New law prevents local police from enforcing town ordinances past town border

 

HARTFORD–With his wife by his side, former MLB  player and current ESPN analyst Doug Glanville looked on as Gov. Dan Malloy signed a new bill into law.

 

“What gave rise to these circumstances quite frankly shouldn’t have happened,” Malloy said before he signed the bill.

 

On a winter day in 2014, Glanville was shoveling his driveway in the West End of Hartford when he was approached by a West Hartford police officer, who had crossed the town line investigating a complaint about a man shoveling driveways for pay, which is a violation of an ordinance involving door-to-door solicitations.

 

The man was simply described as black.

 

Glanville was forced to explain to an officer from another town that he was standing in his own driveway. He got no apology from the police officer.

 

Glanville wrote about the encounter in an article titled “I Was Racially Profiled in My Own Driveway,” which appeared in The Atlantic. It made national headlines.

 

On Monday, the governor gave Glanville what many believe he deserved that day.

 

“If no one else has apologized, I apologize for the hassling you took,” said Malloy. “But I think out of that gave rise to a meaningful piece of legislation an important piece of legislation.”

 

The new law prevents officers from crossing town borders to enforce local ordinances, drawing a clear line for police and constituents.

 

“It’s a small clarification in some respect but it can be big if we sort of look at what’s happening in our country and try to figure out a way where Connecticut can be proactive,” said Glanville.

 

Glenn Cassis, the executive director of the African-American Affairs Commission, says Glanville has shown change is possible.

 

“That’s a big message that folks need to understand,” said Cassis, “that the system does work.  It can work.”

 

“It’s very powerful that everybody got in a collaborative spirit and were able to come up with this law,” Glanville said.