East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr. said the town has met its deadlines thus far under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office for Civil Rights. The investigation into East Haven's police department began in 2010. In a 2011 report, federal authorities found that police there intentionally targeted Latinos for traffic stops, and used excessive force against those taken into custody.
The report described a lack of basic law enforcement procedures in East Haven to prevent racial profiling. The town reached a settlement agreement with the DOJ in 2012. It included requirements that East Haven completely revise police policies and procedures, better train officers, improve data collection, and submit semi-annual reports on stops and seizures.
Maturo said the town’s success to date in satisfying the agreement demonstrates that the East Haven Police Department is on the right track. "Our department now has an early intervention system for determining if stops and searches are exceeding the norm on a particular shift or in a particular way," Maturo said in a statement. "We have the ability to more easily identify patterns of stops and ensure that they are legitimate and lawful."