Prosecutor says troopers cited in false ticket data investigation won’t face state charges

ROCKY HILL, Conn. (AP) — Four state troopers who may have falsified data about traffic stops won’t face state criminal charges, Connecticut’s top prosecutor said Friday.

Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin’s office said in a statement that none of the officers can be prosecuted due to the statute of limitations passing.

An independent investigation found the number of traffic stops some troopers reported was higher than the number they actually made.

“There was no referral to the local state’s attorney for review of the conduct in question in 2018 and as a result, the statute of limitations for state charges to be filed has passed,” the office said in a statement. “The Division has no comment on potential federal charges given the pending Department of Justice investigation into the matter.”

The independent investigation into tens of thousands of traffic stops followed an audit by UConn analysts that questioned whether troopers had been submitting inaccurate or false data. That included information required to be submitted by a law designed to look for possible racial profiling.

In their report, which was released in February, the investigators found that most errors were largely the result of data-entry mistakes and other mishaps, not an intentional effort by troopers to submit bogus information.

But it did refer six troopers and a constable to state police for further investigation.

The audit was spurred by a Hearst Connecticut Media report that said four state troopers in an eastern Connecticut barracks intentionally created hundreds of bogus traffic stop tickets to boost their productivity numbers. After internal affairs investigations, one trooper was suspended for 10 days, another was suspended for two days and the other two retired before the probe was completed.

A federal grand jury probe is ongoing.

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This story was first published April 5, 2024. It was updated April 8, 2024, to correct the number of troopers who won’t face state criminal charges due to the statue of limitations passing. It is four, not six and a constable.

The Associated Press