CONNECTICUT, USA — The Connecticut State Police scandal into erroneous traffic tickets could have far-reaching consequences beyond just racial profiling data. These investigations could impact the state judicial system.
“If they are lying about the little things, what’s to stop them from lying about the big things?” asked Atty. James Ruane. Ruane is known as 'Mr. Speeding Ticket'.
He’s seen far too often how a simple traffic stop can turn criminal with a vehicle search or breathalyzer test.
“Now, if you have a police officer on the stand who has a tendency to make things up about the race of drivers that they may or may not have pulled over, I can get into that and say wait a minute you were part of this. Maybe you aren’t necessarily telling the truth. At least it gives me something to go on," said Ruane.
Officials said no one received a false traffic ticket. While that may be true, the Supreme Court ruled in Brady v. Maryland that prosecutors must turn over any evidence to the defense that could exonerate a suspect. It’s a process called evidence discovery.
That could call a trooper’s blemished record into question. However, so far, no list of the potentially 311 alleged offending troopers has been made public. The state police union cited a presumption of innocence. Ruane calls it hypocrisy.
“When my client gets arrested. Their names are made publicly known. They are usually put out with a mug shot. There’s definitely a police report or press release about them. And guess what, some of my clients are innocent,” explained Ruane.
The potential impact of the state police ticketing scandal on court cases comes at a time when the state judicial system is already limping through a backlog of cases delayed by COVID-19.
“They simply do not have enough judges, courtrooms and prosecutors to give all of our clients their day in court,” said Ruane.
The state police union, who has taken aim at everyone from their leaders, to politicians and the media has suggested that a lack of vehicle computer terminals may be to blame for some data discrepancies.
“So they call into the dispatcher. Isn’t it their job to confirm that the reports they make are correct? I mean isn’t that what we pay them for,” said Ruane.
The Racial Profiling Prohibition Project who first uncovered the data discrepancies says as many as 26,000 tickets may have been over-reported. So far only four troopers were disciplined for wrongdoing while more than a dozen others have already been exonerated.
Five agencies are right now conducting full investigations including the federal DOJ.
“The state police are patrolling our nation's highways, some of which are federally funded. Consequently, that’s the federal tie in here,” explained Kenneth Gray, a professor at the University of New Haven and a former FBI Special Agent.
The investigations will look into nearly 26,000 allegedly over-reported traffic tickets.
“This may be bigger than just the state police,” said Gray, who believes that because the state’s central repository for traffic ticket data involves more agencies than just the state police, municipal police might also be called into question.
Just last week in Hartford it was revealed that a former officer resigned after admitting to creating traffic stops that never existed.
“This was an officer who submitted an arrest warrant that had information in it that we didn’t believe was accurate and we quickly called over to the court and had that warrant vacated,” said Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody.
Former FBI Special Agent Ken Gray told FOX61 that getting to the bottom of the scale, scope and intent of the state police data discrepancies could take some time.
“The question is how much labor do you put into this? Part of this is going to be data analysis and part of this is going to be investigative time where you have to go out and do interviews,” said Gray.
The state police union has also suggested politics is playing a role in this investigation.
“What’s happened over the years is that politics have saturated everything,” stated former state police union President Andy Matthews. Nationally, much has been made about the alleged weaponization of the Department of Justice, but Gray told FOX61 that in this instance he disagrees.
“In this particular case, it was being targeted against this data for political purposes. In this case, it appears it was for personal gain. That is, better assignments, better cars, perhaps promotions," said Gray.
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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