MIDDLETOWN -- For the first time, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection is now providing nearly real-time information about traffic stops made by the Connecticut State Police. The new Traffic Stop Dashboard, which may be accessed through the DESPP website, provides an objective view of what traffic stops are occurring and what the State Police are doing in response.
"This initiative is part of our larger effort to increase transparency and to provide more useful data to both state residents and law enforcement agencies,'' said DESPP Commissioner Ronnell A. Higgins. "We are making more data available and we are doing this faster so we can better respond to problems and trends."
"Our troopers patrol Connecticut roads and highways 24 hours a day. This new dashboard clearly provides the public, the media and other police agencies with traffic stop information tailored to their needs," said Colonel Daniel Loughman, Commanding Officer of the Connecticut State Police.
The dashboard provides a clear presentation of how many traffic stops occur. Users can examine trends year by year or as recently as the last few days.
"It's the data presented in a way many people will find useful,'' said Dr. Michael Mascari, DESPP's Chief Data Officer. "The dashboard starts off broadly but can quickly transform into a dashboard tailored specifically to what you want to analyze. You will get a sense of why people are getting pulled over by the Connecticut State Police and how often that happens."
For example, Mascari said it's possible to look at the number of people who are initially pulled over for speeding on a limited access highway. "You will be able to see trends of these traffic stops as far back as a decade ago, and as recent as yesterday" Mascari said. "And you will see what happened as a result of these stops." There will also be a section providing data on current trending topics regarding traffic stops that will be updated periodically.
In a related initiative, DESPP now also updates statewide crime statistics on a quarterly basis in order to provide municipal and other law enforcements agencies more data about crime trends that they can respond to. The latest quarterly report is now available on the DESPP website.
Dr. Mascari is available for media interviews. For more information about the dashboard contact Rick Green at richard.green @ct.gov.