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

HARTFORD, Conn. — The top two leaders of Connecticut State Police will be stepping down in the middle of multiple investigations into whether troopers submitted bogus data on thousands of traffic stops that may have never happened, Gov. State public safety Commissioner James Rovella and Col. Stavros Mellekas, commanding officer of state police, will be retiring next month, the Democratic governor said, adding that they were not being forced out. Lamont, who began his second four-year term in January, said, “So every four years I think it’s time to have a fresh start, and that’s what we’re going to do with public safety.” The governor announced his nominee to succeed Rovella is Ronnell Higgins, former police chief at Yale University who now serves as the school’s associate vice president for public safety and community engagement. In August, the state police union voted no confidence in both Rovella and Mellekas, accusing them of not defending troopers against allegations involving the traffic stop data.