Several text messages sent by a Connecticut State Police Sergeant to his “team” of roughly eleven state troopers during weekends this summer show he pushed the troopers to make “at least 18 traffic stops,” in a day, raising the question as to whether that constitutes a quota, which is not permitted under state statute.
“Today is going to a good day to put in some work,” wrote Sgt. Vernon Sanders of Troop G in Bridgeport in a text message to troopers at 7:33 on a Saturday morning. “There’ll be a lot of motorists on the road so punch patrol checks and take walks through your rest areas to be visible. Let’s shoot for at least 18 traffic stops. Stay safe and back each other up!”
Later that same day, Sanders praised the troopers for counting off a tally of 21 traffic stops, along with 57 calls for service and three subject stops, among other services.
Another Saturday morning text message earlier this summer again pushed for 18 traffic stops, while another text message encouraged troopers to “Dust off those lasers and get some fresh batteries.”
Traffic citation quotas for both state and municipal police are banned by state statute since 1991, and statute defines a “quota” as “a specified number of citations issued to pedestrians or summonses for motor vehicle violations to be issued within a specified period of time.”
“The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall not impose any quota with respect to the issuance of citations to pedestrians or summonses for motor vehicle violations upon any policeman in said department,” the statute says.
Connecticut State Police did not respond to Inside Investigator’s request for comment, but the question of whether pushing officers to make stops constitutes a quota has come up before.
In 2012, Torrington Police denied there was a quota for traffic stops under a department mandate that required one motor vehicle stop per shift, according to CT Insider. Department officials claimed it wasn’t a quota because it only mandated a stop, not a ticket or any other kind of outcome.
Similarly, Sanders’ messages do not mandate tickets, but rather just “traffic stops.” Most traffic stops by CSP result in either a written or verbal warning, according to the Connecticut State Police data dashboard.
The number of citations and summonses issued can be used for evaluating a trooper’s performance under state statute, however, something that came up during an investigation into an alleged fake ticket scandal in 2022 when investigators determined four troopers created hundreds of fake tickets, allegedly to make them appear more productive and thus be rewarded.
Although some motorists may be angry at the possibility of being ticketed under a possible quota, others may see the push for more traffic enforcement as a welcome development following years of decreased traffic enforcement on Connecticut’s highways, coupled with an increase in wrong-way driving during and after the COVID pandemic.
According to the CSP dashboard, as of 2025, trooper had initiated 90,061 traffic stops, 42 percent fewer stops than in 2019 when there were 156,895 traffic stops.
The most recent data from the CT Data Collaborative, which accounts for both state and municipal police throughout the state, show that traffic stops bottomed out in 2020 when a sizeable portion of the public began working from home and many businesses were closed. The number of traffic stops began to increase after that, but as of 2024, remained 19 percent lower than in 2019.
Concern regarding the amount of traffic enforcement, troopers, pay, and the effect Connecticut’s Police Accountability Act, passed in 2020 in reaction to the death of George Floyd, had on police morale were discussed and debated by state lawmakers prior to approval of a State Police labor contract in 2023.
The 2023 contract was meant to increase recruitment for Connecticut State Police through better pay to boost the department’s ranks and hopefully reduce overtime. At the time the contract was approved, CSP had 888 officers; there were roughly 950 as of December 2025.
Overtime costs have shown no signs of slowing down. Over the course of fiscal year 2023, CSP spent $41.7 million in overtime for the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. Fiscal year 2026 saw overtime increase to $53.9 million, according to the Office of Fiscal Analysis.
According to the state’s open records website, Sgt. Sanders has averaged $86,000 in overtime pay for the last three years, pushing his total pay between $219,000 and $230,000 per year. Overtime pay is included in pension calculations.
So far this year, CSP troopers have initiated 43,201 traffic stops, with speeding accounting for most of those stops. Forty-two percent of those stops have resulted in a written warning; 15 percent were issued a verbal warning, and 36 percent were issued an infraction ticket.
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