Bill > SB217

Introduced Session

The bill requires all local law enforcement agencies to issue body-worn cameras to their officers and requires all recordings of an incident be released to the public within 14 days after the incident. Peace officers shall wear and activate a body-worn camera at any time when interacting with the public. The bill requires the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety to create an annual report of the information that is reported to the attorney general, aggregated and broken down by state or local agency that employs peace officers, along with the underlying data. Each state and local agency that employs peace officers shall report to the attorney general: All use of force by its officers that results in death or serious bodily injury; All instances when an officer resigned while under investigation for violating department policy; All data relating to stops conducted by its peace officers; and All data related to the use of an unannounced entry by a peace officer. The division of criminal justice shall maintain a statewide database with data collected in a searchable format and publish the database on its website. Any state and local law enforcement agency that fails to meet its reporting requirements is subject to suspension of its funding by its appropriating authority. If any peace officer is convicted of or pleads guilty or nolo contendere to any inappropriate use of physical force or a crime involving the unlawful use or threatened use of physical force, or for failing to intervene to prevent inappropriate use of physical force, the peace officer's employing agency shall immediately terminate the peace officer's employment and the P.O.S.T. board shall permanently revoke the peace officer's certification. The P.O.S.T. board shall not, under any circumstances, reinstate the peace officer's certification or grant new certification to the peace officer. The bill allows a person who has a constitutional right secured by the bill of rights of the Colorado constitution that is infringed upon by a peace officer to bring a civil action for the violation. A plaintiff who prevails in the lawsuit is entitled to reasonable attorney fees, and a defendant in an individual suit is entitled to reasonable attorney fees for defending any frivolous claims. Qualified immunity and a defendant's good faith but erroneous belief in the lawfulness of his or her conduct are not defenses to the civil action. The bill requires a political subdivision of the state to indemnify its employees for such a claim. The bill allows a peace officer or detention facility guard to use deadly physical force only when necessary to effect an arrest or prevent escape from custody when the person is using a deadly weapon or likely to imminently cause danger to life or serious bodily injury. The bill repeals a peace officer's authority to use a chokehold. The bill requires the P.O.S.T. board to create and maintain a database containing information related to a peace officer's: Untruthfulness; Repeated failure to follow P.O.S.T. board training requirements; Decertification; and ! Termination for cause. The bill allows the P.O.S.T. board to revoke peace officer certification for a peace officer who has failed to complete required peace officer training. The bill requires a peace officer to have an objective justification for making a stop. After making a stop, a peace officer shall report to the peace officer's employing agency that information that the agency is required to report to the attorney general's office. The bill requires the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety to conduct, in coordination with the P.O.S.T. board, a post-investigation evaluation of all officer-involved deaths to determine and propose improvements and alterations to training of peace officers to guide future officer behavior.

Committee Categories

Rhonda Fields (D)*,  Leroy Garcia (D)*,  Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez (D)*,  Leslie Herod (D)*, 

Governor Signed (on 06/19/2020)

Official Document