Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) Commissioner Ronnell Higgins issued a special order on February 20 to all state troopers ordering them not to “detain, identify, threaten, fine, disperse or arrest individuals for peacefully assembling or holding up signs conveying non-commercial political messages when those individuals are on a sidewalk of an overpass that is not a limited-access highway based on the pace, conduct, or reaction of traffic on the highway below.”
The order comes following an agreement reached between DESPP and the Connecticut arm of the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a first amendment lawsuit in federal court following several instances in which state troopers dispersed protesters holding political signs from highway overpasses and two arrests of a protest organizer in 2025.
The protests and displaying of signs were considered a safety hazard, causing traffic to slow down or drivers to be distracted. Although the two plaintiffs in the case were not arrested by state troopers, they claimed the threat of arrest stifled their right to free speech.
Higgins had previously issued a training memo in September acknowledging Connecticut’s laws against unauthorized signage on highways, bridges and overpasses, along with traffic safety concerns, while stating that the first amendment considerations meant “allowing protest activity as long as protesters are not actively committing crimes.”
According to the bulletin, trooper barracks had received phone calls, emails, and had launched formal inquiries and internal affairs investigations into Trooper conduct following encounters with the protesters. The special order issued Friday, however, replaces that training bulletin, which is now rescinded.
“Individuals have the right to peacefully demonstrate on sidewalks of highway overpasses, including holding up non-commercial messages,” Higgins wrote. “Troopers shall remain objective at all times, regardless of the opinions or views being expressed by the protesters and/or the comments directed at Troopers. All personnel should remain politically neutral, patient and professional.”
In addition to allowing the signs on overpasses, Higgins also ordered that Troopers shall no longer self-dispatch to overpass protests “unless exigent circumstances exist involving immediate threats to life or public safety;” any call involving an overpass protest shall require the presence of a supervisor, who will automatically assume control, and that body camera footage will be maintained for four years under “Miscellaneous Evidentiary.”
Katherine Hinds, organizer of the Connecticut Visibility Brigade — the group at the center of the highway overpass issue – was arrested twice in relation to the overpass protests. Hinds released a statement with Sen. Jorge Cabrera, D-Hamden, saying she was thrilled and relieved at the settlement reached between DESPP and ACLU.
“They all stood up for the first amendment, and I couldn’t be more grateful,” Hinds, said in a February 18 press release. “This agreement is a win-win. It applies to everyone in the state.”
“Katherine is a friend, a constituent, and she is a role model for what it means to be a patriotic American in the very difficult times that we are all facing under Donald Trump and his awful, awful administration and all of the harm he’s causing our country,” Cabrera said. “If it weren’t for Katherine’s courage and fortitude, police may have felt free to trample the first amendment rights of other bridge protestors all across Connecticut — Lord knows we’ve seen people in power trample civil rights in other states.”
All charges against the 71-year-old Hinds were dismissed in New Haven court.
Gov. Ned Lamont issued a press release just several days before Higgins’ new order that aims to increase police and firefighter recruitment by offering tuition waivers for Connecticut’s college and university system as well as UConn. The proposal would also offer mortgage incentives through the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority.
Lamont’s proposal comes following passage of a $70 million labor contract for State Troopers in 2023 that awarded three years of 2.5 percent increases, plus a $3,500 bonus. In 2025, the General Assembly approved an $8 million wage reopener that awarded another round of wage increase. The contracts were both pitched by Lamont as a way to increase recruitment to the state troopers, who have for years been understaffed by hundreds of officers leading to massive overtime pay, long hours, and difficulty ensuring there is adequate staffing for shifts.
Republicans voted with Democrats to approve the contract, but argued that trooper morale was low due to the 2020 Police Accountability bill and that anti-police rhetoric was contributing to the lack of recruitment.
In response to Lamont’s proposal for tuition waivers and housing assistance, Republican House Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, and Rep. Greg Howard, R-Stonington, who is a police detective, issued a statement pointing the finger at anti-police sentiment and the Police Accountability bill for low recruitment numbers.
“The problem is real, and it is self-created. Years of Democratic legislation and anti-law enforcement rhetoric have demoralized Connecticut’s police,” Candelora and Howard said. “It is no coincidence this crisis accelerated the moment Connecticut enacted its so-called police accountability legislation in 2020. Officers are walking away and telling their sons and daughters to avoid the career altogether.”
Connecticut has roughly 938 state troopers, well short of the 1,200 needed to adequately staff the police force, and DESPP projects that 175 troopers will be eligible for retirement by 2027.
“Failure to comply with this order may result in administrative action,” Higgins wrote in his special order. “Platoon Sergeants and supervisors are responsible for ensuring this special order is understood and followed by all personnel under their command. This order shall remain in effect until further notice.”
Was this article helpful?
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
