A Garland police officer asked a woman reporting sexual harassment why she didn’t leave the scene after a man exposed himself, and at one point threatened to arrest the victim for littering, department records show.

Officer Todd J. Campbell was suspended for four days without pay in late March for his “sarcastic and demeaning” conduct during the sexual harassment call outside a Golden Chick restaurant in November, according to public records obtained by The Dallas Morning News.

The officer has a hearing scheduled to appeal the suspension on June 28.

Campbell could not be reached for comment.

The sexual harassment call

On November 11, 2021, managers of a Golden Chick drive-thru called police to report sexual harassment after a woman told staff that a man exposed himself to her while she was waiting for food in her car.

Campbell and another Garland officer arrived at the scene to interview the woman. A department memo goes on to describe the interaction between Campbell and the victim in detail.

During the interview, Campbell interrupted to ask the victim, “Why wouldn’t you leave?” after the man exposed himself to her.

After Campbell noticed his question upset the woman, he asked her if she needed medical attention “in a condescending manner.”

In response, the woman said, “No, you need it. You want to take up somebody like that,” and then asked Campbell what he would do if his wife had been the victim of a similar crime.

He said his wife “would have left.”

Campbell then went inside to interview Golden Chick staff. When he came back, he “again engaged in a condescending banter” with the woman about whether or not his wife would have left the scene if she had been a victim of the same crime.

When he tried to give the woman a card with the incident report number, his name and badge number, she said she didn’t want it and told him to get away from her car.

The other officer on the scene put the card inside the woman’s vehicle on her dashboard. She threw it out of her car.

“You throw that out you are going to get arrested for littering,” Campbell said in response. The woman then rolled up her window and tried to leave.

Then Campbell put his foot on the car and threatened her, saying, “if you leave I’m taking you to jail.”

The woman accepted the card and left.

“During the discussion, Officer Campbell’s conduct can best be described as sarcastic and demeaning,” the memo states.

The suspension

The next day, in November 2021, the woman filed a complaint with the police department. Four months later, Campbell was suspended without pay for four days.

“Officer Campbell’s conduct on the evening in question is a gross departure of the conduct I expect from officers of the Garland Police Department. Officer Campbell is trained to recognize a situation that is escalating, and to take steps to deescalate the circumstances by showing respect, empathy and compassion. Instead, Officer Campbell was rude and condescending, and brought discredit to all members of the police department by his actions,” Police Chief Jeffrey Bryan wrote in a memo outlining the suspension.

Campbell reportedly told the department that he “recognizes his actions were inappropriate.”

Campbell, 40, has worked for the department since March 2016, according to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. He joined Garland PD after working for the New York City Police Department. He has not worked for any other law enforcement agency in Texas.

In addition to the suspension, Campbell was placed on a performance improvement plan, which involves more reviews of his body camera video footage, and undergoing more training. Since March, Campbell has taken several career training courses, according to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.

Prior to his suspension this year, the department had never received any substantiated complaints against Campbell, according to several of his performance evaluations.

If Campbell behaves in a similar way in the future, the department memo said he will face “severe discipline, up to and including termination.”

Digital archivist Jennifer Brancato contributed to this report.