HARTFORD, Conn — Gov. Ned Lamont has asked former U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly to review misconduct in regard to the Connecticut State Police records management system and the state’s traffic stop racial profiling database.
Daly, an attorney at Finn Dixon and Herling LLP, will conduct the investigation. She and her team will interview troopers, constables, and others who may have information. When the report is finished, the results will be made public.
“I have great faith in the overwhelming majority of our troopers, and to protect public confidence in them we must get to the bottom of this and learn how it happened, why it happened, and how to prevent it from ever happening again," Lamont said in a statement. "I am glad that someone with Deirdre Daly’s experience and credibility has agreed to undertake this important work.”
Connecticut State Police Col. Stavros Mellekas said in a statement that he has ordered all state troopers to cooperate with the investigation and "come forth with relevant information."
“The Connecticut State Police takes this matter very seriously and we have already instituted several reforms based on the recently released audit. We look forward to continuing that work. We welcome this investigation and will cooperate fully," he said.
Data analysts with the University of Connecticut said a recent audit by the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project found that state police troopers overreported at least 26,000 racial profiling records between 2014 and 2021 and underreported at least 16,000 records from 2015 and 2021.
This results in too many drivers being identified as white. Analysts cautioned, however, that they did not try to determine whether the records were intentionally falsified or were wrong due to carelessness or human error.
The audit found that the number of traffic infractions reported to the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project advisory board didn't match those reported to the state court system, which handles all traffic citations, according to analysts with the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy at the University of Connecticut.
The analysts “have a high level of confidence that at least 25,966 infraction records were falsified and submitted to the racial profiling systems,” the report said. The audit said the number of falsified infraction records could be as high as 58,553 if certain criteria were included. Analysts reviewed more than 800,000 infractions issues over the seven-year period.
“We are talking about ... a pattern of having records where you cannot find a corresponding record in the court system,” said Ken Barone, one of the UConn analysts. “If you claimed you stopped a car and issued a ticket, there should be a ticket.”
Lamont and the analysts noted that the number of discrepancies between state police data and court system data has decreased in recent years.
The governor's office said anyone wishing to contact Daly may do so confidentially by filling out the form online at fdh.com/confidentialform or calling 800-711-6348.
Doug Stewart is the Senior Digital Content Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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