Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and state lawmakers have announced separate investigations into the state police after an audit found hundreds of troopers wrote thousands of fake tickets between 2014 and 2021.
The troopers falsified nearly 26,000 traffic tickets and 32,000 were inaccurate, according to the audit.
“There were a lot of inaccurate inputs. And we’ll see whether that was on purpose or whether that was accidental. I think that's part of what the investigations will tell us,” Lamont said in announcing that he will hire an independent firm to investigate the matter. “We are going to have an independent investigation to make sure this never happens again."
Lamont said troopers who intentionally did this, including management, should be let go.
“One person has already gone. We are looking at intentionality. Don’t jump to conclusions. How much of this was inadvertent? How much of this was intentional? The very intention that you are breaking the law, you shouldn’t be a state policeman,” Lamont said.
Lawmakers on the Public Safety and Security Committee along with the Judiciary Committee have announced an informational forum for next Wednesday.
They are concerned that the false tickets skewed state police racial profiling data.
The audit was done after an internal investigation found four troopers had falsified tickets.
