DOJ takes over Connecticut state trooper false data scandal

The U.S. Department of Justice is taking control of an investigation into allegations that hundreds of Connecticut state troopers may have provided false information on thousands of traffic infractions to a racial profiling board.

This misleading data made it seem as if cops were stopping many more white drivers compared to other racial groups.

Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin confirmed that the DOJ requested his office to suspend its investigation, initiated by Gov. Ned Lamont, as the feds conduct an independent probe, according to reports.

“I agreed with that decision,” Griffin said in a taping for WTNH’s weekend news show “This Week in Connecticut.” He said DOJ has “the tools and resources necessary to conduct this investigation,” and expects it to be thorough and independent.

“If people need to be held accountable, either in federal court or in state court, we’ll do that,” Griffin told the station.

Civil rights groups had been concerned about the impartiality of the investigation being conducted by Griffin’s office, which helps state police on criminal cases.

In addition to the Justice Department inquiry, an independent investigation ordered by Lamont is already underway, under the aegis of former Connecticut U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly.

In a June audit, analysts with The University of Connecticut said they had a “high degree of confidence” that more than 300 of 1,300 troopers reviewed submitted false and inaccurate information on at least 26,000 — and as many as 58,500 — traffic stop infractions between 2014 and 2021. The researchers don’t think the infractions were ever given to drivers.

The alleged false information was submitted to a statewide police traffic stops database, which the analysts use to prepare reports on the race and ethnicity of drivers stopped by all Connecticut police agencies under a 1999 law aimed at preventing racial profiling. Those reports have shown that police statewide have been pulling over Black and Hispanic drivers at disproportionate rates.

The misleading data made it seem as if cops were stopping many more white drivers compared to black or Hispanic drivers, skewing the data used for the reports, the audit said.

The auditors said the falsified infractions were submitted to the state police’s internal system but not entered into the state court system, which adjudicates all traffic infractions issued statewide — indicating the possibility that troopers reported stops that never happened and infractions never issued.

The audit was initiated following a Hearst Connecticut Media report last year, which revealed that four state troopers in an eastern Connecticut barracks deliberately created hundreds of fake traffic stop tickets to improve their productivity numbers. Internal affairs investigations resulted in one trooper being suspended for 10 days, another for two days, and the remaining two retiring before the probe’s completion.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut said the DOJ takeover was welcome. It called for the decertification of all state police troopers and supervisors involved in submitting false information, which would cause them to lose their jobs.