Committee
unanimously approves two bills recommended by Correctional
Staff Safety Taskforce
Senator John A. Kissel (R-Enfield)
announced today that HB 6684, An Act Establishing A
Correctional Staff Health and Safety Subcommittee of
the Criminal Justice Policy Advisory Commission and
HB 6685, An Act Concerning the Reporting of Inmate Population
Density and Correctional Facility Specific Data were
unanimously voted out of the Judiciary Committee this
afternoon. Following the meeting, Sen. Kissel
said “The violence that took place at
Northern last week only highlighted the need for us
to take a more proactive approach in dealing with the
health and safety of our COs and inmates. The recommendations
contained in these two bills give us many of the additional
tools we need to address prison safety concerns”.
If passed into law, HB 6685 would
create a subcommittee of the Criminal Justice Policy
Advisory Commission to review the policies and procedures
of the Department of Corrections with respect to staff
health and safety and HB 6685 would
strengthen the current DOC inmate population reporting
system. Both pieces of legislation were recommendations
of the Prison Population and Correctional Staff Safety
Taskforce, chaired by Rep. Karen Jarmoc and made up
of Sen. Kissel, Correction Officers, Todd Sokolowski,
Kevin Brace, Bret Owen, Moe Padilla, Rep. Kathy Tallarita,
Rep. Penny Bacchiochi, Sen. Tony Guglielmo, Sen. Andrea
Stillman and DOC District Administrator, Wayne Choinski.
“Rep. Jarmoc in particular and everyone on the
taskforce as a whole did a great job bringing these
recommendations together and I am happy that the Judiciary
Committee has recognized the importance of this legislation
and unanimously voted it out of committee,” said
Sen. Kissel. “It’s particularly
important to note, that many of the members of this
task force were COs who work on the front lines every
day and their voices in this process have been invaluable”.
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