Associated Press and The Enquirer

YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio — Dave Chappelle is urging progressive policing in his southwestern Ohio hometown, where questions have been raised about police tactics at a New Year's Eve celebration.

The comedian spoke at a meeting Monday in Yellow Springs, where he and other village residents listened to a review of police behavior. Residents have complained about the use of a police cruiser to disperse the crowd and police handling of stun guns that night.

The Dayton Daily News reported that hundreds of complaints about what critics called heavy-handed tactics at the celebration led the police chief to resign.

“Huge gaffe New Year’s Eve,” Chappelle said, after saying expressing appreciation of the police departing, saying that on at least two occasions officers had protected him.

"Given what the culture of our town is like, council has a tremendous opportunity to be a leader in progressive policing, Chappelle said.

The New Year's Eve celebration is like a reunion and usually free of problems, according to Yellow Springs News.

“In all fairness, the crowd was drunk … because it was New Year’s Eve,” Chappelle said, drawing laughs from those attending Monday's council meeting. “And I left early, because nobody felt completely right. So I am trying to be balanced and fair.”

The incidents that night have drawn national attention after a New York Times report.

Chappelle said one reason the events drew the New York Times' attention was that the paper's travel editor was a Yellow Springs native. At the time, he said, residents in the small community knew police officers personally and they were part of the community.

"Now we are being policed by what feels like an alien force," Chappelle said.

Chappelle said in his remarks that the village council should take a "golden opportunity" to prove local governments matter when searching for a new chief and to become a leader in progressive law enforcement.

"In this Trump year, this is an opportunity to show everybody that local politics reigns supreme," Chappelle said.