Several Republican lawmakers questioned why police departments will be required to diversify their force, calling the measure "reverse discrimination."
The Connecticut General Assembly returned to Hartford for a special session Monday, and while the state Senate spent the afternoon deliberating the two budget bills, the House of Representatives took up the "excessive force bill."
The measure is a response to recent incidents in Ferguson, Missouri, Baltimore, and Charleston, South Carolina, where unarmed black men were killed by police officers.
"These incidents are a reminder to all of us, and a stern warning that we had better do something about this growing fracture [between the community and police], and that is what this bill does," said Democratic State Representative William Tong, who supported the bill. The bill was a major priority for the general assembly's Black and Puerto Rican caucus.
The bill calls on police departments to develop and implement guidelines for recruiting minority officers, and to assign more minority officers to work in predominantly minority communities.
It also requires the state Division of Criminal Justice to launch an investigation when a police officer uses deadly force during an arrest. Local police departments would be required to keep a detailed record of every instance in which a police officer uses physical force in an arrest, or discharges his weapon. The bill would also require every police officer in the state to wear a body camera.
The legislation passed unanimously in the Senate during the regular session, but had a tougher time in the House during Monday's special session. Several Republican lawmakers questioned why police departments will be required to diversify their force, calling the measure "reverse discrimination."
"We shouldn't just blatantly say 'because you are white you can't get hired,' they are going to hire everyone else. That doesn't make sense to me," said Republican State Representative Dan Carter.
After several hours of discussion, the measure passed on a 108 to 37 vote.
