Good News from the Nutmeg State

One of the contributors to law enforcement misconduct is the seemingly limitless ability for bad cops to move down the police food chain.

They get recruited, trained, and certified by larger police departments that have the resources to do this, and when they are fired for incompetence, brutality, or corruption, they move to smaller police departments that do not have the resources to train and certify their own officers.

There is legislation in Connecticut that would remove law enforcement certification from officers who have been forced to leave a department:

Connecticut lawmakers have introduced a bill that would block police departments from hiring officers who were previously fired for serious misconduct or who left another law enforcement agency while under investigation.

The legislation would address loopholes highlighted by a Hearst Connecticut Media Group investigation last year into police misconduct and punishment called “Policing the Police.”

“We are trying to make sure people are not getting a job of public trust when they should not have a job of public trust,” said state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague and co-chairwoman of the public safety committee.

The proposal would prohibit the state’s Police Officer Standards and Training Council, which grants licenses to officers statewide, from certifying an officer dismissed for “malfeasance” or who resigned or retired while under investigation for misconduct.

Last year’s Hearst Connecticut Media investigation found examples in which a police department fired an officer for serious offenses only to see that same officer hired by another department.

………

State Rep. Maria Horn, D-Salisbury and House co-chairwoman of the public safety committee, said the proposed bill closes loopholes in a sweeping Police Accountability Act passed in 2020. Horn said at least one local department found the prior legislation to be “ambiguous.”

“We are trying to close this door,” she said, noting the legislation has the backing of the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, which oversees the State Police.

What is meant by, "At least one local department found the prior legislation to be 'ambiguous'," is that, "At least one local department is refusing to obey the law because they found a way to completely misinterpret it to protect bad cops."

The fact is that police will obey accountability legislation only if there there is absolutely no bad faith way for them to ignore it.

Law enforcement is profoundly lawless.