JONESBORO, Ark. — A Jonesboro police officer was fired from the department after video footage circulated of him physically assaulting a detainee, the Jonesboro Police Department (JPD) announced.
The Jonesboro Police Department Administration was informed of a complaint about an incident involving a JPD officer that occurred Thursday, August 8, 2024.
The serious nature of the complaint required “prompt action.”
Following an internal review of the incident, JPD determined that the officer involved, Joseph Harris, should be terminated effective immediately on Friday, August 9, 2024.
In the “interest of transparency” JPD released the video of the incident.
The graphic video can be found here.
This incident is not Harris's first violent interaction caught on camera.
In 2022, a video of Harris throwing a man to the ground outside a Jonesboro night club went viral on social media. JPD placed Harris on leave without pay and began an investigation into the “level of force used by the officers involved during the arrest.”