Reimbursement for cost of police officer certification

(a) For purposes of this section, “police officer”, “certification” and “law enforcement unit” have the same meanings as provided in section 7-294a and “cost of certification” means the cost of training, equipment, uniforms, salary and fringe benefits and any cost related to the entry level requirements established by the Police Officer Standards and Training Council associated with the police officer, except that “cost of certification” does not include the cost of any equipment or uniforms that were returned by such officer. (b) Whenever a police officer obtains certification while employed by a law enforcement unit and is subsequently hired by another law enforcement unit on or after July 1, 2016, and within two years of such officer obtaining such certification, the law enforcement unit hiring the police officer shall reimburse the initial law enforcement unit fifty per cent of the total cost of certification. The provisions of this section shall not apply to a law enforcement unit that hires a police officer two years or more after such officer obtains certification. (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect an agreement between a police officer or a collective bargaining unit and a law enforcement unit entered into prior to July 1, 2016, that provides for the reimbursement of the cost of certification.