When police officers kill a suspect, should they face criminal charges? Now that decision is up to a new state Inspector General.

Robert Devlin is a retired judge from Norwalk. He's promising to give everyone, victims' families and police officers, a fair investigation.

"All I can say is, I don't feel any particular allegiance one way or the other. I've been independent of police work for 25 years," said Devlin.

Devlin's critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, say he's too close to police.

Until now, state prosecutors decided whether to charge officers for deadly encounters. But after George Floyd's murder last year, Connecticut lawmakers created this new Inspector General role.

Devlin's office now has sole authority to prosecute officers for use-of-force.

"I think police can take solace in that an independent agency really looked at this carefully and came to the conclusion that they acted properly. So I don't think police officers have anything to worry about, as long as they follow the law," said Devlin.

In the past two decades, Connecticut has seen 81 police-involved deaths. Only two of those officers were charged.

Devlin will have up to eight staffers of his own to investigate the cases.

The full interview with Devlin will be airing this weekend on "Connecticut Power & Politics."