Monday, July 10, 2023

A suspicion that "hundreds of Connecticut State Police troopers" have faked traffic ticket records for years, possibly to hide the targeting of minority motorists

CT Insider:

Governor Ned Lamont said an investigation was being launched after a damning new audit found there is a “high likelihood” hundreds of Connecticut State Police troopers collectively falsified tens of thousands traffic ticket records over much of the past decade.

The findings, presented at a public meeting Wednesday, allege systemic violations of state law and that the misreporting skewed racial profiling data making it appear troopers ticketed more white drivers and fewer minority motorists than they really did.

...

The report found there was a “high likelihood” at least 25,966 tickets were falsified between 2014 and 2021. Another 32,587 records over those years showed significant inaccuracies and auditors believe many of those are likely to be false as well.

AP:

“There’s no indication that was purposeful,” [Governor Lamont] said at an unrelated news conference Wednesday. “A lot of it may have been inadvertent.” 

The audit was triggered by the discovery four troopers had faked records over several months to make themselves look more productive.