by Christine Stuart CTNewsJunkie
An audit ordered by Gov. Ned Lamont of the Connecticut State Police ticket scandal found there wasn’t much of a scandal at all. In the majority of cases, it was more or less a failure to train troopers to enter the data correctly.
“There was no effort at all, no intentionality to try and skew the racial profiling analysis,” Lamont said at a noon press conference.
Last summer, the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project (CTRP3) estimated there were as many as 81 troopers falsifying traffic tickets and distorting the race of individuals. The new audit conducted by Attorney Deirdre Daly, found “no evidence that any Trooper or Constable engaged in conduct with the intention of skewing racial profiling data, or of concealing their own racial profiling.”
The new audit clears 74 troopers. The remaining were referred for an internal investigation by the Connecticut State Police.
“One active Trooper (currently assigned to desk duty) is confirmed to have intentionally entered verbal warnings as infractions to appear more productive to his supervisors and was previously found to have done so in 2018 by CSP Internal Affairs (“IA”),” according to the audit. “ In addition, we found that five other active Troopers and one active Constable may have falsified traffic stop data. We have referred all seven individuals to CSP for further investigation by IA.”
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Interim Commissioner Ronnell Higgins said six Connecticut state troopers and one constable were referred to Internal Affairs division for investigation.
“The fact that even one trooper has been referrred is troubling to me,” Higgins said.
The new audit also said “about 32 of the 49 retired Troopers flagged in CTRP3’s audit are unlikely to have intentionally falsified traffic stop data.”
However, since at least 14 others who were flagged are retired, Daly was unable to interview them. And while the Connecticut State Police cooperated with the investigation, the new audit found that the four troopers who did falsify records in order to “appear more active or ‘productive’ to their supervisors,” revealed broader inaccuracies in the reporting data, which was then passed along to CTRP3.
Daly’s audit does admonish the Connecticut State Police leadership from 2018 and 2019 for failing “to implement appropriate training and remedial measures to ensure that (i) Troopers understood and complied with their racial profiling reporting obligations, and (ii) accurate RPD was being reported to CTRP3.” And also for failing to “alert and collaborate with CTRP3 regarding the four Troopers’ falsified records or the potential broader problems with the accuracy of the RPD reported to CTRP3.”
The report says that Troopers are given “little or no training on how or when to enter the data.” It also says there’s no mechanism for the Connecticut State Police to internally audit the data before it’s shared with CTRP3.
CSP Union President Todd Fedigan and Executive Director Andrew Matthews. Credit: Doug Hardy / CTNewsJunkie
“We find that there is little reason to believe that the reconciled Flagged Troopers and Constables created fictitious traffic stops or otherwise engaged in intentional misconduct,” the report states.
It did conclude that there are issues with “CSP’s compliance with the reporting requirements of the Alvin Penn Law that must be addressed to ensure that the data provided to CTRP3 is accurate. CTRP3’s concerns regarding the reliability of the RPD submitted by CSP are legitimate, and are attributable in large part to CSP’s failures to adequately train and supervise Troopers in their entry of RPD.”
“We conclude that many of the Over-Reported Records identified in the CTRP3 Audit are the result of deficient data-entry practices, rather than intentional falsification of traffic stop data,” it states.
Ken Barone, who heads up the CTRP3 organization, said the audit underscores what his group found.
“Attorney Daly’s report confirms ‘the inaccuracies in the data are significant’ and outlines remedial measures that should be taken ‘to ensure the accuracy and reliability’ moving forward,” Barone said. “As we stated in our report, it was beyond our scope to determine whether unmatched records were intentionally falsified, a result of carelessness, or human error. We look forward to reviewing the report in greater detail at the next advisory board meeting and would welcome a briefing on the contents of the investigative report.”
Higgins declined to comment on Barone’s methology used in his report. He said the two have had a good working relationship and the new audit asked the Connecticut State Police to work closer with him.
Connecticut State Police Union Executive Director Andy Matthews says there are been 130 state troopers wrongly accused of something they didn’t do. He said any issues should have been raised much earlier than they were and if there was questioned about the data in Barone’s report then why did he rush to release it.
“It’s vindication, but it’s terrible we had to go through that,” Matthews added.
He said if there are any troopers on the job today intentionally falsifying information they wouldn’t even have to fire them, “we’d try to get them to resign.”
Rep. Craig Fishbein, R-Wallingford, said he has mixed emotions about the report.
“On one hand, the governor’s independent investigation provides some measure of closure for the 74 active State Troopers who were unfortunately accused of malfeasance. However, I remain troubled by the lack of scrutiny from senior command staff that led to these accusations, including a seeming abdication of their supervisory role when the issue was first raised in 2018,” Fishbein said. “I’m encouraged that this report will help restore the public’s trust of law enforcement in Connecticut.”