Report Lists Top Reasons Why Troop A State Troopers Pull Your Vehicle Over

A recent report by the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project found that Troop A, which includes Southbury and Oxford, conducted 19,544 traffic stops from Oct. 1, 2014 through Sept. 30, 2015.

The top reason a State Trooper in Troop A pulls someone over is for speeding.

Out of nearly 20,000 stops, speeding accounted for 25.7 percent of all stops followed by registration violations, 18.1 percent, moving violations, 10.78 percent, cell phone infractions, 6.9 percent, and 4 percent seat belt.

Troop A ranked No. 7 in the state for stopping people for registration offenses.

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If you’re stopped by a State Trooper expect a ticket. In 2015, Troop A issued a ticket 63 percent of the time, which was near the top of the state.

In 2015, Troop A issued verbal warnings 21 percent of the time and written warnings 6.7 percent of the time.

Out of 19,544 stops, searches were conducted 2.7 percent of the time.

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.