Senate Passes Bills Related to Police Conduct

Protesting racial profiling by police and video-recording officers harassing Latinos in led to , and on Thursday the state Senate gave the New Haven priest further vindication.

The Connecticut Mirror online news service reported that the Senate passed two bills, one to strengthen the state’s racial profiling law with new monitoring requirements and the other to allow individuals to sue officers who stop them from recording police on duty as long as it doesn’t interfere with public safety or the privacy of a crime victim.

Both issues have involved allegations against East Haven police by Manship, who appeared at a press conference by supporters of the bills prior to the state Senate debate.

Manship appeared at a Latino-owned East Haven store in 2009 to video-record police officers accused of harassing the storeowner and customers. When officers responded by arresting him, the U.S. Justice Department started an investigation that led to the arrest last January of four East Haven police officers.