NRPD ‘Counting on People Being Disengaged’ as AG Investigation Continues

On Wednesday, July 3, to mark the one-year anniversary of the killing of Jarrel “CeeTwo” Garris by New Rochelle Police Detective Steven Conn, protestors gathered for a candlelight vigil outside St. Catherine A.M.E. Zion Church on Lincoln Avenue, the site of the killing.

Exactly one year ago, on July 3, 2023, 37-year-old Garris was shot by Detective Conn after the owner of New Rochelle Farms called the NRPD alleging he had stolen some fruit. Garris died a week later. 

His family and their supporters are demanding justice while waiting for the results of an investigation by New York State Attorney General Letitia James. Meanwhile Conn and two other police officers who were at the scene of the killing are on administrative leave, with pay.

As required, whenever a police officer “may have caused the death of a person,” on July 11, 2023, Attorney General James opened an investigation into the killing. The New York State Police and the Westchester County District Attorney are also investigating. 

The attorney for the Garris family, William Wagstaff, said, “Everything is at a standstill … because of the ongoing investigation.” by James. “It needs to go through the bureaucratic steps; the Civil Rights Division, the Law Enforcement Division, and then go up to an Executive Team to make a recommendation. Then the Attorney General will decide whether the case is going to be sent to the grand jury to determine whether there is enough evidence that there was a crime that was committed.  Alternatively, they write a report  explaining why they didn’t find there is enough evidence to send the case to the grand jury.”

Wagstaff continued, “We’ve already served the City with a notice of claim, but we can’t move forward to the next step of formally filing the civil rights lawsuit because the judge will not allow us to get any evidence as long as there is an ongoing criminal investigation.” The Garris family cannot “pursue justice in the courts because they are stymied. They can’t get accountability for the officer and have him actually prosecuted,” he said. 

Wagstaff called on everyone “to write and call the Attorney General’s office because at the end of the day, she, like every other elected official, works for you. They have been elected to serve you. Right now, you are not being served. They are counting on people to go to sleep. They are counting on people to be disengaged.”

After lighting candles and releasing balloons to honor Jarrel, protestors marched to the New Rochelle Police Department headquarters around the corner on North Avenue where they gathered on the steps and called on the police to come out and hear what the family had to say about the killing.. 

“They took an oath and they have been disrespecting the oath they took,” Rodney Bynum told the crowd. “A year later, after they killed my cousin, we are asking for justice.” He continued, “They disrespect and bully the people who they have been sworn to serve. When are we going to get justice? How long are their colleagues going to be paid by us?”  

Chanting, “Justice for Jarrel! Justice for Jarrel! Justice for Jarrel! ” protestors then marched back to the corner of Lincoln Ave. and North Ave. in front of the New Rochelle Farms store. 

There, Bynum and Jarrel’s father, Raymond ‘C2’ Fowler, addressed the police officers on the scene.

The Garris killing was reminiscent of that of Kamal Flowers by NRPD officer Alec McKenna in June 2020—both were preventable deaths resulting from unnecessary, overaggressive police tactics that would never be tolerated in white communities. 

No one has been held accountable for the Flowers killing either.

Meanwhile, New Rochelle’s Community-Police Partnership Board (CPPB) has delivered its detailed proposal for a Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) to the City Council.  The proposal, which calls for a weak “review-only” board with no independent investigative authority or input into police discipline, will be discussed by the Council on Tuesday, July 9.  Members of the public will be able to comment on the proposal at Citizens To Be Heard on Tuesday evening, July 9, and at a planned public hearing on the CCRB on September 10.  A detailed analysis of the proposal can be found here, and the full text of the proposal can be found here.

The conduct of the NRPD has also drawn the attention of the New Rochelle Democratic Committee, representing the political party that is firmly in control of City Hall. On May 23, the NRDC adopted a resolution proposed by District Leader Gene Tozzi to create a committee to “keep abreast of policing and police reform in the City of New Rochelle,” and “report findings and recommendations to the full NRDC.”