State police have launched an internal affairs investigation after being made aware of a trooper’s “disturbing” behavior in a video posted on YouTube, according to officials.
Colonel Stavros Mellekas said in a statement that Connecticut State Police were made aware of a video posted on social media involving TFC Matthew Spina.
“While the Trooper’s behavior in the video is disturbing, it is not indicative of the great work of the women and men of the Connecticut State Police and their dedication to protecting and serving during this pandemic,’ Mellekas said in the statement.
“We hold our Troopers to high standards and the behavior displayed in the video is not reflective of the values of Commissioner Rovella or my administration,” the statement goes on to say.
An internal affairs investigation has begun and Trooper Spina has been placed in an administrative capacity, which does not allow him to interact with the public.
“We do recognize that all of us everywhere are under extreme stress during this pandemic. For our troopers, they are dealing with the impact on their personal lives along with workplace stressors of being on the frontline,’ Mellekas said. “While not an excuse, we are sensitive to this and also referred the trooper to our employee assistance program. We have also recently launched a resiliency program to help all our employees dealing with this pandemic. We will release more information as it becomes available.”
