HAMMOND, La. — “As someone who teaches criminal justice and government, it is not in me to criticize my opponent,” Karolyn Harrell said in 2022 when she decided to enter the political arena.
Backed by the mayor, Harrell ran for City Council, coming the closest of any challenger to unseating an incumbent.
Political activist Christine Monistere was initially impressed by Harrell: She has been a criminal justice instructor at Northshore Technical Community College since 2008, was endorsed by a host of officials and organizations and raised $17,753. That figure is slightly more than the council member she challenged, Sam DiVittorio, and an impressive amount for a Hammond district council race.
"She's an intelligent lady. She wasn't pushy. She was honest about what she wanted," Monistere said.
DiVittorio held onto his seat by 111 votes, 455 to 344.
"She put up a pretty good race," Monistere said. "She spent a lot of money on it."
DiVittorio added, "She was very pro-law enforcement. She even got the endorsement from some law enforcement organizations."
That law enforcement support -- including a strong endorsement from the Louisiana Law Enforcement Association -- was one reason some people were surprised when Harrell was arrested in October 2023.
The crime: shoplifting.
"Initially, I was shocked," DiVittorio said. "I was like, 'No way, not her.' The answer was, 'Yeah, her.'"
A series of public records requests and court documents reveal that Harrell's misconduct was not just a simple one-time theft. A Hammond police report details a series of shoplifting incidents in what is described as a “skip scan” shoplifting spree.
The report cites 21 separate thefts involving dozens of items from Target stores -- one in Hammond and one in Covington.
"It's really scary to me, sad, and it's troubling to try to understand this," DiVittorio said.
The modern-day crime of “skip-scan” shoplifting is exploding.
Customers steal items by intentionally failing to pass them through the scanners of self-checkout counters. According to Harrell's police report, most of her cases match what many big-box stores see every day: a customer paying for some items but slipping others directly into her bags without ringing them up.
“You would think that somebody in law enforcement and even teaching at the vo-tech there, you wouldn't expect nobody like this to do this,” said Hammond City Council member Devon Wells, an ally of DiVittorio.
Wells was another official who was surprised by the full extent of the allegations against Harrell. Tallying up the stolen food, clothing and household goods -- ranging from a $1.19 toothbrush to a $120 quilt -- Target tallied the total amount of the theft at $1,431.50.
"That is not a person in need walking into a store to grab something to survive," DiVittorio said, noting that Harrell’s husband is a career law enforcement officer.
After her case went through Hammond City Court for a year, Harrell pleaded guilty in July to misdemeanor theft. Along the way, the four St. Tammany thefts were forwarded to that parish and she ultimately pled to eight of her 17 Tangipahoa thefts.
While she was ordered to pay $1,431 in restitution, the case was prosecuted as theft under $1,000, making her conviction a misdemeanor that can be expunged from her record.
A transcript of her sentencing hearing shows that Judge Britain Sledge reduced her proposed 80 hours of community service to 32 hours, and her $800 fine was recorded in the minute entry as $400.
Harrell's detractors believe she got away with a slap on the wrist.
"I think she was given leniency because of who she is," Monistere said.
Wells added, "I think she was treated very differently."
Attempts to reach Harrell through her attorney, Brett Duncan, were unsuccessful.
In Harrell’s sentencing transcript, however, Duncan stated that his client had gone to counseling and “is addressing the root issues that led to this behavior.”
Harrell continues to teach criminal justice at Northshore Technical Community College.
Jim Carlson, the college chancellor, said that Harrell was given a one-year contract renewal in the spring before her guilty plea. He said her future at the school would be determined at the end of the school year.
"It's like me sitting here smoking a cigarette and telling you not to smoke. What? It just doesn't fit," Monistere said.
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