Here’s Why Trumbull Police Are Most Likely To Stop Your Car

TRUMBULL, CT — Seven police departments have been highlighted in an annual report that analyzes possible racial disparities during traffic stops. The report data is compiled and analyzed every year by the Connecticut Racial Profiling Project.

The data comes from stops made between Oct. 1, 2015 and Sept. 30, 2016. An in-depth follow-up analysis will be done on Berlin, Monroe, Newtown, Norwich, Ridgefield, Darien and State Police Troop B departments after some disparities were noted. The departments are invited to share in the analysis.

“...racial and ethnic disparities in any traffic stop analysis do not, by themselves, provide conclusive evidence of racial profiling,” researchers wrote in the report. “Statistical disparities do, however, provide significant evidence of the presence of idiosyncratic data trends that warrant further analysis.”

In 2016 the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association released a press release that said to date no police chief has been informed that their department or officers have engaging in biased based policing from the reports findings. Executive Director Pamela Hayes said that the association was looking to identify actual driving populations because many of the departments singled out for further review are next to a larger and more metropolitan city.

Trumbull Police Department conducted 2,340 stops during the study’s time period.

How the stop ended:

1. Infraction issued: 49 percent
2. Verbal warning: 36 percent
3. Misdemeanor summons: 8 percent
4. No disposition: 2 percent
5. Arrest: Only nine total arrests

Here is a breakdown of reasons for a stop rounded to the nearest percent

1. Registration violation: 19 percent
2. Defective lights: 14 percent
3. Cell phone violation: 12 percent
4. Speeding: 12 percent
5. Display of plates: 9 percent
6. Stop sign: 7 percent
7. Moving violation: 5 percent
8. Window tint: 2 percent
9. Seatbelt: 2 percent

“The Trumbull municipal police department was observed to have made 37.4 percent minority stops of which 14.2 percent were Hispanic and 20.7 percent were Black motorists from October 2015 to September 2016,” researchers stated. “The descriptive analysis indicated that the department exceeded the disparity threshold level in two of the three benchmark areas as well as in five of the nine possible measures. Trumbull received a disparity score of 4.5 out of a possible nine points.”

The Racial Profiling Prohibition Project noted that Trumbull was identified in a previous year during the study and a follow-up was conducted. The group met with Trumbull Police who explained more about traffic stop enforcement in town. A follow-up wasn't necessary this year.

"It must also be kept in mind that Trumbull is unique to most other communities," Chief Michael Lombardo told Patch. "We boarder one of the largest cities in the state and are home to a regional mall, which receives 8.5 million visitors a year and have three interstate highways that pass through our town."

The estimated driving population used in the report is only based on residential and working populations.

"To compare our traffic stop data to just these populations alone is not reflective of the population that actually drive on Trumbull roads," Lombardo said.

Data from stops is analyzed in a number of ways such as a comparison between daylight and complete darkness stops. The assumption of the technique is that officers profiling motorists are more likely to do it during the daylight where a motorist’s race is apparent.

Researchers also compare the number of minority traffic stops to the town’s minority population over the age of 16.

The towns with the highest rate of traffic stops overall compared to population are:

1. Wilton: 464 stops per 1,000 residents
2. New Canaan: 456
3. Ridgefield 441
4. Orange: 390
5. Old Saybrook: 377
6. Ansonia: 341
7. Berlin: 327
8. Monroe: 310
9. Waterford: 309
10. Westport: 307

Towns with the lowest rate of traffic stops compared to population are:

1. Middlebury: 10
2. Shelton: 23
3. Portland: 27
4. Wolcott: 29
5. Waterbury: 38
6. Meriden: 43
7. Stratford: 48

Bridgeport, Middletown and Hartford appeared in the lowest rate of traffic stops, but researchers noted many weren’t correctly entered into the system.

These departments are most likely to pull a motorist over for a speeding violation:

1. Ledyard: 67.9 percent of all stops
2. Suffield: 60.8 percent
3. Simsbury: 56.9 percent
4. Easton: 55.9 percent
5. Portland: 55.3 percent
6. New Milford: 54.9 percent
7. Enfield: 53.5 percent
8. Guilford: 53 percent
9. Redding: 52.4 percent
10. Ridgefield: 52.3 percent

These departments are most likely to pull a motorist over for a registration violation:

1. Branford: 28.3 percent
2. North Branford: 23.1 percent
3. Troop L: 21.1 percent
4. Trumbull: 19 percent
5. Watertown: 17.3 percent
6. Troop G: 16.9 percent
7. Troop B: 16.7 percent
8. West Haven: 16.7 percent
9. Troop A: 15.9 percent
10. Redding: 15.8 percent

These departments are most likely to pull a motorist over for cell phone violations:

1. Hamden: 41.9 percent
2. Danbury: 41.2 percent
3. Middlebury: 28.8 percent
4. West Hartford: 28.3 percent
5. Stamford: 27.1 percent
6. Berlin: 25.3 percent
7. Bridgeport: 24.8 percent
8. Westport: 24.5 percent
9. Norwalk: 22.1 percent
10. Brookfield: 19.8 percent

Departments with the highest rate of issuing an infraction during a traffic stop:

1. Danbury: 67.6 percent
2. Bridgeport: 61.9 percent
3. Norwalk: 59.7 percent
4. Meriden: 58.6 percent
5. New Haven: 56.6 percent
6. Hartford: 56 percent
7. Derby: 54.9 percent
8. Branford: 54.3 percent
9. Stamford: 52.9 percent
10. Hamden: 52.6 percent

State Police

1. Headquarters: 87.8 percent
2. Troop F: 78.9 percent
3. Troop C: 74.2 percent
4. Troop H: 73.4 percent
5. Troop G: 71.5 percent

Departments with the highest rate of issuing a warning during a traffic stop:

1. Eastern CT State University: 95.3 percent
2. Redding: 92.8 percent
3. Middlebury: 91.5 percent
4. Portland: 91 percent
5. Torrington: 89.8 percent
6. Putnam: 87.8 percent
7. Plainfield: 87.2 percent
8. Suffield: 87 percent
9. Weston: 87 percent
10. Central CT State University: 86.3 percent

Among State Police Troops:

1. Troop L: 43 percent
2. Troop B: 37 percent
3. Troop D: 30.9 percent
4. Troop K: 29 percent
5. Troop A: 27 percent

These departments are among the highest where a stop results in a search:

1. Waterbury: 16.6 percent
2. Stratford: 13.6 percent
3. Middletown: 10.4 percent
4. Bridgeport: 9.8 percent
5. Vernon: 9.4 percent
6. Yale University: 9.2 percent
7. Danbury: 8.5 percent
8. Wallingford: 7.9 percent
9. Derby: 7.9 percent
10. Trumbull: 7.5 percent