Connecticut is a work in progress when it comes to police transparency and accountability, and members of the public are invited to contribute to the discussion during upcoming virtual listening sessions.

The Police Accountability and Transparency Task Force, created during the 2019 legislative session and charged with additional duties during the July 2020 special session, has scheduled Zoom listening sessions for every Thursday during the month of September. Sessions will be held at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sept. 3, 10, 17 and 24.

Participants are asked to register online at bit.ly/ptatfsignup to speak for up to three minutes. The task force also is accepting written testimony at PTATFTestimony@cga.ct.gov.

Members of the public can discuss any aspect of policing, including their own experiences, during the listening sessions, and will have additional opportunities to help shape the task force's recommendations to the General Assembly and Gov. Ned Lamont over the next several months.  

Using the recommendations of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing as a starting point, along with the Police Accountability Act passed in July during a special session of the General Assembly, the task force is charged with recommending, by Jan. 1, 2021, strategies on twelve topics.

The topics range from police officer interactions with those who are mentally or physically disabled; information provided during traffic stops; strategies to recruit, retain and promote minority and female police officers; the feasibility of requiring individual officers and municipalities to carry liability insurance; revision of traffic laws; execution of warrants; the process by which bondsmen arrest those who have failed to appear in court; whether decertification of police by the Police Officer Standards and Training Council should be mandatory or discretionary, and any other transparency and accountability issues deemed appropriate.

Tamara Lanier of Norwich, vice president of the New London branch of the NAACP and a member of the task force's Public Awareness Committee, said it's important to engage Connecticut residents, since the task force of 13 is "heavy on the law enforcement side."

The co-chair, Darryl McGraw, is a civilian and Black man who has firsthand experience with the criminal justice system, but six of the voting members are from the law enforcement community. They are John Szewczyk, a retired Hartford police sergeant; Milford police Chief Keith Mello, who is also vice president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association; Maggie Silva, deputy chief of the UConn police; retired New Haven police Sgt. Shafiq Abdussabur; Norwalk police Chief Thomas Kulhawik and Wallingford police Chief William Wright.

The two nonvoting members are Public Safety Commissioner James Rovella and Chief State's Attorney Richard Colangelo.

Other voting members include Marc Pelka, undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning from the state Office of Policy and Management; Jonathan Slifka, executive assistant for the Aging and Disability Services Commission; state Rep. Joshua Hall, D-Hartford, and Rev. Steven Cousin of the Bethel AME Church of New Haven.

Participation in the listening sessions is open to anyone, including of the law enforcement community, Lanier said by phone Tuesday. She said police reform remains an emotional, raw topic for many.

"I suspect we'll have professionals who have their own personal interest in this legislation and being heard, but also people who are angry and just want to vent," she said.

Andrew Clark, director of the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy at Central Connecticut State University, said the task force will be gathering information from throughout the country and talking to insurance specialists and others as it prepares its recommendations.

"We're going to leave no stone unturned in coming back with the best available information to the legislature," he said.

k.florin@theday.com