The state police union to call for changes in the way some troopers are transporting suspects after a recent crash involving a state trooper on Interstate 91 in Hartford.
The crash in question happened Sept. 5 as Trooper Christopher Pariseau drove suspect Chad Nadeau from the Troop K barracks in Colchester to the Hartford Correctional Center.
Nadeau broke out of his handcuffs, grabbed the steering wheel, crashed the cruiser and then ran off, according to state police. He was caught a short time later.
“Prior to dispatch consolidation, we would maintain and hold our prisoners at the troops,” said Andrew Matthews, the president of the state police union.
Because of controversial dispatch consolidation efforts, which began in 2012, some barracks in the eastern and western parts of the state, including Troop K, can no longer keep suspects overnight because of staffing issues, Matthews said.
Instead, troopers are forced to drive them to three prisons, including the Hartford Correctional Center.
Now, the union is calling on the state police administration to start using transport vans to take suspects who are unable to post bond from the barracks to the prisons.
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“It would relieve the troopers from transporting the prisoners and traveling outside the troop area,” said Matthews. “When you’re transporting prisoners outside your troop area, you’re not only traveling greater distances with a prisoner in your car, you’re leaving your patrol staff short back at the troop you’re originally from.”
State police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance says the issue of using transport vans has been discussed and is under consideration, but there are currently no plans to use them.
“Certainly we’re looking at all facets and all possibilities to enhance what we do on a regular basis including the transportation of prisoners,” said Lt. Vance. “It’s very rare that we have to transport prisoners out of the district.”
All troopers are trained to transport prisoners safely, said Vance.
“Troopers on a regular basis transport prisoners for various reasons whether it’s to and from a hospital to a facility, or even from where they’re taken into custody to be processed,” he said.
Exactly how Nadeau got out of his handcuffs remains under investigation.
Matthews said the crash is a big reason why the union will continue pushing to change the transport policy.
“It’s really not safe, not safe for the public or the troopers in the field,” said Matthews.
