Council hears continued calls for greater police accountability and transparency

Once again, dissatisfaction with the New Rochelle Police Department (NRPD) was a major topic of discussion at the City Council’s monthly Citizens To Be Heard session on Tuesday, February 11. This time, the focus was on the decision by Commissioner Robert Gazzola to exonerate Detective Steven Conn, who shot and killed Jarrel Garris, a non-violent Black man, with a mental health disability, on Lincoln Avenue on July 3, 2023, after Garris had allegedly eaten a few pieces of fruit at the New Rochelle Farms market and left without paying.  Gazzola’s statement on the incident, issued on January 31, stated that, “None of the officers involved committed violations of department policies or procedures that would have prevented the outcome of the incident.”

Aisha Cook, President of the New Rochelle Branch of the NAACP, noted that Detective Conn saw Garris behaving oddly and offered to help him before the incident at the market.  “This interaction should have prompted a call to the mental health crisis team,” Cook said, “instead of a rush to shoot and kill Mr. Garris a few minutes later in the middle of Lincoln Avenue with cars driving by and pedestrians in the area.”

Cook stated that Detective Conn had shot a dog near Columbus Elementary School at dismissal time several years ago while parents were waiting in the area.  “Are we supposed to feel safer with this detective responding to calls in our community?” Cook asked.  “If no policies or protocols were violated, is escalation the rule of thumb in our Police Department?”

Cook also cited the report of the New York State Attorney General which stated, “While deaths and serious injuries resulting from an encounter over a petty offense are rare, they are among the most distressing and perhaps the most preventable of poor law enforcement outcomes.”

“Wasn’t Jarrel’s death preventable?” Cook asked the Council.  “Should he be dead right now?  Something needs to change….  You’re the people who need to make that change happen.  We’ll work with you, but something needs to change.”

Aisha Cook and Damon Maher

Damon Maher read a statement from Damon K. Jones of Blacks in Law Enforcement of America calling for greater transparency from the NRPD, particularly about use-of-force policies.  “Without a clear explanation of the policy in question,” Jones wrote, “the public wonders whether the City of New Rochelle and the NRPD’s decision was grounded in objective standards or merely an effort to protect the officer from accountability.” 

“The City of New Rochelle cannot use the failure of New York State Attorney General Letitia James to indict Detective Conn as a ‘get out of accountability’ card to avoid holding its officer responsible,” Jones’s statement continued. “The absence of criminal charges does not absolve the department or the city of their duty to ensure that officers adhere to the highest standards of conduct and training. Policies and training exist to prevent the loss of life — whether that of an officer or a civilian. When a life is lost, it is clear that something went wrong. Either a policy was not properly followed, the officer wasn’t properly trained, or the policy itself was insufficient — because if the system had worked as intended, Mr. Garris would be alive today.”

Bruce Soloway placed the Garris shooting in the context of several other attacks by white NRPD officers on local Black men, including the June 2020 killing of Kamal Flowers by Officer Alec McKenna after a still-unexplained pursuit by car and on foot, and the videotaped attempt by Lieutenant Sean Kane in May 2024 to frame Ivin Harper on drug charges by planting a bag of white powder under his car. 

“There appears to be a culture of racism, violence, and impunity at the NRPD,” Soloway told the Council.  “Hopefully, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, which you approved last year, will soon help to bring some measure of accountability.” 

“But will that be enough?” Soloway asked.  “The NRPD seems to need deep reform and cultural change.  Can the current leadership of the NRPD, groomed within the department for decades, lead that transformation?  Perhaps only under new leadership will the NRPD be able to regain the public’s trust as an agency of public safety rather than an ongoing threat.”

Bruce Soloway and Eugene Tozzi

Eugene Tozzi recalled the bodycam video showing how Detective Conn “barged into the situation and within seconds yelled, ‘You’re under arrest,’ grabbed Mr. Garris, and precipitated a struggle in which Conn claimed the right to self-defense.”

“Commissioner Gazzola sees no problem here, “Tozzi said.  “Does he want us to believe that had Detective Conn not come on the scene, this incident would have played out in the same way?  Get real… I see a big problem here. I hope you, Mr. City Manager. Madam Mayor, Council Members, Corporation Counsel, City Clerk and Deputy Clerk, I hope you all see a problem and a big one here.”

Tozzi called for two key reforms.  “One, if the suspect is responding erratically and is not violent, you call the mental health team that is on duty all day two blocks away at police headquarters…. Two, do not escalate an encounter with a non-violent subject who poses no apparent danger to officers or the public by introducing violent physical force into the situation.”

And Tozzi demanded the implementation of Project ABLE, a national program “to teach officers effective ways to step in when they witness misconduct.”

Rodney Bynum

Finally, Rodney Bynum, a cousin of Jarrel Garris, criticized the city’s leaders for failing to schedule meetings where the community could hold them accountable.  He said that a recent evening meeting with Gazzola and City Manager Wilfredo Melendez at Generations Church was called without adequate advance notice, and quarterly “Citizens for a Better New Rochelle” meetings with police brass are held during the day when most community members are unable to attend.