The July 3 murder of Jarrell Garris by New Rochelle Detective Steven Conn dominated the Citizens To Be Heard session of the City Council’s Committee of The Whole on Tuesday, September 12, the first Council meeting after the annual August recess.

Jarrell’s mother, Janet Garris, expressed her grief as the Mayor, City Council Members and City Manager sat stone faced. In addition to grieving the loss of her beloved first born, Garris said she now fears for the future of her living son and feels that the city should be doing more to attain justice for Jarrell. “I can’t sleep, I can’t eat and I don’t want to let my son out of my sight. And when this went on, I heard about other incidents happening with the police, I’m just distraught right now,” she said, asking, “Have you listened to the 911 call from the store?”  She continued, “ I know you all have seen the body cam, he was executed… that was my first born and right now I just want to make sure that we get justice.”

Citizens To Be Heard is a regular monthly forum where the public is allowed to address the City Council and City Manager about any topic they deem important. Any individual can sign up to speak and is given three minutes in which to voice his or her opinion. 

New RoAR News reported on the July 18 Citizens To Be Heard forum shortly after Garris was killed. The overwhelming concerns from the people who attended then and at the September 12 session were the shooting by Detective Conn, Garris’s death, the grief experienced by his family, and the systemic issues surrounding the killing.

Rodney Bynum asked the city to not wait for New York State Attorney General Letitia James to render a verdict and to fire Detective Conn now. Bynum is a member of Jarrell Garris’s family who has been demanding justice for his cousin since his death.

Gene Tozzi also spoke at the September 12 meeting. “Two times within three years a young Black man killed by our police, yours and mine, traumatizing every young Black man in our city, believe it. I’m waiting to hear the plan that will change this.” After submitting these thought-provoking remarks, Tozzi remained standing quietly at the podium for the remainder of his allotted time, creating a powerful communal moment of silence in memory of Jarrell Garris.

Aisha Cook spoke as the first vice president of the New Rochelle NAACP.  Cook asked these important questions:

1. “It’s been two months since the murder of Jarrell Garris.  What has changed since that time? 

2. “What are you doing to ensure that this doesn’t happen again?

3. ”What new systems have been put in place to prevent unarmed Black men from getting gunned down in our streets? 

4. “Will the city immediately release the 911 audio call of the store owner reporting Jarrell’s presence in his store?

5. “ Have you all watched the entire unedited body cam footage from the officers involved on July 3rd?

6.  “Will there be departmental disciplinary charges filed against Det. Conn?

7. “How frequently are New Rochelle police officers trained to handle civilians with perceived mental illness, how is that training administered, and when was the last time these officers received the training?

8. “How frequently are officers psychologically tested once they’re on the job, especially after they experience traumas on the job?

9. ”How frequently are officers trained on racial sensitivity and when was the last time the officers involved received this training?

10. ”What will you commit to do to change the feeling that some in our community are protected and served while others are hunted and killed?”

In addition to these questions, Cook reminded the audience of the historic oppression that African Americans have had to face within the city of New Rochelle.

In her statement, Maxine Golub said, “I just want to take this opportunity to make sure that our city is learning something from the death of Jarrell Garris. We need to change the culture of our police force. We need to make sure that every member of our force learns the value of every life and learns how to de-escalate a crisis which, I might add, this was not, until Detective Conn arrived on the scene.” She continued, “I want to make sure that Detective Conn is not permitted to stay on our police force because only if he is dismissed or charged will other members of our force realize that this is not an acceptable response to a minor shoplifting charge by a man with known mental health difficulties.” Golub concluded, “This Council must address this issue so that Black men in our city are not traumatized and killed over minor offenses.”

Dr. Marianne Makman expressed her profound condolences to the family and then offered her professional thoughts as a retired psychiatrist. “A person known to be mentally ill as poor Jarrell Garris was. The crisis team must be called as soon as there is any question….The women officers who were first encountered, when the police were called, handled this beautifully. They did not touch him. They tried to reason with him calmly. That was a good start. But when Officer Conn came on the scene, he did all of the wrong things. He touched him aggressively. He yelled at him, and the situation ended in the tragic way it did. And I add that, had poor Mr. Garris been white, I’m sure he wouldn’t be dead. More training, training, training, training, anti-racist training, officer selection and careful training of officers. My condolences to all of us for having allowed this to happen.”

There will be another Citizens To Be Heard session on Tuesday, October 10, at 7 pm at City Hall, and family, friends and community are expected, once again, to gather to demand justice for Jarrell Garris.