Inside the Records Hunt: Three Years of FOIL Requests in the Jarrell Garris Police Shooting
From local police records to the Attorney General’s investigation, a 32-month search for public documents reveals how agencies responded to requests for information about the Jarrell Garris shooting.
In the aftermath of the July 3, 2023 police shooting of Jarrell Garris in New Rochelle, I began a series of Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests seeking records from local, county, and state agencies connected to the incident and to Garris’s prior interactions with government authorities.
Over the next 32 months, those requests were submitted to seven municipal, county, and state agencies, including police departments, prosecutors, housing authorities, the county medical examiner, and the New York State Office of the Attorney General. The process produced multiple rolling productions of documents, referrals between agencies, and several denials based on statutory exemptions.
Some records were released only after repeated follow-ups. Others were withheld because they involved medical or mental health information, while some incidents referenced in public discussions were determined to have no corresponding police reports.
With the Attorney General’s final FOIL determination issued on March 4, 2026, the record-gathering process related to the shooting investigation has largely concluded.
The requests began on July 12, 2023 and continued for 967 days before the final determination was issued.
