Here’s Why Brookfield Police Are Most Likely To Stop Your Car

BROOKFIELD, CT — Seven police departments have been highlighted in an annual report that analyzes possible racial disparities during traffic stops. The report data is compiled and analyzed every year by the Connecticut Racial Profiling Project.

The data comes from stops made between Oct. 1, 2015 and Sept. 30, 2016. An in-depth follow-up analysis will be done on Berlin, Monroe, Newtown, Norwich, Ridgefield, Darien and State Police Troop B departments after some disparities were noted. The departments are invited to share in the analysis.

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

In 2016 the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association released a press release that said to date no police chief has been informed that their department or officers have engaging in biased based policing from the reports findings. Executive Director Pamela Hayes said that the association was looking to identify actual driving populations because many of the departments singled out for further review are next to a larger and more metropolitan city.

The Brookfield Police Department conducted 2,299 stops during the study’s time period.

How the stop ended:

1. Infraction: 24 percent
2. Verbal warning: 51 percent
3. Misdemeanor summons: 2 percent
4. No disposition: 1 percent
5. Written warning: 22 percent
6. Arrest: 1 percent

Here is a breakdown of the top 5 reasons for a stop rounded to the nearest percent.

• Cell phone: 20 percent
• Registration: 3 percent
• Speeding: 32 percent
• Stop sign: 11 percent
• Traffic control signal: 8 percent

Data from stops is analyzed in a number of ways such as a comparison between daylight and complete darkness stops. The assumption of the technique is that officers profiling motorists are more likely to do it during the daylight where a motorist’s race is apparent.

Researchers also compare the number of minority traffic stops to the town’s minority population over the age of 16.

The towns with the highest rate of traffic stops overall compared to population are:

1. Wilton: 464 stops per 1,000 residents
2. New Canaan: 456
3. Ridgefield 441
4. Orange: 390
5. Old Saybrook: 377
6. Ansonia: 341
7. Berlin: 327
8. Monroe: 310
9. Waterford: 309
10. Westport: 307

Towns with the lowest rate of traffic stops compared to population are:

1. Middlebury: 10
2. Shelton: 23
3. Portland: 27
4. Wolcott: 29
5. Waterbury: 38
6. Meriden: 43
7. Stratford: 48

Bridgeport, Middletown and Hartford appeared in the lowest rate of traffic stops, but researchers noted many weren’t correctly entered into the system.

These departments are most likely to pull a motorist over for a speeding violation:

1. Ledyard: 67.9 percent of all stops
2. Suffield: 60.8 percent
3. Simsbury: 56.9 percent
4. Easton: 55.9 percent
5. Portland: 55.3 percent
6. New Milford: 54.9 percent
7. Enfield: 53.5 percent
8. Guilford: 53 percent
9. Redding: 52.4 percent
10. Ridgefield: 52.3 percent

These departments are most likely to pull a motorist over for a registration violation:

1. Branford: 28.3 percent
2. North Branford: 23.1 percent
3. Troop L: 21.1 percent
4. Trumbull: 19 percent
5. Watertown: 17.3 percent
6. Troop G: 16.9 percent
7. Troop B: 16.7 percent
8. West Haven: 16.7 percent
9. Troop A: 15.9 percent
10. Redding: 15.8 percent

These departments are most likely to pull a motorist over for cell phone violations:

1. Hamden: 41.9 percent
2. Danbury: 41.2 percent
3. Middlebury: 28.8 percent
4. West Hartford: 28.3 percent
5. Stamford: 27.1 percent
6. Berlin: 25.3 percent
7. Bridgeport: 24.8 percent
8. Westport: 24.5 percent
9. Norwalk: 22.1 percent
10. Brookfield: 19.8 percent

Departments with the highest rate of issuing an infraction during a traffic stop:

1. Danbury: 67.6 percent
2. Bridgeport: 61.9 percent
3. Norwalk: 59.7 percent
4. Meriden: 58.6 percent
5. New Haven: 56.6 percent
6. Hartford: 56 percent
7. Derby: 54.9 percent
8. Branford: 54.3 percent
9. Stamford: 52.9 percent
10. Hamden: 52.6 percent

State Police

1. Headquarters: 87.8 percent
2. Troop F: 78.9 percent
3. Troop C: 74.2 percent
4. Troop H: 73.4 percent
5. Troop G: 71.5 percent

Departments with the highest rate of issuing a warning during a traffic stop:

1. Eastern CT State University: 95.3 percent
2. Redding: 92.8 percent
3. Middlebury: 91.5 percent
4. Portland: 91 percent
5. Torrington: 89.8 percent
6. Putnam: 87.8 percent
7. Plainfield: 87.2 percent
8. Suffield: 87 percent
9. Weston: 87 percent
10. Central CT State University: 86.3 percent

Among State Police Troops:

1. Troop L: 43 percent
2. Troop B: 37 percent
3. Troop D: 30.9 percent
4. Troop K: 29 percent
5. Troop A: 27 percent

These departments are among the highest where a stop results in a search:

1. Waterbury: 16.6 percent
2. Stratford: 13.6 percent
3. Middletown: 10.4 percent
4. Bridgeport: 9.8 percent
5. Vernon: 9.4 percent
6. Yale University: 9.2 percent
7. Danbury: 8.5 percent
8. Wallingford: 7.9 percent
9. Derby: 7.9 percent
10. Trumbull: 7.5 percent