Top Connecticut state police leaders retiring as investigators probe fake traffic ticket data claims

By DAVE COLLINS
Associated Press

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont says the top two leaders of state police will be retiring next month. The departures of public safety Commissioner James Rovella and Col. Stavros Mellekas come in the middle of multiple investigations into whether state troopers submitted bogus data on thousands of traffic stops that may have never happened. Officials on Wednesday denied the investigations played major roles in the retirements. A report released in June by University of Connecticut analysts said it was highly likely that dozens of troopers submitted false information on thousands of traffic citations between 2014 and 2021. Lamont says his nominee to succeed Rovella is Ronnell Higgins, a public safety official at Yale University.