Where and Why You Are Most Likely to be Pulled Over in CT: New Report

A new 260-page report released Thursday reveals many facets of how and why police officers throughout the state pull over drivers and notes that a handful of departments are pulling over minority drivers at significant disparity rates.

The report also singles out 25 police officers that are much more likely to pull over minority drivers.

The State of Connecticut “Traffic Stop Data Analysis and Findings 2014-15” was written by Central Connecticut State University with the help of the Connecticut Economic Resource Center, Inc.

The highlights:

The report states that 14.1 percent of 585,000 traffic stops between Oct. 1, 2014 and Sept. 30, 2015 involved black residents and 12.5 percent involved Hispanic motorists. Traffic stops are more likely during daylight hours.

Five municipal departments and one state police troop were identified to “exhibit a statistically significant racial or ethnic disparity that may indicate the presence of racial and ethnic bias” including:

Bloomfield where 62 percent of stops involved minorities, including 54 percent black motorists. New Milford, Norwalk, West Hartford, Wethersfield and State Police Troop H all made the list.

Concerning West Hartford, the authors note that minorities who are pulled over are searched more than Caucasians.

Six other police departments require further investigation based on the data and they include: Wethersfield, Stratford, Meriden, New Britain, Newington, and Trumbull.

The report does make it clear that “racial and ethnic disparities do not by themselves provide conclusive evidence of racial profiling.”

The authors plan to perform an in-depth follow up analysis with the following police departments: Bloomfield, Meriden, New Milford, Newington, Norwalk, Trumbull, West Hartford, Wethersfield, Windsor and Troop H.

Stratford and New Britain will be followed up only briefly, while Waterbury, East Hartford and Windsor police departments may also require a brief follow-up based on their data.

25 Police Officers in Connecticut Most Likely to Pull Minority Drivers Over

Based off of the 2013-14 traffic stop data, these nine municipal departments and two State Police Troops were reviewed in great detail including: East Hartford, Granby, Groton, Hamden, Manchester, New Britain, Stratford, Waterbury, Wethersfield, and State Police Troop C and H.

A total of 38 out of several hundred police officers in those departments had a higher rate of pulling minority drivers over, but after careful examination, only 25 officers were determined to be significantly more likely to pull minorities over based on the data, the report states. The names of the 25 officers weren’t disclosed in the report.

Response from the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association via Executive Director Pamela D. Hayes

Executive Director of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association Pamela Hayes said to date no police chief has been informed that their department or offices is engaged in biased-based policing based on the data collection over 15 years.

“Police Departments look at locations where the majority of traffic crashes occur, where crimes take place, and where the vast majority of calls for service are received,” she said, noting that most are called into police as opposed to be initiated by an officer.

“It is in these areas that resources are deployed and most traffic enforcement is ultimately conducted. It is there that the Connecticut Police Chiefs are seeking to identify what the Actual Driving Population is and we are looking at ways to make that analysis possible.”

She also noted that some of the municipalities being secondarily reviewed based on the 2014-2015 report are immediately adjacent to Hartford.

“It is our belief that the Actual Driving Population represents not only those who live and work in any given city or town but those who live around it - those who drive thru it - and to it,” she said.

Hayes added that she hopes the data will help unite communities instead of causing people to make assumptions and accusations.

Connecticut Police Departments with the Highest Stop Rate for all Drivers:

Newtown, Ridgefield, Orange, Old Saybrook, Monroe, New Canaan, Wilton, Berlin, Bloomfield, and Ansonia.

Conversely, the police departments least likely to pull you over include: Shelton, Portland, Wolcott, Waterbury, Middlebury, East Hampton, Weston, Bridgeport, and Meriden.

The Top Reasons Police Officers Stop Your Vehicle:

1. Speeding, 26 percent of all stops
2. Cell phones, 10.4 percent of all stops
3. Registration, 9.5 percent of all stops
4. Defective lights, 8.4 percent of all stops

Towns With Highest Speeding Stop Rates:

Portland (69.1%) , Suffield (61.8%), Newtown (53.8%), New Milford (53.6%), Ridgefield (52.6%), Weston (49%), Simsbury (48.7%), Redding (48.2%), and Easton (47.2%).

Towns With Highest Cell Phone Distraction Rates:

Middlebury (37.9%), Hartford (34.3%), Danbury (29.9%), Brookfield (28%), Bridgeport (26%), Waterbury (24.5%), Groton Long Point (24.3%), West Hartford (24.2%), Norwalk (23.8%), and Wolcott (23.7%).

Towns That You’re Most Likely to Walk Away With a Ticket:

Danbury (76.3%), Hartford (73.33%), Derby (66.1%), Bridgeport (64.98%) and Norwalk (61.74%). Branford, Meriden, and Trumbull were also near the top of the list.

Towns That You’ll Most Likely Just to Receive a Warning in:

Putnam (92.5%), Plainfield (86.7%), Middlebury (85.9%), Torrington (85.2%) and Thomaston (85%).

Suffield, West Haven and Guilford were also near the top of the list.

If You Do Get Stopped, You’re Most likely To be Searched in:

Waterbury (18.1%), Stratford (9.5%), Derby (9.3%), Wilton (8.7%) and Bridgeport (8.5%).

Milford, Vernon, West Hartford and New London were also near the top of the list.

If You Do Get Stopped, You Have a Higher Chance of Being Arrested in:

Waterbury (4.9%), West Hartford (4.5%), Wallingford (4.3%), New London (4.2%), Hartford (2.6%), Putnam (2.4%), Groton (2.3%), Farmington (2%), and Milford (1.9%).