HARTFORD, Conn. -- Many investigations of complaints against state troopers are incompletely and inadequately investigated, according to a report released Monday.

The 207-page report, the result of a 13-month investigation by the Connecticut Attorney General's office and the New York State Police, calls for an overhaul of the Connecticut State Police Internal Affairs Unit.

Report Cites Problems With State Police Internal Investigations

The report found incomplete, inadequate investigations of complaints accusing state police personnel of bribery, drug use, association with drug dealers and prostitutes, sexual assault, falsified overtime, assault of a motorist and improper drunken driving arrests.

"Our investigation resulted from state troopers themselves having the courage and conviction to come forward with complaints about an internal affairs system in disarray and dysfunctional, and ultimately discredited," Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said. "Aggressive reform will correct those problems in both personnel and system."

The review, prompted by complaints of questionable tactics by some members of the unit, involved 262 interviews.

Report Contains Recommendations For Unit's Overhall

The report contains more than 60 recommendations, including requiring all complaints against troopers be documented and investigated, revamping and adequately staffing the internal affairs unit, giving the unit's commanding officer sole authority to initiate investigations and requiring him or her to report directly to the commissioner.

The governor's office released a statement early in the afternoon following the report's release. In it, the governor indicates she has directed the commissioner of the Department of Public Safety to establish a commission to oversee changes.

"I am deeply concerned by the troubling practices exposed by this report and am firmly committed to reforms that will ensure they never occur again," said Gov. M. Jodi Rell. "We now know that lax and less-than-professional procedures have tainted Internal Affairs investigations within the Connecticut State Police."

Rell said the commission will include outside expertise to ensure the implementation of increased training regarding the state police code of conduct and the establishment of a 24-hour public hot line to receive complaints.

According to the attorney general's office, the joint report includes recommendations that include:

• Increase the size of the unit and make its investigators lieutenants and its commander a lieutenant colonel so they can deal with trooper supervisors and command officers as equals or superiors.
• Provide Internal Affairs with more administrative support and upgraded computers and equipment.
• Create a centralized system to log and track every citizen complaint.
• Create a classification system based on the seriousness of the allegation.
• Accept all complaints against state troopers, including those made orally, in writing, by e-mail, in person and by anonymous and third parties.
• Develop a program to inform the public on how to file a complaint against a trooper.
• Train all state police personnel about the function of the internal affairs unit and the role it plays in assuring the agency's integrity and maintaining the public confidence in the state police.

"The issues cited in this report were not intentional. The organization wanted this review to identify issues in need of attention. To their credit they have already begun to address them. That, in the final analysis, speaks of the truly proud and professional police department they are," Public Safety Commissioner Leonard Boyle said.

"I will work closely with the state police to institute the reforms needed to address internal affairs problems identified by the troopers and the union. Their goal and mine is to preserve and protect the public's confidence in this highly professional institution," Blumenthal added.

The report highlights 19 internal affairs cases and makes more than 60 recommendations, including requiring documentation and investigation of all complaints against troopers and revamping the culture of the Internal Affairs Unit.

"Throughout the late 90s and into the early part of this century, we have lapsed into a practice of dealing with certain personnel complaints in an informal manner," Boyle said.

The report also recommends giving the unit's commanding officer sole authority to initiate investigations and requiring him or her to report directly to the state public safety commissioner.

State police commander Col. Edward J. Lynch announced Friday that he is retiring effective Jan. 1 to take a security position in private industry. A replacement has not been named.

Robert Serafinowicz, the attorney representing troopers in an internal affairs investigation, called the report "rampant corruption."

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