A week after a tense encounter involving a police officer who refused to provide his name and badge number to a man in Newhallville, the city’s police chief visited the scene of the incident to participate in a neighborhood cookout — where he spoke with residents about what went wrong and how police need to do better.

Community Response

The cookout took place midday on Saturday near Hazel Street and Shelton Avenue. Several dozen people turned out to enjoy hot dogs, burgers, and wings, as well as eggs and pancakes. The confrontation at the center of discussion, meanwhile, occurred the prior Saturday, July 18, at around 10:30 a.m. at that same spot.

Yancey Horton — better known as Brother Born — has spent the past decade hosting free weekly community breakfasts. According to Horton, last Saturday, an officer had been parked across the street for several minutes when one of the free-breakfast volunteers, Tyrell Dorsey, arrived and got out of his car. The officer reportedly asked him, in a hostile tone, what he was looking at. When Dorsey asked for the officer’s name and badge number, the officer declined to provide it.

Police Response

Horton, who says he stepped in immediately, called it a jarring departure from what he described as an otherwise good relationship with local police. He posted about the incident on Facebook and reached out to the New Haven Police Department, saying his intent wasn’t to put officers “on blast” but to spread awareness. Within half an hour, he said, he heard from the neighborhood’s district manager, Sgt. Jarrel Lowery.

The officer who reportedly refused to identify himself was Kyle Saleh. Lowery said that he wrote Saleh up for violating department policy requiring an officer to provide their name and badge number when asked. Police Chief David Zannelli said he learned of the incident after the fact. He came to this Saturday’s event specifically to meet with Horton in person.

Original reporting: New Haven Independent — read the source article.