Wilton Bulletin, June 2023
Governor Ned Lamont said an investigation was being launched after a damning new audit found there is a “high likelihood” hundreds of Connecticut State Police troopers collectively falsified tens of thousands traffic ticket records over much of the past decade. The findings, presented at a public meeting Wednesday, allege systemic violations of state law and that the misreporting skewed racial profiling data making it appear troopers ticketed more white drivers and fewer minority motorists than they really did.
Auditors cautioned their monthslong review – triggered by a Hearst Connecticut Media Group investigation that exposed how four troopers purposefully created fake tickets for their own personal gain – did not attempt to determine if the widespread problems were intentional. They said a formal investigation would need to determine that. “This report suggests a historical pattern and practice among some troopers and constables of submitting infraction records that were likely false or inaccurate,” said the 78-page audit released Wednesday by researchers on behalf of the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project, a state-funded group that analyzes police citations to determine racial profiling trends.
