East Lansing's first African-American police chief to be remembered at memorial

EAST LANSING — East Lansing's first and only African-American police chief, who led the department for nearly a decade including during the 1999 MSU riots, will be remembered at a memorial service Saturday.

Lawton Connelly served as East Lansing's police chief from 1991 to 2000 and was known for community policing efforts and working with neighboring police departments.

He died Nov. 15 of heart failure while at Sparrow Hospital at 78.

During his tenure, Connelly led a police force in the March 27-28, 1999 riots when up to 10,000 people tore through downtown East Lansing and the campus of Michigan State University after the MSU men's basketball team lost in the Final Four in that year's NCAA Tournament.

He became East Lansing's first African-American police chief on Sept. 30, 1991, which was something he was "definitely very proud of," his son Lawton Connelly, Jr. said.

Connelly was also responsible for doing a mass amount of hiring, current East Lansing Police Capt. Chad Connelly said. Chad Connelly is not related to Lawton Connelly.

During his time as chief, the police department reached its highest employee count ever at 67, Chad Connelly said. It was during then-President Bill Clinton's cops grant era when mass hiring in police departments was commonplace.

"In East Lansing, he’ll be remembered for all the hiring and growth that occurred in the police department under his command, which was obviously a very good thing for the East Lansing community, and for successfully navigating us through some obviously turbulent times," Chad Connelly said. "Overall, he was a very fair chief."

Connelly joined the Philadelphia Police Department in 1963. During his 28 years there, he worked his way up from corporal to sergeant, then to lieutenant and captain and finally, inspector.

While with the Philadelphia Police Department, Connelly began going to night school at Temple University in Philadelphia and earned his bachelor's degree in 1980. He went on to get his master's degree from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia in 1993.

"He also completed a police executive program at Harvard University," Lawton Connelly, Jr. said. "So education was always very big with my father."

Following his work in Philadelphia, Lawton moved to East Lansing after accepting the chief position, where he remained even after his retirement in 2000.

Connelly stayed in East Lansing following his retirement from police work in 2000.

He was heavily involved with the Kiwanis Club in East Lansing, which he joined in 1992, and served on its Board of Directors.

"He was very active in volunteer work of all kinds. We had a lot of food distribution, and early on, he was involved in that," Robert Ward, who met Connelly when they both served as directors, said. "He was a highly respected person, and he was always very positive."

Connelly was also active in his church, Union Missionary Baptist Church. He was a member of the men's ministry, men's bible study and was a part of the church's security team.

"Chief always had a lot of inspiring and deep, thought-provoking things to say," Chairman of Deacons Wayne Lynn said. "He was always ready to help, and I’d just love to sit and talk with him about being an African-American chief of police chief in East Lansing and some of the things he dealt with and ways he was able to be an effective leader. I was always inspired by how he made things happen."

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Connelly was one of 17 children. He was born Jan. 30, 1940 to parents Drusilla Connelly and Earl Connelly, Sr.

"I think the legacy he left is that if you set your mind on a goal and put in the work to achieve it, then the sky is the limit," Lawton Connelly, Jr. said. "My dad was very easy to talk to, always willing to give advice and uplift. If you met him, he touched your life."

Connelly was preceded in death by his daughter, Adrienne Connelly. He is survived by his son, Lawton Connelly, Jr., his daughter-in-law, Towanda Connelly and his granddaughter, Jennifer Moore.

The memorial service will be held Saturday at noon at Union Missionary Baptist Church, located at 500 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Lansing. A police honor guard will attend the memorial.

Contact Madison O'Connor at 517-377-1047 or moconnor1@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @madisonoconn.