| State Senator John A. Kissel, R-Enfield,
today said that in light of the horrific home invasion that
occurred in Cheshire this week, the state of Connecticut needs
to reassess the penalties for people convicted of burglary.
Senator Kissel, who serves as Ranking Member of the legislature’s
Judiciary Committee as well as Chairman of the Connecticut
Sentencing Task Force’s Subcommittee on Racial and Ethnic
Disparity, said that current law considers the act of burglary
to be a “non-violent” crime and that a change
in the law to create minimum or non-suspendable sentences
would create tougher sanctions. “People
should feel safe in their homes,” said Sen. Kissel.
“Your home is your castle, it’s a place where
you should feel secure. To have that security violated is
in my estimation a violent threat and I think we need to
address that as soon as possible.”
Sen. Kissel said that under current law
burglary is classified as a class B, C or D felony, which
includes a sentence of from one to several years, but does
not in most instances require mandatory prison sentences.
Sen. Kissel said that the law should be changed to require
that some portion of the sentence in all burglary matters
is not suspendable. In addition, Sen. Kissel believes that
burglary should also be categorized as a violent crime and
repeat offenders should clearly fall under the harsher penalties
afforded to persistent violent felons.
“When someone breaks into a home
in the middle of the night there’s a very good chance
that the residents of the home are in the house. The perpetrators
know this and that is why I think when these offenders are
sentenced they should receive a tougher sentence. They have
clearly violated a person’s sense of security in their
home.”
“The number one responsibility
of state government is to protect the public’s safety
and well-being. We need to be sure that we do everything
possible to prevent something like this from ever happening
again.” said Sen. Kissel.
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