The state has reached a tentative three-year labor agreement with the union representing about 900 troopers and supervisors with the Connecticut State Police, according to a Thursday press release from Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration.
The agreement covers wages, benefits and working conditions for troopers, sergeants and master sergeants from July of this year through the end of June, 2026. The administration declined to provide details of the deal until it can be reviewed by rank and file police.
However, Lamont said that there will be “more money for starting salaries.”
In a statement, the governor and his public safety commissioner, James Rovella, said the new agreement would help encourage the recruitment and retention of state police personnel, whose ranks the state has struggled to maintain in recent years.
“It is an investment in the future of public safety in our state by incentivizing the recruitment of top-quality candidates, as well as the retention of our current troopers,” Lamont said. “Additional education, training, and professional development benefits are provided under the terms of the agreement, while also recognizing the importance of work-life balance through annual health and wellness funding.”
“I believe that we are providing benefits and wages that will attract the best candidates possible while recognizing the sacrifices of the men and women of the Connecticut State Police,” Rovella said.
The state police union has at times been at odds with the governor during his first term. Two years ago, its members voted “no confidence” in Lamont and his public safety leadership team due in part to his support of the 2020 police accountability law.
However, Thursday’s press release included remarks from the union’s president, Todd Fedigan, who expressed gratitude for the administration’s recognition of the role of state police in preserving public safety.
“The Connecticut State Police Union leadership believes this agreement recognizes the unique circumstances and dangers of our profession,” Fedigan said.
State police last adopted a new contract in 2019. The legislature approved that roughly $48 million contract with an exemption to Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act that limited the release of information related to troopers’ personnel files or internal affairs investigations.
When the police accountability law later reversed that exemption to allow the public release of the documents, the union unsuccessfully sought a restraining order to block that provision from going into effect. A federal court judge later denied the union’s request for court intervention.
