U.S. Federal Probe into Alleged Fabrication of Traffic Stop Records by Connecticut Troopers

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Federal authorities are investigating claims that hundreds of Connecticut state troopers have falsely reported traffic violation details to a racial profiling committee. The data suggested an overrepresentation of white drivers in traffic stops, as stated by the leading prosecutor of the state.

Patrick Griffin, the Chief State’s Attorney, informed WTNH-TV that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has requested his office to halt their investigation, which was initiated by Governor Ned Lamont, as they conduct their own.

“I was in agreement with the decision,” Griffin mentioned in a recording for the “This Week in Connecticut” news program aired over the weekend. He expressed his confidence in the DOJ’s capabilities and resources for conducting the investigation and affirmed that it will be independent and comprehensive.

Griffin confirmed the news via a statement to The Big Big News on Friday.

Questions were raised by civil rights groups regarding the impartiality of Griffin’s office in conducting the investigation, given its regular interaction with state police for criminal cases.

Aside from the DOJ’s inquiry, an independent investigation commissioned by Lamont is currently overseen by Deirdre Daly, a former U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, now practicing privately.

Neither the Justice Department, the Connecticut U.S. attorney’s office, nor state police officials commented on the matter on Friday.

Adam Joseph, the governor’s communications director, confirmed they were not notified of any DOJ investigation, but he added, “We would welcome any law enforcement investigation in order to get to the bottom of this matter.”

In a June-released audit, The University of Connecticut’s data analysts expressed a high level of certainty that at least 300 out of the 1,300 evaluated troopers had falsified information about 26,000 to 58,500 traffic violations between 2014 and 2021. They suspected that these violations were never issued to drivers.

This purported false data was submitted to a statewide traffic stop database used for compiling reports on driver demographics under a 1999 anti-racial profiling law. The reports have revealed a racial bias in traffic stops favoring Black and Hispanic drivers.

The questionable data typically classified drivers as white rather than Black or Hispanic, thus distorting the data used for these reports, according to the audit. Civil rights groups have suggested that the actual disproportionate rates could be higher than indicated in the reports.

However, the analysts made clear they had not investigated whether the data was intentionally fabricated or inaccurately reported due to oversight or human error.

The auditors pointed out that these manipulated infractions were logged into the state police’s internal system but were never reported to the state court system, which is responsible for adjudicating all traffic violations issued statewide. This further strengthens the suspicion that the troopers falsely reported traffic stops and violations.

The audit was prompted by a report from Hearst Connecticut Media last year that revealed four state troopers from an eastern Connecticut barracks deliberately generated hundreds of counterfeit traffic stop tickets to inflate their productivity numbers. Following internal affairs investigations, one trooper received a 10-day suspension, another a two-day suspension, while the other two retired before the investigation concluded.

State lawmakers are also scrutinizing the dubious data. The state police have also received a subpoena regarding the traffic stop data from the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation. This subpoena is part of an investigation into whether falsified data was used to obtain federal funds, according to James Rovella, the state’s public safety commissioner.

While Rovella has expressed his outrage over the false-data allegations, the state police union has called for avoiding hasty conclusions about the claims.

The Connecticut branch of the American Civil Liberties Union welcomed the DOJ taking over the investigation and urged for the revocation of certification for all implicated state police troopers and supervisors, which would lead to their dismissal.

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More about Connecticut troopers investigation

• Connecticut State Troopers
• U.S. Department of Justice
• Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Transportation
• American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut
• The University of Connecticut
• Hearst Connecticut Media