Meriden Police Issue Second-Highest Ratio of Tickets in State

Meriden Police issued the second-highest ratio of infraction tickets in the state during traffic stops.

A recent report by the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project looked at traffic stop data across Connecticut police departments for a 12 month period that ended on Sept. 30, 2014.

Meriden Police issued infractions in 70.2 percent of all stops. Only Danbury had a higher rate at 82.3 percent.

The authors of the report collected and analyzed mounds of data relating to traffic stops throughout the state. One piece of data they paid particular attention to was for disparities in motor vehicle stops of minorities compared to minority populations in areas.

Minority stops accounted for 48.1 percent of all stops. Meriden’s minority population is 34.9 percent.

Meriden was specifically mentioned in the report along with a cohort that included New Haven, Newington, Norwich and Windsor. The towns exceeded threshold levels in three of four benchmarks and six of the 12 possible measures.

Authors noted the findings were indicative of racial and ethnic bias but, in the absence of a formal investigation, cannot be considered comprehensive evidence.

About 32 percent of all stops by Meriden Police were speed-related. Other top reasons include stop sign violation (16.2%), traffic control signal (10.3%), other (12.2%) and registration (5.4%).