Although he already signed the bill into law in May, Gov. Ned Lamont joined police leaders and politicians in Waterbury on Tuesday to celebrate the enactment of the juvenile justice legislation.

“These updates to Connecticut’s criminal justice statutes make juvenile arrest and delinquency proceedings swifter with more information for courts to review, provide more intensive responses to the small number of juveniles with serious and repeated charges, and restructure motor vehicle theft laws to focus on people with prior offenses,” Lamont said in a statement. “This bipartisan legislation shows the good that comes when policymakers on both sides of the aisle seek common ground to develop solutions together. Connecticut is a safe state, and keeping it safe requires continuous policy improvements and investments in needed areas.”

Groton Town police Chief Louis Fusaro, along with other police personnel from throughout the state attended Tuesday’s event.

Following a political push by Republicans, which started over the summer last year, to make juvenile crime an issue this session, a compromise bill that partially represented some Democratic and Republican requests gained final passage in the Senate on May 4, the last day of session.

Many on the left criticized the bill for going too far in politically driven “tough on crime” measures criminalizing youth and for not getting at the root causes of such crime. Republicans acknowledged the bill did not get at root causes but was a step in the right direction.

“This has been a very, very difficult topic in the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus,” Geraldo Reyes, D-Waterbury, chairman of the caucus, said Tuesday. “I’d be lying to you if I told you that this was the consensus on the juvenile justice bill in the past.”

“That said, it is about the community and children,” he added. “I have many colleagues in my caucus who do not agree with this bill, but that is not where I stand.”

Lamont has referenced the law, which he signed in May, during the campaign season. In late June, he and Republican challenger Bob Stefanowski offered mostly dueling, though at times quite similar, perspectives on the state of public safety in Connecticut during a forum at Old Saybrook Point. The two candidates made their case for governor in front of more than 60 firefighters, paramedics and police officers. At the time, Lamont hailed the bill and its stricter provisions.

“These judges didn’t know whether (a case) was a first-time offender or a fifth-time offense, they know it now. They’re in the position to make sure we have the right way to get that, let’s say kid, back on the straight and true,” Lamont said at the time. “Maybe if it’s something more severe — some of the carjackings we saw — we’ve got the mandatory ankle bracelets.”

The law will increase the maximum time, from six hours to eight hours, that a juvenile can be held in lockup without a detention order from a judge. The legislation also addresses an issue Republicans have been raising for months, as it extends access to juvenile delinquency case records and proceedings to municipal agency employees and state and municipal law enforcement officials conducting investigations.

In addition, the bill requires young people who are arrested but not detained to go to court within five business days, allows police officers to access electronic records about juveniles under investigation, allows court-ordered GPS monitoring for young people charged with motor vehicle offenses multiple times and creates more serious penalties for motor vehicle thefts, among other provisions.

On Tuesday, Lamont said he was happy with how the legislature responded to “extreme,” “reckless” and “some criminal” behavior as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also championed other measures the legislature took to reduce juvenile crime, including funding for mental health and summer learning programs.

s.spinella@theday.com