for family violence offenses. These are offenses that, in addition to their other elements (1) victimize family or other household members and (2) involve actual or credible threats of physical harm. The statute specifies general areas the guidelines must cover, but individual police departments otherwise have discretion in designing and implementing them and departments are under no obligation to review or update them.
Although not required by law, the Police Officer Standards and Training Council (POST), which is responsible for training local police officers, developed a model family violence response policy in 1991 to train police officers and help departments draw up their guidelines. But departments do not have to adopt this model policy and not all have done so.
Concerned about the lack of uniformity in police responses to family violence incidents, the legislature in 2011 created a task force to evaluate existing policies and procedures and develop a model policy and implementation plan. In February 2012, the task force submitted its model policy along with recommendations for further study. The policy is based on POST's 2006 model policy and covers (1) model policy and dual arrests, (2) training and data collection, and (3) protective orders and bail bonds. (We have not included information on the protective order and bail bond recommendations, as those are directed at the Judicial Branch rather than law enforcement.)
The Judiciary Committee incorporated the task force policy into HB 5548, which passed unanimously in both chambers. It also established the Family Violence Model Policy Governing Council to review and update the policy as needed. The task force policy becomes law October 1, 2012, unless the council adopts one that supersedes it.
For more information, read the full report.
