Report: Connecticut troopers may have falsified traffic stops for racial profiling board

June 28 (UPI) -- A new report claims Connecticut state troopers may have falsified thousands of traffic stops to show fewer infractions for Black and Hispanic drivers, and more for White drivers.

The internal audit by the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project shows nearly 26,000 uncorroborated reports were submitted to the state's racial profiling database between 2014 and 2021.

Researchers said any falsified data impacts the ability to analyze information and could downplay racial disparities in traffic stops. While the report found thousands of uncorroborated traffic stops, researchers said a formal investigation would be required to determine actual wrongdoing.

"Identifying statistically significant discrepancies can be evidence of wrongdoing but a formal investigation would need to confirm that, and that is beyond the scope of our audit," the report says.

"When we identify records as 'false' it is because they fail to meet any of the thresholds we established to try and link them to a real ... record, no matter how tenuous that linkage might have been."

The report comes less than a year after an internal affairs investigation found four state troopers allegedly produced hundreds of fake stops for the Connecticut State Police NEXGEN system to get promotions and pay increases.

According to the Alvin W. Penn Racial Profiling Act passed in 1999, police are required to record and submit traffic stop data including the race, ethnicity and gender of the person stopped, the reason for a search and whether the stop resulted in an arrest.

The investigation into the four troopers was expanded to more officers as thousands of additional discrepancies were identified. Connecticut state troopers have responded saying any false data was not intentional and likely due to technology or training issues.

While no Connecticut resident received a fake ticket, the report claims officers made up traffic stops, which did not happen to skew the demographic information in the profiling system.

Connecticut State Police issued a statement and vowed to work alongside the Racial Profiling Prohibition Project Advisory Board to reduce future discrepancies.

"The State Police are deeply committed to ensuring the integrity of Connecticut's racial profiling data and to maintaining public confidence in the essential public safety services our troopers provide each day."

Claudine Constant, who is the public policy and advocacy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, called the audit's findings a "breathtaking disrespect" for the state's racial profiling prohibition law.

"Police cannot police themselves," Constant said in a statement. "We urge swift and transparent accountability for all individual Connecticut State Police employees who falsified traffic stop records."