HARTFORD — Governor Dannel P. Malloy announced this week the names of the members of the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission , an expert panel that will review current policy and make specific recommendations in the areas of public safety, with particular attention paid to school safety, mental health, and gun violence prevention.

“I’ve asked this group to join Chairman Scott Jackson so they can begin the task of taking a broad, systemic approach in crafting the recommendations that will lead to comprehensive legislative and policy changes that must occur following the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School,” Gov Malloy said in a statement.

“This includes ensuring that our mental health system can reach those that need its help, looking for ways to make sure our gun laws are as tight as they are reasonable, and making certain that our law enforcement has the tools it needs to protect public safety, particularly in our schools,” he said.

An initial report will be due to the governor by March 15, in time for consideration during the regular session of the General Assembly. The commission’s members are developing a meeting schedule, which will be announced.

The commission members are: Chairman Scott Jackson, who is the mayor of Hamden; Dr Adrienne Bentman, director of the adult psychiatry residency program at Hartford Hospital’s Institute of Living; Ron Chivinski, a teacher at Newtown Middle School; and Robert Ducibella of DVS Security Consulting and Engineering.

Also named to the panel are Terry Edelstein, the liaison to the governor for nonprofit agencies; Kathleen Flaherty, staff attorney for Statewide Legal Services of Connecticut, Inc; Dr Alice Forrester, executive director of the Clifford W. Beers Guidance Clinic, Inc; Dr Ezra Griffith, senior research scientist in psychiatry at Yale University; and Patricia Keavney-Maruca, a member of the state Board of Education.

Also named are Christopher Lyddy of Newtown, outgoing state representative for the 106th Assembly District; Norwalk Fire Chief Denis McCarthy; University of Connecticut Chief of Police Barbara O’Connor; and Wayne Sandford, a professor at the University of New Haven’s College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences.

Also appointed as commission members are Dr David Schonfeld, director of the National Center For School Crisis and Bereavement; Dr Harold Schwartz, chief psychiatrist at the Institute of Living; and Bernard Sullivan, who is a former Hartford police chief and a former commissioner of the state Department of Public Safety.

Mr Lyddy could not be reached by press time this week for comment on his appointment.