Report Lists Top Reasons Why Guilford Police Officers Pull Your Vehicle Over

A recent report by the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project found that the Guilford Police Department conducted 2,954 traffic stops from Oct. 1, 2014 through Sept. 30, 2015.

The top reason a Guilford police officer pulls someone over is for speeding.

In fact, of the department’s nearly 3,000 traffic stops, 42 percent were for speeding followed by cell phone, 14.5 percent, defective lights, 13 percent, traffic control signal, 11.8 percent, and 7 percent for stop sign violations.

But if you are stopped in Guilford the chances of ending up with a ticket are very slim. In fact, Guilford police hand out the tenth fewest tickets per 1,000 traffic stops in the entire state.

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

81.4 percent of the time in 2015 Guilford police just issued a warning. If a Guilford police officer pulls you over the chances of being searched are also low. In 2015, out of nearly 3,000 stops only 24 led to searches.

Of the department’s stops, 2.37 percent involved blacks and 3.96 percent involved Hispanics in Guilford.

The report states that in Connecticut 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 in Connecticut were identified to “exhibit a statistically significant racial or ethnic disparity that may indicate the presence of racial and ethnic bias” including: Bloomfield, New Milford, Norwalk, West Hartford, Wethersfield and State Police Troop H.

Additionally, 25 police officers throughout Connecticut were deemed to be more likely to pull people over based on race, the report notes.