Residents berate City Council over police killing

Residents of New Rochelle poured out their grief and anger over the police killing of Jarrell Garris at the City Council’s regular “Citizens to Be Heard” forum at City Hall on Tuesday evening, July 11.  For almost two hours, speaker after speaker demanded accountability and a profoundly different approach to policing and public safety.  A video of the full hearing can be found here.

Garris was fatally shot by New Rochelle Detective Steven Conn on Lincoln Avenue on July 3 after allegedly eating some fruit at the New Rochelle Farms market on North Avenue and leaving without paying.  Bodycam videos show that Conn unnecessarily escalated a routine police encounter into a violent confrontation.  Garris died on July 10 after a week in a coma.  

The killing of Jarrell Garris came almost exactly three years after the killing of another New Rochelle resident, Kamal Flowers, by NRPD Officer Alec McKenna after a questionable traffic stop and foot chase in June of 2020.  McKenna was never held accountable for his actions in that incident.  

At Citizens to Be Heard, several speakers spoke of the sense of threat Black men experience in the presence of New Rochelle police officers.  Kaseen Parnell singled out New Rochelle for a unique level of police violence: “I can honestly say as of right now, as far as it comes to protecting and serving, it’s safer to live in Yonkers, Mount Vernon ,Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, and Manhattan than New Rochelle…and that hurts.”  David Peters spoke of the constant threat faced by Black men in New Rochelle: “We’ve been in this community for many many years, and what remains the same is that each and every one of us, and myself as a Black man, feel threatened and believe that anytime I’m in an encounter with the police that I can die.”  Patricia Cherry spoke of police officers visiting elementary schools so that the children could interact with police.  “They were told to go to the police if something’s wrong, they’re going to help you, it‘s safe,” she said.  “I can’t tell that to my children now.” 

Several people compared the treatment of Black and white people by the New Rochelle police.   “At eleven years old,” said Rev. James E. Booker, “my mother said, ‘Jimmy, if you’re running for the bus and you hear a police officer say stop, stop–even if you know it’s not you.’  I wonder how many of you had to tell your children that.”  Rashan Davis spoke of the “discomfort” of being a Black man surrounded by several police officers.  “Never in my 48 years in New Rochelle have I seen four cops surrounding a white kid,” he said.  Dr. Dan Miller, who is white, said he often samples grapes when he is shopping.  “No one accosts me in the street, no one threatens my life, and no one shoots me,” he said.  “I think we know why.”

Several speakers decried the failure to de-escalate the encounter with Garris.  “The only thing that a gun does is kill humans,” said Noel Brown.  “Like they got tasers, there’s training, we can speak to them, this is a community.”  “There were so many alternative approaches to this situation,”said Maxine Golub, who said she was “ashamed and disgusted that my tax dollars have been used to shoot a man over a few dollars worth of fruit.”

Speakers accused the City Council and City Manager of having failed to address the violent police culture that cost Flowers, and now Garris, their lives.  “The killing of Kamal Flowers … was an opportunity that we missed,” said Lisa Burton.  “We can’t keep acting like there is nothing wrong.”  Scott Stevenson reminded the Council of their responsibility to fix the problem: “A fish doesn’t stink from the middle,…it stinks from the head down. You do the hiring, you’re responsible.”  And Marvin Whittle felt it necessary to remind the City Council that Black people are human: “It’s a shame when you have to stand in front of a body of people and explain to people that you are people.”  

Finally, several people spoke to the need for community organizing and leadership.  Eric Stevenson called for the community to confront the city power structure:  “The message to power is, don’t take this for a joke,” said Stevenson.  “Start to organize the community right now.”  Charleen Nixon agreed: “We need to have a plan, and we need to have actions, and we need to hold people accountable… I know with the right training and with the right plans, we can make this happen.”  Dr. Carla Woolbright warned, “We cannot let other people choose our leaders for us.”