Chapter 059
2012 -- S 2487
Enacted 05/08/12
A N A C T
RELATING TO
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE - ARREST
Introduced By: Senators McCaffrey, and Lynch
Date Introduced: February 16, 2012
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 12-7-22 of the General Laws in Chapter
12-7 entitled "Arrest" is
hereby amended to read as follows:
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
those 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 shall consider, but not be 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. Thereafter,
the task force shall meet periodically in order to assess the impact of the
recommendations it has made; conduct further research in the area of
the electronic recording of
custodial interrogations; assess the implementation of written
policies in these areas by Rhode
Island law enforcement agencies; and determine whether
or not any additional legislation
regarding the electronic recording of custodial interrogations
in their entirety statewide is
required. Said meetings shall be called by agreement of the
attorney general and public defender.
A supplemental report from the task force shall be
delivered in the same manner as its initial
report and not later than December 31, 2013.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC00744
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