“Why?”
Harlan looked toward the window.
“I don’t know.”
His wife stared.
“You don’t know?”
“She didn’t look like—”
He stopped.
The room became very quiet.
His wife’s expression changed.
“Like what?”
Harlan looked at her.
“Don’t.”
“No.”
“Finish that.”
He stood.
“I’ve had the worst day of my career.”
“Then maybe finish the sentence.”
“I was assigned security.”
“That’s not the sentence.”
He walked away.
His wife did not follow.
On the television, Judge Vanessa Cole’s portrait remained frozen behind the muted anchor.
The next morning, Internal Affairs retrieved Harlan’s complaint history.
Seventeen civilian complaints in twenty-four years.
That number alone meant little.
Long-serving officers accumulated complaints.
Investigators classified them.
Five traffic disputes.
Three discourtesy allegations.
Two force complaints later deemed within policy.
One domestic call involving a verbal accusation later withdrawn.
Two lost-evidence complaints.
Four complaints caught their attention.
All involved courthouse or government-building encounters during temporary security details.
The first came nine years earlier.
A Black federal public defender said Harlan repeatedly blocked him from entering a restricted courtroom hallway despite a visible credential.
The attorney claimed Harlan told him:
“Lawyers use the front desk.”
Harlan denied the statement.
No audio existed.
Complaint closed as unsubstantiated.
Second:
A Black female city attorney entering a municipal courthouse after hours alleged Harlan demanded she empty her handbag and repeatedly asked whose assistant she was.
She showed credentials.
He eventually admitted her.
No physical contact.
Supervisory counseling.
Third:
A Latino court interpreter reported that Harlan grabbed his arm after he attempted to enter a staff elevator.
The interpreter had forgotten his visible badge but produced it seconds later.
Harlan said the grab was necessary to stop unauthorized access.
No discipline.
Fourth:
A sixty-two-year-old Black courthouse maintenance supervisor said Harlan ordered him through public screening despite an employee credential because “maintenance people don’t use staff corridors.”
The supervisor complained.
Harlan received written guidance on access-control procedures.