Lamont, state leaders pledge legal reforms
Connecticut lawmakers are likely to consider legislation this year to add criminal penalties for police officers who submit falsified data on traffic stops, following the release of a report Thursday that concluded “serious failures” led to a misreporting of racial profiling data for years by State Police.
The report found a series of issues, ranging from department leaders failing to act when knowing of problems to higherups not addressing signs of broader ticket-writing problems that were uncovered, according to the report compiled by Stamford-based law firm Finn Dixon and Herling. The report stated between 12 and 15 state troopers and constables will undergo further internal investigations and reviews by State Police.
“What I am saying is that we’re going to make a proposal to the legislature so there will be legal consequences if there’s evidence of intentional falsification,” Gov. Ned Lamont said during a Thursday news conference.
Right now there are rules making it a crime for forgery, but not specifically for law enforcement. It remains to be determined if he wants it to be a felony or misdemeanor.
The law firm review was prompted by an audit from the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project that found a “high likelihood” hundreds of troopers falsified data for tens of thousands of traffic tickets, skewing racial profiling data. The report examined whether 130 troopers intentionally falsified data. Of those, the law firm stated 106 troopers “are unlikely to have intentionally falsified traffic stop data.”
To prevent further errors, the report by the law firm recommended a series of corrective
measures by State Police, as well as action by lawmakers to ensure better oversight.
In addition to new criminal penalties, the report recommended legislation requiring Connecticut State Police to refer instances of serious misconduct to prosecutors and the Police Officers Training Academy, which has the ability to decertify officers.
To help prevent officers from mistakenly entering erroneous data, the report also recommended that the Department of Motor Vehicles begin coding data on race onto driver’s licenses, and that lawmakers approve new funding to help State Police hire additional auditors and implement other internal controls.
One of the leaders of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, state Rep. Steve Stafstrom, DBridgeport, called those recommendations “thoughtful” and worthy of further consideration.
“It certainly would be my intention to at least put those forward for a public hearing,” Stafstrom said Thursday. “They seem to make sense at first blush.”
The reporting into the ticketing scandal was released less than a week before lawmakers are set to begin a three-month legislative session on Feb. 7. House Speaker Matt Ritter, DHartford, said Thursday that he had yet to fully review the report’s findings, and could not comment on a any specific recommendations.
In the Senate, Judiciary Committee Co-Chair Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, said that he personally viewed the report’s recommendations as “worthy” of further debate, but added that he had yet to review those findings with his colleagues.
“There will certainly be discussions about that in the coming days,” he said.
Any attempt to use the report’s findings to enact new criminal punishments for police officers is likely to be met with opposition from Republicans, according to House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, who added his belief that the fallout from the initial allegations had been overblown.
“In what occupation do we arrest people that may have unintentionally falsified a document,” Candelora said. “I just don’t think this is the way to go, especially when so much of the report is revealing that this was human error.”
Following the release of an earlier audit last year that found a “high likelihood” that hundreds of state troopers had submitted false ticket data, Lamont replaced the two top officials overseeing State Police and its parent agency, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, saying “it’s time to have a fresh start.”
On Thursday, Stafstrom said that it will fall on the State Police’s chain of command — led by interim DESPP Commissioner Ronnell Higgins — to ensure that appropriate steps are taken to address the departmental shortcomings identified in the report.
“We can enact legislative policy changes, but oftentimes the culture change has to happen within the department itself,” Stafstrom said.