Connecticut State Police leaders testified before state lawmakers on Wednesday to answer questions related to an audit that found troopers may have falisified thousands of traffic tickets, skewing the state’s racial profiling data.
University of Connecticut data analysts said the traffic stop reports resulted in too many drivers being identified as white.
State Sen. Herron Gaston, D-Bridgeport, who co-chairs the General Assembly’s Public Safety Committee, said officers who falsify records could be dishonest in other situations.
“We often rely on the testimony of officers in our judicial system to help defendants be prosecuted who break our laws," Gaston said. "If officers are intentionally fabricating traffic records, would they have the propensity to fabricate testimony?”
Gaston asked if this could possibly jeopardize convictions.
Also during the hearing, Public Safety Commissioner James Rovella said any troopers found to have intentionally falsified records should be terminated and never work in law enforcement again.
The agency will likely face multiple federal investigations into the ticketing scandal, Rovella said, and confirmed his agency is already complying with a related subpoena issued by the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Transportation. A state probe was also ordered by Gov. Ned Lamont, headed by former Connecticut U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly. Rovella says the department will fully cooperate.
“We will dig into those names, exonerate those who are falsely alleged, but pursue those that are falsifying these documents,” Rovella said. “We are looking at approximately 130 troopers.”
About half of the troopers being investigated have retired, according to Rovella.
In past years, some troopers issued more tickets in hopes of getting better patrol vehicles, but Rovella told lawmakers that practice ended several years ago. Nowadays, he said, troopers are not told to issue a certain number of tickets in a day.
Rovella said no motorists received any fake tickets, after a recent audit found hundreds of state troopers provided false information from 2014 to 2021 on at least 26,000 traffic stops.
This story contains reporting by Chris Polansky, Matt Dwyer, and The Associated Press. This is a developing story and will be updated.
