A8 Friday, July 7, 2023
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“The state police back in 2018, the previous administration, they moved in the right direction, took corrective action, identified it themselves,” Mellekas said, adding that those actions came prior to passage of the state’s police accountability law. “As they took corrective action, again, informed these individuals and the whole area that this will not be tolerated going forward. And I think a continued review from our office and your offices will help ensure that.” Two of the troopers from the initial investigation had received short suspensions, while the other two retired before the conclusion of the inquiry.
During the meeting, Democratic Sen. Gary Winfield, co-chair of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee and a member of the racial profiling project’s advisory board, shared concerns about officials trying to conclude that what happened in 2018 had a significant impact on the numbers. “We’re still involved in doing the analysis of what happened in 2018, so I don’t think that’s a large enough data set to make that statement,” Winfield said. While state police may be right about the decline, “I’m often concerned about that, because when the public hears those things, when it doesn’t necessarily turn out to be that later, we’ve said something one way or the other.” Ken Barone, one of the report’s primary authors, noted how after the four officers
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“Intervention, investigation into four troopers, everybody else must have gotten the word,” Barone said. “That wasn’t necessarily the case in troops C, K, or F. … I do think some of that is related to the intervention on the part of the state police at the time, but certainly the data tells us that it wasn’t occurring equally.” In a statement after the meeting, Claudine Constant, public policy and advocacy director of the ACLU of Connecticut, described the audit’s findings as “breathtaking disrespect” for the state’s racial profiling prohibition law and its goal of reducing systemic racism in policing. “Police cannot police themselves,” Constant said in the statement. “We urge swift and transparent accountability for all individual Connecticut State Police employees who falsified traffic stop records, and this report
also requires system-wide accountability for the Connecticut State Police.” The audit comes to light nearly a year after Hearst Connecticut Media Group reported that four state troopers in Montville’s Troop E — Timothy Bentley, Noah Gouveia, Kevin Moore and Daniel Richter — fabricated hundreds of traffic stop tickets for better assignments, pay increases, promotions and specialty vehicles. While Troop E was the focus of the State Police’s internal investigations, it had the fifth-largest number of overreported records, according to the report. Moore and Richter received 10-day and two-day suspensions, respectively, after the investigation, while Bentley and Gouveia retired. Richter then retired in 2021. The three retired troopers still receive monthly pensions, while Moore is still an active employee.
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were investigated, falsified reports in their cohort, identified as Troop E, “disappeared overnight.”
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by Dr. Stacey Raya
KYPHOSIS Kyphosis, also known as hunchback, is a fairly common condition in which there is a forward rounding of the mid to upper back, giving the appearance of a hump. The most common cause of kyphosis is poor posture, although it can also be genetic. It can be painful and significantly affect a person’s quality of life. Fortunately, chiropractic care can help those who suffer from kyphosis. Upon initial diagnostic testing, such as x-rays or an MRI, a skilled chiropractor can determine the exact cause of the kyphosis and develop a personalized treatment plan based on what is causing the condition. Treatment methods include chiropractic adjustments, exercise, spinal decompression, electrical stimulation, physical therapy exercises, and ultrasound.
That led to the establishment of the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project, which collects traffic data and helps identify and address racial and ethnic disparities. The project’s latest traffic report — prior to the audit — found that out of roughly 248,000 traffic stops, Black drivers made up 19% of stops despite only making up 13% of the state’s population. It also divulged that police were more likely to stop Hispanic drivers in daylight relative to darkness.
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In 2012, the law was expanded after a federal investigation into the East Haven Police Department revealed that officers intentionally targeted Latino drivers, treated them harshly and failed to implement basic anti-discrimination policies.
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To help determine the diagnosis of kyphosis, your chiropractor will ask about your medical history and do a physical examination at your initial appointment. He or she may also use techniques called motion and static palpation to feel for tenderness, tightness, and how well your spinal joints move. Please call 860-621-2225 to schedule an appointment. We are located at 200 Queen St., Southington.
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Under the Alvin W. Penn Racial Profiling Act passed in 1999, police are obligated to record and submit traffic stop data, including the reason for a search, the race, ethnicity and gender of the person stopped, and whether the encounter resulted in an arrest.
This story originally appeared at ctmirror.org, the website of The Connecticut Mirror.
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