Lamont Names Investigator For State Police Traffic Records Review

CONNECTICUT — Gov. Ned Lamont has commissioned an independent review of a recent audit revealing discrepancies between two state traffic ticket databases.

The audit indicated a "high likelihood" that at least 25,966 traffic stop records between 2014 and 2021 in the state's racial profiling database are false, according to the report.

Members of the Connecticut State Police overreported at least 26,000 racial profiling records (3.2 percent) between 2014 to 2021 and underreported at least 16,000 records (2.4 percent) from 2015 to 2021. The initial inquiry also indicated that troopers ticketed fewer minority motorists than they actually did.

The Office of The Governor has engaged former United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut Deirdre M. Daly to conduct the new investigation. Daly is currently an attorney at Finn Dixon and Herling LLP.

Daly's review is meant "to determine how and why this misconduct occurred, why it went undetected for so many years, and what reforms should be implemented to ensure that such misconduct does not reoccur," Lamont said in a statement released Monday.

The review will also determine whether changes to the IT platforms or training materials could prevent mistaken entries.

Daly and her team will interview troopers, constables, and others who may have relevant information. Residents who wish to contact Daly may do so confidentially by filling out the form online at or calling 800-711-6348. At the conclusion of the investigation, the results will be shared with the public, according to Lamont.

The investigation team has informed the governor that they anticipate their review will take at least three to six months to complete, but are unable to give an exact estimate at such an early stage. Lamont said the timing of the investigation is largely dependent on how many people will need to be interviewed and how cooperative these witnesses will be in the interview process.

“I have issued an order today to all state troopers instructing them to cooperate with the investigation and come forth with relevant information,” Connecticut State Police Colonel Stavros Mellekas said in a statement Monday. “The Connecticut State Police takes this matter very seriously and we have already instituted several reforms based on the recently released audit. We look forward to continuing that work. We welcome this investigation and will cooperate fully.”

Although the total number of erroneous records and troopers with significant discrepancies declined each year, the report found that some troopers continued to have a significant number of over and underreported records as late as at least 2021.

"I have great faith in the overwhelming majority of our troopers, and to protect public confidence in them we must get to the bottom of this and learn how it happened, why it happened, and how to prevent it from ever happening again. I am glad that someone with Deirdre Daly’s experience and credibility has agreed to undertake this important work," Lamont said.