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The Connecticut Police Transparency and Accountability Task Force held four Listening Sessions in February/March of 2021. The Task Force had determined that the voices of youth were missing from the previous Listening Sessions held in September 2020, and November 2020. As a result, four Listening Sessions were conducted with youth and young adults, ranging in age from 12 to 25 years old. The Task Force collaborated with four local advocacy organizations, which operated as cohosts for the sessions. These organizations included: The NAACP Youth & College Division, CT Kids as Self Advocates (KASA) and The Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparity, The Connecticut Justice Alliance (CTJA), and the University of Connecticut (UConn). The sessions were held, in order of the above mentioned cohosting units, on February 2nd, February 9th, February 16th, and March 3rd. On behalf of the Governor, legislative leaders, and the Attorney General, the passage of Public Act 20-1 made modifications to the Task Force. One of these modifications was the remaining charge of the Task Force to form recommendations on “any other police transparency and accountability issue that they deemed appropriate.” This wide-open charge allowed for a broad public input into the process of the Task Force, and allowed for the conception of the listening sessions. The Task Force hosted the Listening Sessions with the goal of gathering public input around special topics to focus on. Each participant was given a set amount of time to discuss testimonies, which then was followed by a brief Q&A by the Task Force panelists. Some of the Youth Listening sessions also opted for a round table format with guiding questions, which the Task Force panelists were also allowed to listen, and weigh in on. Due to COVID-19 and social distancing measures, all Listening Sessions were conducted virtually on the Zoom platform, generously provided by the University of New Haven. This report provides a summarization of the thematic recommendations that were identified from the Listening Sessions’ data. These findings are organized by 3 sections: • Issues on Youth Interaction with Police Officers • Issues on SROs / SRO Interaction with youth • Issues on Race and Disability Regarding Youth and Police Officers These findings will conclude with clear recommendations presented by participants, and lastly, a discussion on key findings and concluding remarks.
