WASHINGTON — A New Carrollton councilmember wants to change the Maryland community’s charter after the public learned from a WUSA9 report that a former police officer convicted of assault had recently been hired to another position in city government.
Editor's Note: The posted video originally aired on March 29, 2023.
In June 2021, former New Carrollton Police Sgt. Jeffery Harris arrested a man at a local apartment complex on burglary charges.
The Prince George’s County State’s Attorneys Office (PGSAO) later decided to charge Harris with second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office due to his actions during the arrest.
Body-worn camera footage from Harris’ fellow officers showed he placed the suspect into a cruiser upside down. The suspect’s head rested on the floor of the cruiser as another officer drove the vehicle back to New Carrollton’s municipal offices.
The PGSAO argued Harris’ actions created a “substantial risk of death” for the suspect involved in the incident. Harris was later found guilty on three of the four charges placed against him and sentenced to 45 days time served on January 26.
Unbeknownst to the public, one week later, Harris was offered another job as New Carrollton’s Fleet Services Manager around the same time he resigned from his position as an officer with the city.
On Wednesday night, New Carrollton Councilmember Briana Urbina, who is running for re-election in the city, proposed during a council meeting New Carrollton should prohibit city employees convicted of crimes they commit in office from being rehired by the city’s government.
Urbina initially suggested her idea be crafted into an ordinance. New Carrollton Council Chair Cynthia DB Mills then informed the councilmember the proposal would require the city’s charter to be changed.
“That’s what our job is,” she said. “To put things into the charter. So, I would like to move forward with that.”
Wednesday’s city council meeting lasted roughly three hours. The topic of Harris’ employment with the city came up several times during the discussion.
Both Urbina and New Carrollton Councilmember Katrina Dodro, who is running for mayor, asked multiple questions to city administrators about how New Carrollton was paying Harris since his position had not been budgeted for prior to his hire.
“Where is that money coming from?” Dodro asked. “That was not approved by the city council in our budget. And, also, please give me your reasoning for why you would hire someone who was found guilty of assaulting someone in our city?”
Both women also asked who was responsible for hiring Harris to his new fleet services position in the first place.
“I want to know who [Human Resources] reports to in order to make those types of hires,” Urbina said.
Last week, documents provided to WUSA9 regarding Harris’ hire show New Carrollton Human Resources Administrator Cynthia Johnson authorized his employment after receiving a recommendation from a police captain named Mark Butler.
“It was recommended by Captain Butler that Mr. Harris resigns his position with the police department in order to accept a position with the City,” a Johnson email read. “That would enable him to expunged (sic) his record within 3 years and maybe return to the police department.”
In March, WUSA9 repeatedly asked New Carrollton Mayor Phelecia Nembhard, who is running for re-election, if she gave the final say on Harris’ hiring. However, she pointed WUSA9 in the direction of Johnson’s email.
Nembhard made a similar request to Dodro to read the internal documents the city sent to WUSA9, regarding Harris’ employment, as well.
“Go back and read it, the documents that you put all over online,” she said. “It is right there. How it happened. And you just want to jump on the mayor for everything. Ms. Dodro, have a nice life. That’s all I can say.”
Both Nembhard and Mills also declined to answer any additional questions about Harris Wednesday.
“The only problem is this an open case and we are not supposed to talk about it,” Mills said.
New Carrollton Police Chief David Rice said the continuing investigation into Harris’ actions, by an independent agency, also made it hard from answering more questions about the case.
“We still got some fine tuning on the administrative side with [The Maryland-National Capital Park Police, Prince George's County Division],” he said.
Nembhard did say she was disappointed in how some councilmembers had discussed the Harris case publicly in the media.
“Based on our charter, we do have someone that can speak on behalf of the city and that is the mayor or the mayor's designee. That could also be the city attorney,” she said. “So, I really resent the fact that people think it is very okay to cross the line to take over the mayor's role and responsibility.”
Several people, not affiliated with city government, also chimed in about Harris’ employment during the public comment section of Wednesday’s council hearing.
New Carrollton resident Angela Alarcon said she was disturbed to hear Harris had been employed elsewhere in city government.
“While I'm an advocate for second chances, I do not believe this is an appropriate move given the circumstances of the officer's actions,” she said. “This officer's actions echo a constant problem within our country, specifically with the treatment of black men by police officers.”
Alarcon added Harris’ hire also makes her question her trust of some of the city’s leaders.
“I want to also feel like I can trust elected officials to make the right decisions for the residents of the city,” she said. “This incident has made me question the amount of transparency by the mayor, police, and city council provide to New Carrollton residents.”
Another person, named “C.C.” took aim at councilmembers Urbina and Dodro.
“God sit on high, look low, and see everything in between," C.C. said. "All of this nastiness you’re doing. It’s not going to stand.”
Another person, who identified as “David” said he was disappointed with how Zoom meetings were being conducted in the city. Mills called for both Dodro and Urbina to be muted several times during Wednesday’s council meeting, which was held exclusively on Zoom.
“I studied Russian language and Russian political science,” David said. “I can only wonder what the Soviet Union would have done with Zoom.”