Reaction to Senate Passage of Policing Legislation, S.B. 1093

HARTFORD – The Connecticut Senate last night voted to approve a bill that would ban no-knock raids by police, create limitations on when police can issue an order to people, roll back protections against stop and frisk passed into law in 2020, and exclude people living with certain class D felony convictions and class A misdemeanor convictions from qualifying for Clean Slate protections included in a separate bill. S.B. 1093 now awaits action in the House, where it is expected to pass.

The following is a reaction from Claudine Fox, ACLU of Connecticut interim public policy and advocacy director:

“We support ending no-knock raids by police and creating limitations on police interactions with the public as pieces of police reform, and reform is not enough to end police violence or create real public safety, particularly for Black and brown people. Stop and frisk and excluding people with felony convictions from society are both part of the same racist legacy, and we oppose both. It is disappointing that the legislature has mixed two steps forward with two steps back. We continue to support the separate Clean Slate legislation and will continue to advocate for it to be as strong and inclusive as it can be, and we continue to believe that making real progress on public safety requires policymakers to reallocate money from policing to instead go to critical public services such as mental health and addiction services, public education, jobs, and infrastructure.”