POLICE CHIEF APPOINTMENTS

You asked if state law allows a town to appoint someone as a police chief if, at the time of his appointment, he is not employed or certified as a sworn police officer. If yes, you want to know if the law restricts his duties and powers. You also asked what waiver, if any, state law or the Police Officer Standards and Training Council allows.

This office is not authorized to give legal opinions and this report should not be construed as such. As I informed you on the telephone, this issue requires more investigation than I can complete in the short deadline you imposed. The report focuses on state law and regulations and not the Hartford Charter or ordinances. Thus, it should not be considered a comprehensive response to your inquiry.

Connecticut law does not appear to explicitly deal with whether a town may appoint as a police chief someone not currently certified or working as a police officer. We found no state court case that addresses the issue either.

State law defines a police officer for purposes of determining who is subject to the Police Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) authority and training and certification requirements (see below at POST AUTHORITY). Specifically, it defines a police officer as “a sworn member of an organized local police department, an appointed constable who performs criminal law enforcement duties, a special policeman . . . or any member of a law enforcement unit who performs police duties. ” It allows a person to be employed as a probationary police officer for up to one year without being certified by POST. And POST may extend the period (CGS §§ 7-294a & 7-294d(20)(b)). People who are not police officers may perform police functions but they cannot hold themselves out as police officers, and they must still be trained and certified by POST (CGS § 7-294d(e). The statutes do not appear to define explicitly the range of police functions such people may perform.

According to several police chiefs with whom we spoke, traditionally, local police chiefs were serving as police officers or had valid certifications when they were appointed. They suggested that the practice may be based on (1) the assumption that the chief’s position is a police officer rank and (2) practical considerations. The most practical consideration, according to these chiefs, is that departments expect police chiefs to function as police officers.

The law requires POST to certify police officer applicants who present evidence of satisfactory completion of a program or course of instruction in another state equivalent in content and quality to that required in Connecticut, and who pass an examination or evaluation required by POST (CGS § 7-2949(20)(b).

The law authorizes POST to develop objective and uniform criteria for granting any waiver to its regulations and procedures (CGS § 7-294d(a)(19)).

The law authorizes POST to establish uniform minimum education and training standards for employment as a police officer in a full-time, temporary or probationary, and part-time or voluntary position. It certifies those who have satisfactorily completed minimum basic training programs and requires certified officers to complete required review training to maintain certification (CGS § 7-294d).

The law specifically exempts from the council’s training and certification requirements (1) any state police training school or program, (2) state police officers, (3) Connecticut National Guard security personnel acting within the scope of their duties who have satisfactorily completed a program of police training conducted by the U. S. Army or Air Force, (4) Judicial Department employees, (5) municipal animal control officers, and (6) fire police (CGS § 7-294d(f)).

The law does not define the terms “police chief” or “chief of police. ” It defines “police officer” for purpose of those who are subject to the council’s training and certification requirements as “a sworn member of an organized local police department, an appointed constable who performs criminal law enforcement duties, a special policeman . . . or any member of a law enforcement unit who performs police duties” (CGS § 7-294a). By law, a person may not (1) be employed as a police officer by a law enforcement unit for more than one year unless he has been certified or granted an extension to complete training by the council or (2) serve as a police officer during any period when his certification has been cancelled or revoked (CGS § 7-294d(b).

The law defines a “law enforcement unit” as “any agency, organ, or department of this state or a subdivision or municipality thereof, whose primary functions include the enforcement of criminal or traffic laws, the preservation of public order, the protection of life and property, or the prevention, detection or investigation of crime” (CGS § 7-294a).

The law requires certified police officers to complete review training every three years. They lose their certification if (1) they do not do so, unless POST grants them a one-year extension, or (2) if they are not employed as police officers in Connecticut for more than two years, unless they are on a leave of absence (CGS § 7-294d(a) and (b)) & Conn. Agency Reg. § 7-294e-14). To be recertified, they must meet the council’s entry-level certification requirements and complete a council-approved police basic training program (Conn. Agency Reg. § 7-294e-2).

We cannot say, without more extensive research, what functions, if any, only police officers may perform because information on police functions is not outlined in the statutes in a way that makes it readily retrievable. But our research shows that other people beside police officers may perform police functions, which include a broad range of activities (see below at NON-POLICE OFFICERS WITH POLICE POWERS).

According to the attorney general, “criminal law enforcement duties,” “police duties,” and “police functions” encompass “one or more of the following activities: (1) enforcement of criminal or traffic laws, (2) preservation of public order, (3) the protection of life or property, and (4) the prevention, detection, or investigation of crime” (Op. Atty. Gen. No. 93-028). By law, a person who is not a police officer performs police functions if “in the course of his official duties, [he] carries a firearm and exercises arrest powers. . . or engages in the prevention, detention, or investigation of crime . . . ” (CGS § 7-294d(e)).

The law does not explicitly define the range of functions that a person who is not a police officer may perform. For example, it lists certain police functions that first selectmen in towns without a police department may perform, but we are unable to determine at this time whether these are the only police functions they may perform.

What is clear under the law is that a person who exercises police powers must be trained and certified by POST, whether a police officer or other official. According to the attorney general, the law outlining training and certification for police officers:

does not preclude others from exercising police functions but they would still need to be trained by the council and could not hold themselves out to be police officers. Thus, the council has the authority to formulate other appropriate training curricula for persons performing police functions as a prerequisite to their certification, depending on the statutory source of their appointment and the individual needs of their respective offices (Op. Atty. Gen. No. 93-028).

Hartford’s Charter states “all members of the [police] department shall have the same powers and duties with respect to the service of criminal process and enforcement of criminal laws as are vested in police officers by the General Statutes” (Hartford Municipal Charter, Ch. V111, § 4). In the time allowed, we were unable to research the issue of who is a member.

. . . to suppress. . . all tumults, riots and unlawful assemblies and to arrest without warrant, and to commit to the station house for any time not exceeding 24 hours, any person who behaves in a disorderly manner. . . He has all the powers given to sheriffs or other officers by the General Statutes. . . (Hartford Municipal Code § 29-5).

In general, an Attorney General Opinion addresses the question of who can exercise law enforcement powers under a local ordinance or charter provision. The attorney general said:

the question involve[s] legal issues regarding the organization of local governments which is a matter of local concern. . . Questions regarding whether a municipality has, in fact and as a matter of law, bestowed law enforcement powers upon its chief executive officer or designated its chief executive officer the “chief of police” should be addressed and answered by the municipality’s legal counsel (Op. Atty. Gen. No. 95-013).

State law grants police powers to various officials, including some commissioners and first selectmen in towns without police departments. Some are described below.

The law allows first selectmen to (1) issue permits for temporary state permit to carry guns in Connecticut, (2) approve applications to the state fire marshal for permits for supervised fireworks displays by town or other organizations, (3) consider organizations’ applications to operate bazaars and raffles, and (4) appoint municipal control officer to administer the laws relating to dogs (CGS §§ 29-28, 29-357(b), 7-173, and 22-331(b)).

The law gives the commissioner of motor vehicles and his deputies the same authority “to make arrests or issue citations for violation of any statute or regulation relating to motor vehicles and to enforce said statutes and regulations as policemen or state policemen have in their respective jurisdictions” (CGS § 14-8(a)).

By law, the consumer protection commissioner “is authorized and empowered to obtain and serve search warrants and arrest warrants; to seize contraband controlled substances; and to make arrests without warrants [for certain offenses] if the offense is committed in their presence or, in the case of a felony, they have probable cause to believe that the person so arrested has committed, or is committing, such offense” (CGS § 21a-261).

The commissioner of agriculture and animal control officers “may exercise the same authority to arrest any person and may issue a written complaint and summons in furtherance thereof for any violation of any law relating to dogs or to any domestic animal in the same manner as, police officers or constables may exercise in their respective jurisdictions” (CGS § 22-330).

By law, POST is authorized to develop objective and uniform criteria for granting waivers of its regulations or procedures (CGS § 7-294d(a)(19)).

“Lateral certification” means the certification of a currently certified police officer to a new position as police officer with a different law enforcement unit within the state (Conn. Agency Reg. 7-294e-1(a)). POST regulations allow a waiver of its mandatory entry-level training requirements in “unusual cases” involving people seeking lateral certification” (Conn. Agency Reg. § 7-294e-2).

“Comparative certification” means “a process by which a candidate for an original certification to a police officer position, who has served as a police officer in another state or in a law enforcement entity not subject to the statutes and regulations [of POST] may complete the requirements for police officer certification” (Conn. Agency Reg. § 7-294e-1(a)). The law requires POST to certify police officer applicants who (1) present evidence of satisfactory completion of a program or course of instruction in another state equivalent in content and quality to that required in Connecticut and (2) pass an examination or evaluation required by the council (CGS § 7-294e(20)(b).

The regulations require anyone applying for comparative certification as a police officer in Connecticut to meet all of the council’s entry-level requirements and complete a council–approved police basic training program, except when the last appointment to a similar position was:

2. interrupted by not more than two years’ absence from the law enforcement unit where last appointed.

Under the regulations, candidates for comparative or lateral certification to any position other than that of an entry level police officer position are not required to meet the following entry level standards: (1) pass a validated written test designed to evaluate predictors of job-related skills and behaviors and (2) be tested for physical fitness and achieve minimum scores set by POST (Conn. Agency Reg. §§ 7-294e-2; 7-294e-16(e)(n)).

PA 03-5, June 30 Special Session, exempted from recertification, any local police chief (1) who served as a police officer in Connecticut for at least 25 years, (2) who served as a deputy chief in Connecticut, and (3) whose certificate lapsed while he was serving as a police chief in a contiguous state between July 1, 1997 and April 1, 2000.

The legislative action was triggered by a situation in Groton. The original bill’s statement of purpose, which cannot be used to determine legislative intent, reads as follows:

To have the current police chief of the city of Groton certified by the Police Officer Standards and Training Council so that he may serve as a police officer. Although the current chief of police has served as a police officer for twenty-nine years in the state of Connecticut, to the rank of deputy chief [sic], has served as chief of police in the town of Westerly, Rhode Island from 1997 to 2000 and was hired as chief of police in the city of Groton in 2002 the council refused to certify him as a police officer and is requiring him to attend an entry level twenty-week basic training course. An officer of his age and experience does not require entry level training (HB 5665, attached).

As far as we have been able to determine, this is the only such exemption that the legislature has authorized.


June 15, 2004		2004-R-0500
POLICE CHIEF APPOINTMENTS

By: Veronica Rose, Principal Analyst