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50 Founders Plaza
East Hartford, CT 06108
50 Founders Plaza
East Hartford, CT 06108
To address ongoing concerns about racial profiling and other forms of police misconduct, the state of Connecticut requires police officers to report their activities and provide detailed information about citations and arrests. However, some recent findings by state auditors have uncovered a troubling trend in which police officers have falsified information for their own gain, leading to skewed data that may hide misconduct. While these findings were related to traffic tickets, the actions taken by police officers are likely to affect a wide variety of criminal cases.
In 2018, the Connecticut State Police discovered that four troopers had falsified information about hundreds of traffic tickets. They had entered information about these fake tickets in police databases in order to make it look as if they were more productive and to gain favors from their superiors. In response to these findings, the state conducted an audit of traffic ticket and racial profiling databases detailing information about tickets issued between 2014 and 2021. It found a troubling trend in which tens of thousands of tickets were likely falsified during this time.
The audit, which was performed by researchers with the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project, compared a database that police officers use to track their activities with a state database that records citations issued in state courts. Based on mismatches between these two databases, the auditors determined that there were more than 25,000 tickets that were highly likely to have been falsified. Records related to an additional 32,000 tickets contained inaccuracies that indicated that they may have been falsified as well. The auditors noted that these are very conservative estimates, and there could be many more fake tickets reported by police officers.
These false reports have affected the data about racial profiling by state police officers in Connecticut. The auditors found that when police officers created falsified tickets, they were more likely to report that the tickets had been issued to white drivers. The audit also found that around 16,000 tickets that had been issued were never reported, and these tickets were more likely to be issued to Hispanic drivers.
Previous analyses of traffic ticket data had found racial disparities in the number of traffic stops performed, tickets issued, and searches conducted by police officers. Police were more likely to stop Hispanic drivers during the daytime, and they were more likely to search the vehicles of Black and Hispanic drivers. Based on the falsification of tickets by police officers, it is likely that instances of racial profiling are even more prevalent than had previously been reported.
The falsification of traffic tickets may not have directly affected citizens of Connecticut, since no actual tickets were issued when police officers entered information into databases. However, these findings demonstrate how often police officers are willing to lie or report false information, and they also indicate that racial profiling continues to be a serious issue that affects many people.
At Woolf Law Firm, LLC, our Connecticut criminal defense attorney works to protect the rights of people who have been affected by police misconduct. We can help uncover falsified evidence, violations of Constitutional rights, or other issues that may affect a criminal case, ensuring that defendants will be treated fairly at all times. To learn how we can help defend against criminal charges, contact us at 860-290-8690 and set up a free consultation.
Sources:
https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/ct-state-police-troopers-false-tickets-18162917.php
https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/CT-troopers-fabricated-tickets-17393339.php
50 Founders Plaza
