Lawmakers call state police misconduct ‘a serious problem’ following Hearst CT series

State lawmakers say a Hearst Connecticut Media Group investigation into state police misconduct underscores the importance of major legislative reforms they approved in 2020 and raises questions about if more should be done to bring additional accountability to policing. “These incidents make clear that police misconduct is a serious problem in Connecticut, undermining our ability to trust law enforcement to keep our communities safe,” said State Sen. Will Haskell, D-Westport and a member of the Judiciary Committee. His colleague, State Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven and a co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said lawmakers will closely monitor how state and local police respond to the Police Accountability Act passed in 2020. “Now, we need to reassess and see if there is more we should do,” Winfield said. The three-part Hearst Connecticut Media series, which published online this month, closely examined internal state police records that had largely been shielded from public view in recent years. The records detailed hundreds of cases of alleged wrongdoing by troopers, including dozens of allegations the department considered to be potentially criminal in nature between 2015 and 2020 — before the accountability act went into effect. “The stories seem to indicate that the accountability bill and transparency bill has helped us to get vision on state troopers that we didn’t have before,” Winfield said. The coverage focused on 340 cases that the department classified in the most serious of three categories of allegations. In nearly two-thirds of those cases, Internal Affairs investigators recommended internal charges to be sustained, or upheld, against the accused officers. Hearst Connecticut Media found that troopers were disciplined after being accused of a range of offenses, including excessive force, failing to investigate alleged crimes, conducting improper searches, driving cruisers and personal vehicles while intoxicated, violating protective orders, threatening, theft and fighting with colleagues. The most frequent punishment issued was a negative written report that’s placed in an officer’s personnel file for a year. Law enforcement experts interviewed for the series questioned whether the discipline issued in some cases was too light. Winfield said the punishment given to police officers who violate the rules is still a work in progress. “In general, the punishments we see are too low,” Winfield said. “The behaviors we see repeat themselves more than we should see. It's important that punishment be real for a crime. We give them immense power, and we recognize what that means.” Assessing past reforms State lawmakers said they want to take more time to assess the impact of the 2020 reforms before enacting more major changes. State Rep. Steven Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport and co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said the Hearst Connecticut Media investigation “in many respects justified the changes we pushed for,” in passing the 2020 police accountability legislation. Asked if more police reform is needed, Stafstrom said he wants to first see if the accountability act is sufficient. “The changes in respect to the state police were significant,” Stafstrom said. “Now, we need to let some time pass to see the impact before making major changes.” Haskell also pointed to the accountability act as an important step in needed reforms. “I’m proud to have voted for it,” Haskell said. “Sunshine is the best disinfectant, and bringing these stories to light will help usher in a culture that will not accept a slap on the wrist as suitable punishment for serious breaches of public trust.” Among many provisions, the new law established an added layer of oversight for the state police with the creation of the Office of Inspector General to investigate serious violations and recommend that officers be fired. Winfield said: “With police accountability, there is always something else to be done. There is a belief that police will protect its own so we created the Office of Inspector General, and now need to see how effective that is.” Several Republican leaders in the state Legislature who opposed the accountability act did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story. The law also requires police to intervene if they witness improper behavior, such as excessive use of force, and report those officers to superiors. And the accountability act placed state police under the control of the state Police Officer Standards and Training Council, which Stafstrom said is vital to changing how the agency operates. “A key piece was the ability to decertify [officers] for conduct unbecoming,” Stafstrom explained. “The union said, ‘what is unbecoming?’ Well, 300 complaints is exactly what we were referring to.” The POST Council establishes training standards for the state police academy, provides officers with the license to work as a cop and sets the rules under which they perform their duties. Prior to the new law, state police had their own training, certification and rule making system, while local police were under the oversight of the POST Council. Mike Lawlor, a criminal justice professor at the University of New Haven and a POST Council member, said putting state police under the council’s authority marked a major change. “It’s clear that this is resulting in some significant changes in the culture within the state police,” Lawlor said. Changing the culture Lawlor said modern policing requires an understanding that respect is earned, which means troopers and local police must resist any urge to lash out at suspects when they feel they have been disrespected. Lawlor said several excessive use of force cases highlighted in the Hearst Connecticut Media series showed how in some cases officers responded violently when challenged by suspects and how they “egged on” those suspects with name calling and other verbal interactions. “There is a sense that: ‘Because I have a badge you have to respect my authority,’” Lawlor said. “But things have changed everywhere, and you don’t automatically get respect. You have to earn people’s respect.” Winfield noted the only way to truly change how police operate is to change the culture within agencies. “My point was to put the guardrail in place so when new people came in it didn’t match the old system that was in place,” Winfield said. “You create those boundaries so the culture has to shift,” he continued. “Ten to 15 years from now a police officer is going to know that when people use excessive force, they have to report it.”

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