The Jonesboro Police Department (JPD) has dismissed Officer Joseph Harris after a video surfaced showing him assaulting a detainee, a decision that follows previous incidents involving the same officer. Harris, previously recorded using force outside a local nightclub in 2022, faced no criminal charges then despite an investigation into his conduct; however, the latest incident, captured on Thursday, August 8, 2024, led to his immediate dismissal the following day, as reported by WREG.

Local Memphis indicated the officer had a violent history, including an earlier altercation that was investigated by JPD after garnering attention on social media. The most recent footage, which JPD released in an effort to maintain transparency, shows Harris assaulting a handcuffed man in the back of a police car after the man attempted what appeared to be self-strangulation using his seatbelt, indicates the seriousness with which JPD has taken this case.

NWA Online provided further details about the events caught on video, reporting that Harris can be seen in the footage striking and elbowing the man, identified as 42-year-old inmate Billy Lee Coram, after a brief struggle to remove the seatbelt from Coram's neck. Police Chief Rick Elliott told KAIT that the FBI's Little Rock field office had opened a case in response to the incident, and information has also been forwarded to the Craighead County prosecutor for review.