When a law-enforcement agency allows its own managers to approve their own pay, accountability isn’t just missing — it’s broken.
For years, the Connecticut State Police have paid out tens of millions of dollars in overtime with limited oversight. But internal records, whistleblower interviews, and recent reports reveal deeper issues: a culture where internal controls have eroded and oversight mechanisms have failed.
At the center of the latest controversy is Lt. Robert Hazen, a longtime trooper whose paychecks have quietly ballooned alongside his authority. Hazen was promoted to sergeant in 2021 and quickly ascended to become chief of staff to a lieutenant colonel.
In 2022, he collected $165,000, including $40,000 in overtime. In 2023, that total climbed to $223,000, with $78,000 in overtime. By 2024, Hazen made $259,000, nearly $122,000 of that in overtime. This year, as a newly promoted lieutenant, he has already banked $32,000 in overtime — much of it approved by Hazen himself.
Approving His Own Overtime
An anonymous internal complaint filed in 2024 outlined what some within the department describe as an “open secret”: Hazen had “gone unsupervised and unchecked for more than a year.”
Independent reviews of payroll data obtained by attorney Rachel Baird through the state’s Kronos timekeeping system show Hazen repeatedly logging and approving his own overtime — including on holidays, weekends, and even while on leave. Screenshots appear to show duplicate, near-daily entries that were never verified by supervisors.
“These discoveries raise serious concerns about lack of oversight, accountability, and transparency within the Connecticut State Police,” Baird said in an Oct. 3 press release. “In what other job can an employee approve their own overtime?”
Baird added that the issue extends beyond payroll paperwork — it’s about public trust, noting that the controversy involves taxpayer dollars and “should be of great concern to every citizen of Connecticut.”
What troubled her most, she added, was the agency’s response. Instead of tightening oversight or enforcing stricter controls, command staff focused on protecting themselves — consolidating all communication and public information “up the chain of command” to limit exposure.
In response to questions from Yankee Institute about whether Hazen approved his own overtime entries in Kronos and what safeguards exist to prevent employees from self-approving overtime, Rick Green, director of communications for the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP), said the agency is reviewing the matter.
Green noted that, under Commissioner Ronnell A. Higgins, DESPP’s six divisions have been working to reduce overtime costs, achieving an 8 percent decrease during the last fiscal year. He said all overtime “is carefully scrutinized and must be approved in advance by supervisors,” and that managers in each division review overtime costs and trends monthly as part of the department’s ongoing effort to manage expenses.
The department added that it “is looking into questions that have been raised about approval of overtime.” The statement did not mention Hazen by name, describing only a broader review of overtime practices.
Green also pointed out that the Connecticut State Police — which account for the vast majority of DESPP’s overtime costs — continue to operate with a shortage of roughly 250 troopers.
The Gag Order Disguised as “Integrity”
Following the revelations, the department’s top brass focused not on policy reform but on restricting internal communication. In a September 25 internal memo, Colonel Daniel Loughman, commanding officer of the State Police, ordered that all public and media communications be routed through his office to “maintain the integrity of the agency.”
The memo did not mention overtime specifically, but it was issued days after the allegations surfaced publicly in a Summary Judgment video posted by attorney Baird. The video features the anonymous complaint in full, along with screenshots from Kronos showing Hazen’s June and July 2024 overtime entries — and his own approvals.
The timing and language left many troopers interpreting the directive as a warning not to discuss the matter outside the chain of command.
The memo further cautioned that “unauthorized release of internal information” could result in “disciplinary review,” a move that, according to several sources, created unease among staff already concerned about transparency.
Morale and the Double Standard
A whistleblower who spoke with Yankee Institute described a department where culture is starting to take a toll on morale. They described a system of “favoritism and fear,” where rank-and-file troopers knew better than to question management.
When one lieutenant attempted to restrict Hazen’s ability to approve his own overtime, the decision was overturned. “This isn’t the hill I want to die on,” a captain reportedly said after being told to drop it.
Meanwhile, other troopers accused of minor overtime infractions were suspended and investigated. The double standard couldn’t have been clearer — the rules only applied to those without rank.
“It’s not just the money,” said the whistleblower. “It’s that guys like him [Hazen] get away with it, while everyone else walks on eggshells. That’s what kills morale.”
A System Built to Be Abused
If the Hazen case were an anomaly, it might be brushed off as bad judgment. But state auditors, research organizations, and payroll records all tell the same story: this is how the system works.
A June 2025 state audit of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP), which oversees the State Police, found overpayments of $141,000 and failed to properly document or monitor overtime.
Auditors reported that 15 troopers earned more in overtime than in base pay, collecting $4.6 million in OT on top of $3.2 million in salary over two years. Basic attendance records were so inconsistent that dozens of overtime payments couldn’t be verified.
In a review of 30 troopers, auditors discovered that the department could not substantiate 220 hours of regular overtime and more than 1,000 hours of special-duty overtime because of missing or incomplete documentation.
The audit noted that the agency had not updated its time and attendance policy since 2006, despite adopting the Kronos system in 2020 — the same system Hazen used to approve his own time. The agency attributed many of these problems to “staffing shortages,” admitting that half its payroll unit positions were vacant.
A separate study by the Nutmeg Research Initiative, commissioned by Yankee Institute, found that between 2010 and 2025, the State Police logged $578 million in overtime — nearly one-quarter of it earned within three years of retirement eligibility. Among the 13 highest overtime earners who recently retired, starting pensions averaged $140,700 a year — about 34 percent higher than their final base salaries.
The analysis concluded that the department’s structure and outdated pension rules continue to incentivize overtime “spiking,” a practice still available to more than 800 officers hired before 2017.
The Bottom Line
Most Connecticut troopers serve with professionalism and pride, often under difficult and dangerous conditions. The problem is not the officers on the road — it is the system above them that tolerates lax oversight, outdated policies, and inconsistent enforcement.
When those entrusted with leadership treat accountability as optional, they erode both morale within the ranks and trust among the public. Connecticut taxpayers — and the majority of troopers who play by the rules — deserve a department where integrity and oversight are standard operating procedure, not exceptions to it.
