Chapter 043
2011 -- S 0331 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 06/06/11
A N A C T
RELATING TO
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE -- ARREST
Introduced By: Senators Jabour, McCaffrey, Lynch, Metts, and Nesselbush
Date Introduced: February 16, 2011
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter 12-7 of the General Laws entitled
"Arrest" is hereby amended by
adding thereto the
following section:
12-7-22.
Electronic recording of custodial interrogations task force.
-- (a) In order to:
(1) Minimize the
likelihood of a wrongful conviction caused by a false confession; and
(2) Further improve
the already high quality of criminal justice in our state, the general
assembly creates a taskforce to investigate and
develop policies and procedures for electronically
recording custodial interrogations in their entirety.
(b) The task force
shall be comprised of the following or their designees:
(1) Attorney general;
(2) Public defender;
(3) Superintendent of
the
(4) President of the
(5) Head of the
municipal police training academy;
(6) President of the
(7) President of the
(8) Public safety
commissioner of the city of
(9) Chief of police
of a department with less than forty-five (45) sworn officers and
which does not currently have an established policy
concerning the electronic recording of
custodial interrogations, to be agreed upon by the
task force;
(10) Chief of police
of a department (other than one separately designated herein) that
already has established a policy concerning the regular
electronic recording of custodial
interrogations to be agreed upon by the task force;
and
(11) Executive
director of the
(c) The attorney
general and public defender shall serve as co-chairpersons of the task
force and have the authority to call for and designate
the time and place of meetings. A majority of
members shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number
may hold meetings. The task force shall
act only on an affirmative vote of a majority of the
voting. All departments and agencies of the
state shall furnish such advice and information,
documentary and otherwise, to said task force and
its agents as is deemed necessary or desirable by the
task force to facilitate the purposes of this
section.
(d) The task force,
in consultation with whatever experts it may deem appropriate, shall
study and make recommendations concerning the establishment
of a statewide law enforcement
practice of electronically recording custodial
interrogations in their entirety. In so doing the task
force's consideration should include, but are not
limited to, the following:
(1) Models from other
federal and state jurisdictions;
(2) Current policies,
procedures, and practices of law enforcement statewide;
(3) Types of crimes,
investigations, and settings where custodial interrogations should be
electronically recorded;
(4) Whether custodial
interrogations should be electronically recorded using audio-visual
or strictly audio recording;
(5) Whether custodial
interrogations should be electronically recorded with or without the
knowledge of the suspect;
(6) Appropriate
procedures to be followed when the suspect refuses to be, or exigent
circumstances otherwise prevent, the electronic
recording of the custodial interrogation;
(7) How to most
effectively record interrogations in view of an individual police
department's fiscal, staffing, and space constraints;
(8) Appropriate policies
and procedures concerning the transcription of the electronic
recordings resulting from custodial interrogation;
(9) Appropriate
policies and procedures concerning the long-term preservation and
storage of the electronic recordings resulting from
custodial interrogation; and
(10) The desirability
of written policies, procedures, training, and/or additional legislation
regarding the electronic recording of custodial interrogations
in their entirety statewide.
(e) The task force shall
submit a report on its recommendations concerning the
investigation and development of policies and
procedures for electronically recording custodial
interrogations in their entirety. This report shall be presented to
the governor, the chief justice of
the
senate, and the chairpersons of the judiciary
committees of both the house of representatives and
the senate no later than February 1, 2012. The task force
shall terminate on the date that it
submits its report.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
=======
LC00482/SUB A
=======