HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice has taken over an investigation into allegations that hundreds of Connecticut state troopers may have submitted false information on thousands of traffic infractions to a racial profiling board, data that made it appear police were pulling over more white drivers than they were, the state’s top prosecutor said.
Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin told WTNH-TV on Thursday that the DOJ asked his office to suspend its investigation, which was ordered by Gov. Ned Lamont, because it is doing its own probe.
“I agreed with that decision,” Griffin said in a taping for the station’s weekend news show “This Week in Connecticut.”
“I think DOJ brings the tools and the resources necessary to conduct this investigation, on the one hand,” he said. “On the other, I think that the investigation will be thorough. I think that it will be independent.”
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Griffin confirmed the information in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Friday.
Civil rights groups had raised questions about the objectivity of the investigation being conducted by Griffin’s office, which works with the state police on criminal cases.
In addition to the Justice Department inquiry, an independent investigation ordered by Lamont is already being led by former Connecticut U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly, who now works in private law practice.
The Justice Department...
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