Report Lists Top Reasons Why West Hartford Police Pull Motorists Over

Registration violations were the number one reason that West Hartford police pulled motorists over during a 12-month period from Oct. 1, 2013 to Sept. 30, 2014.

A recent report by the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project looked at traffic stop data across Connecticut police departments and found that West Hartford conducted 8,221 traffic stops during the 12-month time period.

The report looked at a number of data points, including reasons for a stop and the race of those stopped compared to the town’s demographic makeup.

The top reasons why a West Hartford police officer is likely to pull you over includes: 5.1 percent for speed-related, 16 percent for cell phone use, 6.7 percent for defective lights, 3.8 percent display of plates, 17.8 percent for a moving violation, 19.2 percent for registration (seventh highest in the state), 3.9 percent for seatbelt, 3.4 percent stop signs, 2.6 suspended license, and 9.5 percent for a traffic control signal.

In those stops, a motorist received an infraction 39 percent of the time and 40 percent received a verbal warning. About 6 percent of the stops resulted in a misdemeanor summons and 7 percent in a written warning.

There were 675 searches during the 8,221 traffic stops conducted by West Hartford police during the report time, or an 8.21 percent search rate, which was the fifth highest for search rate among departments throughout the state. Waterbury was highest at 28.8 percent followed by Bridgeport at 11.1 percent and Milford at 9.7 percent.

West Hartford had the second highest arrest rate during a motor vehicle stop at 5.9 percent. The state average is less than 1 percent and New London tops the chart at 7.3 percent of its stops resulting in an arrest.

Of West Hartford’s total traffic stops 14.65 percent are for Black drivers and 85.55 percent of those stops involve non-residents, according to the report. Hispanics account for 16.99 percent of West Hartford’s traffic stops and 83.54 percent of those involve non-residents, the report states.

Overall, 34.36 percent of all of West Hartford’s traffic stops involve minorities, and in West Hartford there are 21.79 percent minority residents who live there and are of legal driving age, according to the report.