Here’s Where You Are Most Likely To Get Pulled Over In CT

CONNECTICUT — Central Connecticut State University’s Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy released its annual study on police traffic stops in the state and suggested a few police departments reconsider their strategies after racial and ethnic disparities were found in the data.

Overall, progress was made by many police departments to reduce disparities in the decision to stop non-white motorists. However, minority motorists are treated harsher than white motorists overall, according to the study.

“This year’s report is evidence that we are making progress in addressing our racial and ethnic disparities, but more work is needed to achieve the goal of eliminating disparities and to increase trust between police and the communities they serve,” said Racial Profiling Advisory Board Chair William Dyson.

However, some police departments are refuting the study.

The study also breaks down why police pull vehicles over and the outcome of whether a motorist walks away with a warning, ticket or a summons.

Data showed that there are large and statistically significant disparities in how minorities are treated statewide during a traffic stop.

“The new post-stop test for differential outcomes provides compelling evidence that minority motorists receive different dispositions (tickets, warnings, searches) after a stop is made, even after we condition on the basis for the stop and other potentially confounding factors,” the study authors wrote.

Other evidence found that the bar for searching a minority motorist was lower than that of white drivers. It also found that police are far less likely to be successful finding incriminating evidence when searching a minority motorist compared to a white motorist.

Some Departments Have ‘Significant’ Racial or Ethnic Disparities

The report looks at traffic stop data from 2017. The report found that Fairfield, Derby, Meriden, Wethersfield and State Police Troop C and K had statistically significant racial or ethnic disparity in traffic stops. Fairfield and Derby hadn’t been identified in previous years. Meriden had made progress with fewer racial and ethnic disparities this year while Wethersfield remains fairly consistent, according to the study’s authors.

IMRP has conducted 31 follow-up analyses since 2014.

“As a result, the public has a greater understanding as to how and why police administrators make decisions when deploying police resources and this information can be used to inform the statewide discussion about traffic stop disparities on a community and statewide level,” said Andrew Clark, CCSU’s IMRP director.

Fairfield made 30.4 percent minority traffic stops during the inter-twilight window. Black motorists had a 1.6 times greater chance of being stopped during the brighter hours than at night and Hispanic motorists had a 1.3 times greater chance.

In 2017 around 20 percent of Derby Police stops were for black motorists and 17 percent for Hispanic motorists. Derby’s estimated black driving population is 6 percent and Hispanic is 12.4 percent according to the 2010 Census, however, study writers noted Derby’s Hispanic driving population is probably closer to 18 percent as U.S. Census data from the American Survey shows the town has seen a significant increase in its Hispanic population in recent years.

The Fairfield Police Department released a statement in response to the analysis and said that they took issue with some of the methodology.

“We strongly believe that Fairfield’s driving population is inconsistent with census demographics thus creating a statistical disparity, not a racial disparity,” the department said in a statement. “We are engaged in efforts to substantiate this position utilizing ‘blind’ technology including License Plate Recognition (LPR) system data in various census tracts in Fairfield.”

However, IMRP Project Manager Ken Barone said Fairfield’s characterization of the research methodology is not accurate.

Fairfield Police also said that Black Rock Turnpike and areas near the City of Bridgeport have big pockets of commercial businesses that attract people from around the area.

The study noted that things such as a big shopping or entertainment district can draw a large amount of motorists from out-of-town as can police patrols in higher-crime areas.

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

Further study for Fairfield and Derby found that motorists on major artery roadways tend to be a bit more diverse than the town as a whole. Study writers suggested that the two departments review its traffic enforcement policies on the major roadways. They also suggested Fairfield look at its enforcement of administrative-related stops such as registration issues and how they can impact minorities.

Derby Police Chief Gerald Narowski said in a response letter to the study that the department relies on aggressive and lawful motor vehicle enforcement to help tackle the city’s high crime rate. He also expressed concern over outdated Census data from 2010 and how the American Community Survey in 2017 found that Derby’s Hispanic driving population increased by 57 percent between the years.

“... Our city and our police department believe that Derby’s Hispanic driving population is significantly higher than the data used in the study,” he said.

The researchers also noted the difference.

“When you account for that increase, their disparity on Rt. 34 and elsewhere is substantially diminished,” Barone said during a presentation on the study.

Narowski said the follow-up study did help the department review its record keeping and reporting strategies and pledged to improve them.

Getting Stopped In Towns

The top 5 municipal departments with the highest rate of traffic stops per 1,000 residents:

1. Wilton: 402
2. New Canaan: 388
3. Westport: 384
4. Ridgefield: 372
5. Windsor: 365

Your chance of getting out of a traffic stop with a warning or ticket highly depends on the department. Some departments give a warning more than nine times out of 10 while with others there is more than a 60 percent chance of getting a ticket.

Across the state around a third of traffic stops ended with a verbal warning, 15 percent with a written warning and 43 percent with a ticket.

Around 28 percent of stops across the state are for speeding and another nine percent are for cellphone use.

Highest warning rates:

1. Weston: 94.3%
2. Eastern CT State University: 90.8%
3. Torrington: 89.3%
4. Redding: 88.6%
5. State Capitol Police 86.8%

Highest infraction rates

1. Danbury: 63.7%
2. Bridgeport: 59.9%
3. New London 58.5%
4. DMV 58.3%
5. Trumbull: 57%

Highest search rates:

1. Waterbury: 17.8%
2. Stratford: 15.9%
3. Yale University: 12%
4. Vernon: 11.6%
5. Bridgeport: 10.8%

Highest cell phone violation rates

1. Danbury 34.9%
2. West Hartford 30.4%
3. Hamden 27.4%
4. Brookfield 23.4%
5. Bridgeport 23.3%

Registration stop

1. Trumbull 23.9%
2. Troop L 22%
3. North Haven 21.2%
4. West Haven 20.6%
5. Redding 18.8%

Speeding stop

1. Ledyard 63.5%
2. CSP Headquarters 58.8%
3. Ridgefield 57.9%
4. Weston 57.8%
5. Simsbury 57.4%