FACT CHECK: CT IS BECOMING SAFER UNDER GOV LAMONT

CONTACT
[email protected]

Hartford, CT — Under Governor Lamont, crime in Connecticut is trending down. Just yesterday, the state police released its most recent stats showing crime declining. Claims to the contrary are wrong.

• Governor Lamont has made the biggest increase in history for public safety statewide, totaling $547 million last year alone.

• That has meant adding new police officers to the force to keep our community safe. Under Lamont, state police has had the most diverse classes of state police. [CT Post, 10/9/20]

According to new data released yesterday:

Data from the report shows that between 2020 and 2021, Connecticut experienced a:

• 3% reduction in overall crime;
• 9% reduction in violent crime; and a
• 2% reduction in property crimes.

• Headline, Hartford Courant: Crime in Connecticut continues downward trend in 2021 with violent crime, motor vehicle theft down, according to report [Hartford Courant, 
• Under Lamont, Connecticut has been one of the safest states in the nation, with a violent crime rate that is the fourth lowest in the country. [US News & World Report, accessed 1/5/22]
• Gov. Lamont passed a bipartisan crime bill to address repeated motor vehicle theft. [CT Mirror, 4/28/22]
• WalletHub ranked Connecticut as the best place to be a police officer in the United States. [WalletHub, 5/9/22]
• Funding for the Department of Emergency Services & Public Protection funding increased from $253.78 Million in 2018 to $547.79 Million in 2021. [CT Office of Comptroller, Accessed 7/14/22]

###

Additionally, the report finds that over the last ten years overall crime in Connecticut has fallen 30%, including a 43% reduction in violent crime and a 29% reduction in property crime. [Office of the Governor, 9/26/22]

It’s no wonder that Connecticut is considered one of the best places in America to be a police officer.

Patrick Daley, chief of the Norwich Police Department, said Connecticut was “a great place to work as a police officer.”

“This study that was published the other day really hit on what some of us already knew: Connecticut police officers are highly trained, they are well compensated, they have good job protections, and violent crimes rates are good,” he said.

BACKGROUND:

His efforts to address crime at every level are making the state safer. Gov. Lamont has invested in robust recruitment efforts, provided funding for forensics labs and established prevention and diversion programs to stop crime at the root and preserve Connecticut’s status as one of the safest states in the country.

Gov. Lamont’s efforts to increase gun safety have saved lives across the state– signing multiple gun control bills, including policies that strengthen the state’s red flag laws, ban ghost guns, and require safe storage of weapons.

###