In the wake of the federal government finding evidence of racial profiling by East Haven police officers, state lawmakers are urging Gov. Dannel Malloy to aggressively enforce the state’s racial profiling law.
The law, passed in 1999, requires police departments to report traffic stop data to the state on an annual basis so that it can be analyzed for racial profiling. But in 2010, only 27 departments did so.
A group of Latino and other minority lawmakers said no money was ever set aside to pay for the data collection and analysis.
The lawmakers held a news conference Wednesday, asking Gov. Malloy to fully fund the law, to make sure that the discrimination that the Department of Justice found in East Haven isn't going on anywhere else.
"The scary part is that we did not know or at least, I dare say, most people in this building did not know about what was happening in East Haven and we have to ask ourselves now, “Do we know if it's happening elsewhere?” said Sen. John Fonfara, D –Hartford.
Malloy released a statement about the funds Wednesday.
“It appears that for the past five years federal funding has been available to pay for racial identity data gathering and analysis. I cannot speak to the actions of the previous administration in allowing these funds to languish, but I can assure Connecticut residents that my Administration is committed to enforcing the laws on the books and has moved forward to get this data collected, reported, and evaluated. Let me be clear: it is simply unacceptable that Connecticut law hasn’t been followed,” Malloy said.
Under Secretary for Criminal Justice Policy Mike Lawlor said there is a $1.2 million federal grant that has been available for five years that would pay for the data collection. Lawlor said he is now trying to find the best way to spend that money to enforce the racial profiling law.
"This is a law that's been on the books for 14 years. It should be enforced, but we have a responsibility to make sure it happens in an effective way,” Lawlor said.
