Communities United for Police Reform

Elected Officials Join Delrawn Small’s Family to Demand Commissioner Tisch Ensures Discipline Trial for Officer Wayne Isaacs Proceeds

AniyaBrown — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 18:48:51 +0000

November 13, 2025

Tess Weiner, Grace Goodwin

New York, NY

The family of Delrawn Small was joined by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Councilmembers Sandy Nurse and Christopher Marte, and community groups to demand that NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch uphold the charges against Officer Wayne Isaacs for killing Mr. Small in front of his family nearly a decade ago and ensure Isaacs’ discipline trial moves forward next week. The rally follows a shocking recommendation from Deputy Commissioner of Trials (DCT) Rosemarie Maldonado to drop discipline charges against Isaacs just two weeks before his long-awaited discipline trial was scheduled to begin on November 19.

“My nephew, Delrawn’s son, was only 4 months old when his father was taken from him. He is now 9 years old,” said Victoria Davis (she/her), Mr. Small’s sister. “There is simply no excuse for how long we’ve been here, begging for one single cop to be fired. Commissioner Tisch, this in your hands now: you have a chance to do what’s right. Reject Maldonado’s outrageous recommendation, uphold the charges, and ensure Isaacs’ faces his disciplinary trial at long last. No more games, no more delays.”

This morning, 33 elected officials sent a letter to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, urging her to reject Maldonado’s recommendation and ensure Isaacs’ long-overdue discipline trial proceeds without further interference. The letter was cced to Mayor Eric Adams and Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani.

“Nearly a decade after Officer Isaacs horrifically took Delrawn’s life, there has been little progress towards justice,”said Council Member Sandy Nurse (she/her). “We are entering a new era towards responsible public safety in this city. Delrawn can’t be brought back, but Commissioner Tisch can still do right by his family by bringing Officer Isaacs to account.”

“As elected officials who are committed to building a safer and more just New York, we are deeply alarmed by Officer Isaacs’ self-serving legal distortions and the DCT’s faulty stance on this matter, ” the letter states. “Isaacs and his attorneys cannot both claim he was acting as an NYPD officer to defend him from liability and secure indemnification in federal court, and now claim he was not acting as an officer to evade discipline. Unfortunately, DCT Maldonado was fooled by these antics. We urge you not to be.”

The final decision to hold the charge against Isaacs or follow Maldonado’s recommendation now rests with NYPD Commissioner Tisch and is poised to become her first major decision on police accountability since Mamdani’s victory and as her continued leadership of the NYPD is debated.

“Mayor-Elect Mamdani should pay close attention to what Commissioner Tisch does regarding Delrawn Small’s case because it will indicate whether she is continuing to make politically-motivated decisions that protect abusive officers over New Yorkers or if she is ready to take police accountability seriously,” said Loyda Colón (they/them). “If the Mayor-Elect truly wants to usher in a New York that is safe and liveable for all, he needs to prioritize police accountability and he needs a commissioner who will do so as well.”

“Dismissing the charges against Officer Isaacs after Mr. Small’s family has fought for nearly a decade to ensure he faces some level of accountability would be a gross miscarriage of justice and would send a dangerous message about the direction of police accountability as New York enters a new mayoral administration,” the letter states.

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Background: On October 17, 2019, NYPD Lt. Jonathan Rivera (who was a sergeant at the time) and Officers Edward Barrett and Michelle Almanzar pulled Allan Feliz over on the corner of E 211 St and Bainbridge Ave for allegedly not wearing a seatbelt. Bodyworn camera (bwc) footage shows officers acknowledging that Mr. Feliz was wearing his seatbelt, but rather than allowing him to drive away, the officers escalated by illegally detaining him and attacking him. Lt. Rivera climbed into the passenger side of the car, tasered, beat and threatened to shoot Mr. Feliz, and then shot him point blank in the chest. After Mr. Feliz was shot, Officer Barrett yanked Mr. Feliz’s limp body from the car, exposing his genitals. None of the officers immediately covered Mr. Feliz or provided medical aid. Instead, they left Mr. Feliz to bleed out, cuffed, and exposed. Moments after shooting Mr. Feliz, Lt. Rivera exclaimed, “I was fighting. My hand was getting tired.”

After years of delays and obstruction, in May 2023, the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) substantiated fireable charges against Lt. Rivera for the killing of Allan Feliz. The NYPD delayed the process further by failing to deliver the charges to Lt. Rivera so that a discipline trial could be scheduled for over a year. Finally, after multiple rallies and press conferences, the NYPD delivered the charges in June 2024 and a discipline trial was held in Nov. 2024. In February, Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado determined Lt. Rivera to be guilty of excessive force and assault in the first degree and is recommending he be fired. The Feliz family is calling for the NYPD commissioner and the mayor to make a swift decision that accepts Maldonado’s recommendation to fire Lt. Rivera by March 31, 2025. As of March 6, 32 city and state elected officials have signed on to a letter of support for the family, demanding Commissioner Tisch and Mayor Adams take action by the end of the month.

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About the Justice Committee:

Since the 1980s, the Justice Committee (JC) has been dedicated to building a movement against police violence and systemic racism in New York City. The heart of our work is organizing and uplifting the leadership of families who have lost loved ones to the police and survivors of police violence. We empower our community to deter police violence, hold law enforcement accountable, and build people-led community safety through grassroots organizing campaigns, community empowerment, political education, our CopWatch program, and by developing safety mechanisms and projects that decrease reliance on police. By building solidarity with other anti-racist, immigrant and people of color-led organizations, the Justice Committee seeks to contribute to a broad-based movement for racial, social, and economic justice.

About Communities United for Police Reform

Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) is an unprecedented campaign to end discriminatory policing practices in New York, and to build a lasting movement that promotes public safety and reduces reliance on policing. CPR runs coalitions of over 200 local, statewide and national organizations, bringing together a movement of community members, lawyers, researchers and activists to work for change. The partners in this campaign come from all 5 boroughs, from all walks of life and represent many of those most unfairly targeted by the NYPD.

Family of Delrawn Small and Supporters Demand NYPD Commissioner Tisch Allow Discipline Trial for Officer Wayne Isaacs to Proceed

AniyaBrown — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 18:44:08 +0000

November 13, 2025

Tess Weiner, Grace Goodwin

press@changethenypd.org

New York, NY

On Thursday, November 13th at 10:30am, the family of Delrawn Small, elected officials, community organizations, and supporters rallied outside One Police Plaza to demand NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch uphold charges against Officer Wayne Isaacs and allow his long-delayed discipline trial to move forward. Isaacs shot and killed Mr. Small and left him to bleed out in the street in front of his four-month-old baby and teenage stepdaughter nearly a decade ago – yet he is still on the force. Thirty-three New York City and State elected officials sent a letter to Commissioner Tisch, urging her to reject Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado’s shocking recommendation to dismiss charges. Tisch, who faces mounting criticism for her record on police accountability, could decide as early as November 14 whether to uphold charges or once again shield an officer who killed an unarmed Black man from any discipline.

When: November 13, 2025, at 10:30am

Where: 1 Police Plaza

Who*:

Victoria Davis, sister of Delrawn Small

Eric Eleam, cousin of Delrawn Small

Samy Feliz, brother of Allan Feliz, killed by NYPD Lt. Rivera in 2019

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams

Councilmember Sandy Nurse

Justice Committee

BACKGROUND:

On July 4, 2016 Officer Wayne Isaacs shot and killed Delrawn Small in front of his four-month-old son, step-daughter and girlfriend. Isaacs had been driving erratically down Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn and had cut Mr. Small’s car off several times. When Mr. Small approached Isaacs’ car, Isaacs - who was off-duty at the time - fired his weapon out of the window, shot Mr. Small three times, and left him to bleed out in the street without offering any aid, all in plain view of Mr. Small’s family. Mr. Small was 37-years-old and unarmed.

Officer Isaacs was charged and prosecuted for murder by the NYS Attorney General’s office in the first case the office prosecuted after Governor Cuomo's 2015 executive order authorizing the AG to investigate police killings. The Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) substantiated fireable misconduct charges against Officer Isaacs in October 2020, but the NYPD delayed serving the charges for almost a year. In October 2021, after Isaacs refused to give the CCRB access, the CCRB was forced to file a motion to unseal Isaacs’ murder trial records. In February 2022, the New York State Supreme Court Judge Verna L. Saunders dismissed NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs’ Article 78 lawsuit, filed in March 2021, the police union’s baseless attempt to block his long-delayed discipline trial. In March 2023, Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Danny Chun finally ruled in favor of the CCRB’s unsealing motion, but Isaacs’ attorneys immediately appealed the decision. In March 2025, the Supreme Court Second Appellate Division ruled in favor of the police union’s appeal. In September 2025, Isaacs’ discipline trial was scheduled for November 19. In response, Isaacs and his police union attorneys once again requested the NYPD Commissioner invoke provision 2 in an effort to block the CCRB’s prosecution of Isaacs and to delay the disciplinary trial – a request that Commissioner Tisch denied, as did former Commissioner Sewell in March 2022. In response to Isaacs’ attorneys’ motion, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado has recommended all charges be dismissed against Officer Isaacs and canceled the scheduled trial. In recommending the dismissal of charges, DCT Maldonado erroneously sided with Isaacs’ attorneys’ claims that this case falls outside of the CCRB’s jurisdiction because Officer Isaacs was not acting as a police officer at the time that he killed Mr. Small. For years, Isaacs' attorneys have sought to defend him by arguing that he was acting in his capacity as a police officer when he killed Mr. Small and a federal court and the Attorney General's Office have found his actions to be such as well.The decision to follow Maldonado’s recommendation, or to uphold the charges and allow Isaacs’ discipline trial to proceed, is now in the hands of Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Officer Isaacs killed Mr. Small just one day before Alton Sterling was killed by police in Louisiana and two days prior to Philando Castile being killed by police in Minnesota. Officers in both cases are no longer with their respective police departments, while the NYPD still employs Isaacs.

The rally comes on the heels of Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado’s shocking recommendation to drop discipline charges against Isaacs. Her recommendation sides with Isaacs’ attorneys’ motion that the Civilian Complaint Review Board does not have jurisdiction to prosecute Isaacs because he wasn’t acting under the color of law when he killed Delrawn Small— an argument that contradicts Isaacs’ previous claim, which was upheld by a federal court, that he was acting as an officer to justify the shooting. The decision about whether or not to uphold the charges now rests with Commissioner Tisch.

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About Justice Committee:

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New Report Reveals 1 in 5 New Yorkers Sexually Harassed by NYPD; Advocates Demand Action from New Mayor

AniyaBrown — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 17:44:26 +0000

November 20, 2025

Grace Goodwin

press@changethenypd.org

New York, NY

Today, The Community Safety Project — a collaboration between Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) and the CUNY Graduate Center’s Public Science Project — released the Police Sexual Violence in NYC, the most comprehensive study of it’s kind on police sexual violence in New York City. The report exposes the pervasive nature of the police sexual violence crisis in New York City, with nearly one in five New Yorkers having experienced police sexual violence at some point in their lifetime. Given the recent coverage of the NYPD officers accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old in the Bronx, this report is more important now than ever. The findings also come as Zohran Mamdani prepares to take office, presenting an urgent mandate for his administration to address these abuses.

"This report's findings are deeply disturbing. Police sexual violence is an unconscionable abuse of power and a direct consequence of allowing a culture of impunity to persist within the NYPD. Every New Yorker deserves safety from harm, abuse and violence. We urge the incoming mayor to act decisively to address this systemic crisis and direct resources from the NYPD to our communities. Our communities have endured criminalization and abuse for too long. It’s well past time for a fundamental shift in policing,” said Sala Cyril, lead organizer with the Malcom X Grassroots Movement.

According to the report, New Yorkers experience a wide range of police sexual violence, from sexual harassment to sexual assault, at higher levels than commonly recognized. The research shows New Yorkers often feel unsafe, unheard or unbelieved and as a result, tend to not report police sexual violence. The report also unpacks how police sexual violence causes longlasting harm and fear for targeted individuals and entire communities.

The groundbreaking academic study surveyed 3,778 people from across all five boroughs and conducted 37 in-depth semi-structured interviews with survivors of police sexual violence, key findings include:

Of the 3,778 survey participants 19% (n=459) of respondents reported they experienced police sexual violence, which includes sexual harrassment and sexual assault.,
- Sexual harassment by the NYPD was experienced by 18% (n= 420_) of the survey respondents and nearly half (n=18) of those interviewed
- Sexual assault by the NYPD (including but not limited to rape) was experienced by 4% (n=100) of survey participants and five interview participants
Specific communities in New York City experience police sexual violence differently which was reflected in our findings, for example:
- Of the LGBQ+ participants surveyed, 13% reported they felt targeted by the NYPD because of their sexual orientation and 9% experienced harassment based on sexual orientation, including police making insulting comments about their sexuality.
- Of the transgender and/or non-binary participants surveyed, nearly a quarter (24%) reported sexual attention by officers— double the rate of all cisgender participants (12%)
Lastly, the impact of police sexual violence on highly policed communities was significant with 40% of survey respondents in heavily policed neighborhoods worried about friends or family being sexually assaulted by NYPD officers.

The report includes the following recommendations to address the police sexual violence crisis:

Expand oversight, transparency and accountability of the NYPD.
Reduce the size and scope of the NYPD.
Invest in non-police crisis support and intervention.

“This report represents the largest study of its kind examining the lived experiences of police sexual violence. The findings reveal an insidious problem pervading the NYPD, one that extends beyond vulnerable populations to affect New Yorkers across all communities. Ending police sexual violence in New York City demands comprehensive solutions that address both the structural failures and toxic cultural elements within and beyond the NYPD,” said Priscilla Bustamante, PhD Candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center

"The Arab American Association of New York is proud to be on the Advisory team of the Police Sexual Violence report. New Yorkers deserve to live without fear of experiencing harm and violence from the police and those in power who are meant to serve and protect them. This report will amplify the voices of people who are directly impacted, and advise on what is needed to ensure that police sexual violence and other forms of violence are put to an end,” said Maryam Khaldi, Director of Programs at the Arab American Association of New York

"Police sexual violence is a very serious problem that still needs to be addressed. It is a crucial topic that needs to be reported on every level and shared amongst the masses. We all need to come together in unity as New Yorkers, to ensure this violence stops and we also need to hold the new mayoral administration, as well as all elected officials accountable as they take office,” said Jessica, participant who shared her experiences of police sexual violence.

“This report makes clear that police-perpetrated sexual violence is a pervasive issue in our city that deserves greater attention from lawmakers across all levels of government. Survivors of this violence need swift action to hold perpetrators accountable and establish greater transparency around this all-too-common issue. I’m grateful to Communities United for Police Reform and the Public Science Project for documenting these devastating harms and ensuring survivors’ experiences aren’t dismissed or buried. These findings lay bare what so many New Yorkers, especially Black and brown women and gender-expansive people, have been saying for years: the NYPD cannot be left to investigate itself. We have a responsibility to meet this crisis with urgency and honesty and build structures of transparency and accountability that actually keep people safe,” said Council Member Crystal Hudson.

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About Communities United for Police Reform

About the CUNY’s Graduate Center’s Public Science Project

The Public Science Project (PSP) is a collective of City University of New York professors and students who believe grassroots social science — collaborative, systematic, public-facing inquiry — can play a significant role in the struggle for justice. PSP members partner with community organizations and public institutions to conduct research with the goal of supporting movements aimed at interrupting oppressive structures (publicscienceproject.org).

New Report: Police Sexual Violence in NYC

AniyaBrown — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 15:48:32 +0000

On November 20th, 2025, CPR released The Police Sexual Violence in NYC report, the most comprehensive study of its kind on police sexual violence in New York City and exposes the pervasive nature of the police sexual violence crisis in New York City.

This report was led by CPR grassroots members, in coordination with the Public Science Project at the CUNY Graduate Center, and its are the result of community town hall meetings, a survey administered to over 3,700 New Yorkers in all five boroughs of the city, and thirty-seven in-depth semi-structured interviews with New Yorkers who have experienced police gender-based and sexual violence. Read the full report here.

Family Outraged by NYPD’s Move To Dismiss Charges Against Cop That Killed Delrawn Small; Demands Commissioner Tisch Uphold Charges

AniyaBrown — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 19:36:59 +0000

November 10, 2025

Grace Goodwin, Tess Weiner

press@changethenypd.org

New York, NY

In response to Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado’s recommendation to dismiss charges against Officer Wayne Isaacs, who shot and killed Delrawn Small in 2016, Victoria Davis and Victor Dempsey, Mr. Small’s sister and brother, released the following statement:

“We are furious and heartbroken by the Deputy Commissioner’s recommendation to dismiss charges against Officer Wayne Isaacs for killing our brother in front of his then four-month-old baby and teenage stepdaughter nearly a decade ago. For over nine years, every part of this system has worked overtime to protect Officer Isaacs at our family’s expense.

Let’s be clear: this latest recommendation to dismiss charges isn’t about ‘jurisdiction’ – it’s a bogus, manufactured excuse to protect a murderer in uniform. And it’s just the latest example of how the NYPD, the police unions, the courts, and city agencies bend over backwards to deny every shred of accountability. At first, they claimed Isaacs was acting as a cop so the City would use taxpayer dollars to settle our civil suit – and even though they dragged their feet for a year, the NYPD served the Civilian Complaint Review Board’s (CCRB) charges to Isaacs four years ago. Now, they’re arguing Isaacs was off-duty and acting as a civilian to block his disciplinary trial – just weeks ahead of when it should finally start. The NYPD is only allowing these contradictions to stand because protecting killer cops matters more to them than Delrawn’s life and our family.

There is truly no justification for why an officer who shot and killed an unarmed New Yorker is still employed and collecting a paycheck — and, due to these intentional delays - will be receiving a pension from our taxpayer dollars.

Commissioner Tisch saw through Isaacs’ and his police union’s tired tactic of trying to get her to retain the case: she already rejected that request last month. Tisch’s Deputy Commissioner fell for Isaacs’ attorneys’ legal antics – but Tisch must not. She can continue the NYPD’s corrupt culture of impunity, or she can finally do what should’ve happened in 2016: fire Wayne Isaacs. No more delays. No more legal games. No more protection for killer cops.

Our family has already fought through two mayoral administrations and seven police commissioners since Delrawn was killed. We are not going anywhere. We’re calling on every New Yorker who believes in basic justice to join us in demanding that Commissioner Tisch immediately reject this recommendation, uphold the charges and upcoming disciplinary trial, and fire Officer Isaacs once and for all — and that Mayor-elect Mamdani stand with our family in making sure it happens.”

Loyda Colón (they/them), Executive Director of the Justice Committee, said:

“The NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado’s outrageous recommendation to dismiss charges against Officer Wayne Isaacs for murdering Delrawn Small flies in the face of logic and the law. Isaacs and his police union attorneys have spent over nine years trying to twist the law to escape accountability. When it benefited Isaacs, his lawyers argued he was acting as a cop to excuse his violence. The State Attorney General’s office prosecuted Isaacs for murder under executive order 147 – indicating that the AG determined he was acting as a police officer as well. A federal court ruled that the City had to indemnify Isaacs because he was acting under the color of the law. Now, only two weeks before Isaacs’ long-overdue disciplinary trial, Isaacs’ lawyers are making the exact opposite claim to stop the discipline process from moving forward. Deputy Commissioner Maldonado may have fallen for their games, but Commissioner Tisch must see through this hypocrisy, uphold all charges, and ensure Isaacs’ disciplinary trial proceeds as planned. Failing to do so would confirm that the NYPD remains committed to shielding violent officers instead of protecting New Yorkers.

BACKGROUND:

Officer Isaacs was charged and prosecuted for murder by the NYS Attorney General’s office in the first case the office prosecuted after Governor Cuomo's 2015 executive order authorizing the AG to investigate police killings. The Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) substantiated fireable misconduct charges against Officer Isaacs in October 2020, but the NYPD delayed serving the charges for almost a year. In October 2021, after Isaacs refused to give the CCRB access, the CCRB was forced to file a motion to unseal Isaacs’ murder trial records. In February 2022, the New York State Supreme Court Judge Verna L. Saunders dismissed NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs’ Article 78 lawsuit, filed in March 2021, the police union’s baseless attempt to block his long-delayed discipline trial. In March 2023, Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Danny Chun finally ruled in favor of the CCRB’s unsealing motion, but Isaacs’ attorneys immediately appealed the decision. In March 2025, the Supreme Court Second Appellate Division ruled in favor of the police union’s appeal. In September 2025, Isaacs’ discipline trial was scheduled for November 19. In response, Isaacs and his police union attorneys once again requested the NYPD Commissioner invoke provision 2 in an effort to block the CCRB’s prosecution of Isaacs and to delay the disciplinary trial – a request that Commissioner Tisch denied, as did former Commissioner Sewell in March 2022. In response to Isaacs’ attorneys’ motion, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado has recommended all charges be dismissed against Officer Isaacs and canceled the scheduled trial. The decision to follow Maldonado’s recommendation, or to uphold the charges and allow Isaacs’ discipline trial to proceed, is now in the hands of Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

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Communities United for Police Reform Responds to 2025 Mayoral Election Results

AniyaBrown — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 14:44:05 +0000

November 4, 2025

Grace Goodwin

press@changethenypd.org

New York, NY

In response to Zohran Mamdani winning the 2025 NYC mayoral election, Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) released the following statement from CPR spokesperson Sala Cyril, lead organizer with the Malcom X Grassroots Movement:

“As New York City enters a new chapter of leadership, Communities United for Police Reform urges the next administration to prioritize the safety, dignity, and rights of all New Yorkers. We call on the mayor to take bold action to end discriminatory and abusive policing practices, ensure transparency and accountability within the NYPD, and invest in real solutions that make our communities thrive — including housing, healthcare, education, and mental health care. Public safety cannot be achieved through over-policing or surveillance; it must be built through care, trust, and community power. We look forward to working with Mayor-elect Mamdani to advance real safety for all New Yorkers.”

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Communities United for Police Reform Responds to New NYPD Specialized Taskforce

AniyaBrown — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 23:28:55 +0000

April 10, 2025

Kristine Mikkelsen

press@changethenypd.org

New York, NY

In response to Mayor Adams’ and NYPD Commissioner Tisch’s announcement of the new NYPD task force, Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) released the following statement on behalf of CPR spokesperson Monifa Bandele, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.

“Mayor Adams’ new task force is a complete misnomer. Let’s be clear, this crackdown on low-level offenses is just the latest version of Giuliani-era broken windows policing. This is not about increasing quality of life, this is about violating the rights of working class communities of color, criminalizing poverty and drug use, and using hyper-aggressive tactics that target poor and homeless New Yorkers, LGBTQI+ communities, and Black, Latinx and other youth of color. We know for a fact that more police do not keep us safe and that the majority of New Yorkers who live in heavily-policed neighborhoods have experienced varying degrees of physical, sexual or verbal harm by the NYPD. This new unit will only escalate and increase the harms, arrests and violence our communities experience.

“Adams is once again expanding the NYPD by relying on specialized units, as he’s done with the Neighborhood Safety Teams (a rebranding of the notoriously violence Street Crimes Unit), Community Response Team and Strategic Response Group. These units have increased discriminatory and abusive policing and contribute to a system of NYPD impunity by operating without any meaningful transparency, oversight or discipline. The so-called “Quality of Life” Division will bring more of the same violence and abuse we’ve come to expect from Adams’ NYPD with virtually no accountability. ”

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Broken Windows

Family Outraged by Appellate Court Decision to Shield NYPD Cop Who Murdered Delrawn Small

AniyaBrown — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 20:15:04 +0000

March 27, 2025

Kristine Mikkelsen

press@changethenypd.org

New York, NY

In response to the State Supreme Court Second Appellate Division’s ruling to overturn Judge Danny Chun’s decision to unseal the records from NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs’ murder trial for killing Delrawn Small in 2016, Victoria Davis and Victor Dempsey (sister and brother of Mr. Small) released the following statement:

“We are completely devastated by the appellate court's decision to reverse the unsealing order. Unfortunately, we’re not surprised because the City Law Department, which represented the CCRB in oral arguments, was unprepared and inconceivably weak on both the details of the case and why the CCRB needs the records in order to fully prosecute Isaacs in the upcoming discipline trial that has been delayed for almost 9 years.

After hearing from other families– whose loved ones' cases were also represented poorly by the Law Department–it became clear that this was a concerning trend. There is also an inherent conflict of interest as the Law Department represents the NYPD and the Adams administration. Despite requesting that the CCRB retain independent counsel, they were unable to do so. So here we are, continuing to fight to hold the cop that murdered our brother accountable against a system that is designed to protect abusive officers at every turn. We’re talking about a cop that the State Attorney General charged with murder.

The CCRB substantiated charges and recommended Officer Isaacs be fired over four years ago. It shouldn’t take almost a decade to discipline an NYPD officer who shot and killed an unarmed New Yorker in front of his 4-month old baby. But make no mistake, we have fought through two mayoral administrations and seven police commissioners. No matter what the police union, the NYPD, the CCRB, the Law Department, the administration, and these judges throw at us, we will not stop fighting for Delrawn. Police Commissioner Tisch and Mayor Adams need to fire NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs.

We urge all New Yorkers who care about justice and accountability to demand that Mayor Adams and Commissioner Tisch take immediate action to fire Officer Isaacs. We also call on lawmakers to ensure that independent legal representation is available in cases of police violence to prevent the Law Department from continuing to fail families like ours. Transparency and justice should not be optional."

Note: Oral arguments on the unsealing motion appeal can be found here. The Wayne Isaacs case begins at 33:29 with Isaacs' attorney. The Law Department begins their argument at 59:55.

BACKGROUND:

On July 4, 2016 Officer Wayne Isaacs shot and killed Delrawn Small in front of his four-month-old son, step-daughter and girlfriend. Isaacs had been driving erratically down Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn and had cut Mr. Small’s car off several times. When Mr. Small approached Isaacs’ car, Isaacs - who was off duty at the time - rolled down his window, shot Mr. Small three times and then left him to bleed out in the street without offering any aid, all in plain view of Mr. Small’s family. Mr. Small was 37-years-old and unarmed.

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Delrawn Small

Communities United for Police Reform Responds to President Trump’s Latest Executive Orders

AniyaBrown — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 21:47:11 +0000

April 29, 2025

Kristine Mikkelsen

press@changethenypd.org

New York, NY

In response to President Trump’s latest Executive Orders: Strengthening and Unleashing America’s Law Enforcement to Pursue Criminals and Protect Innocent Citizens and Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens, Communities United for Police (CPR) reform released the following statement from Lumumba Bandele, Interim Executive Director of CPR.

“Trump’s latest Executive Orders will embolden increased police violence, shield abusive officers from accountability and roll back decades of progress on police reform. Trump is militarizing local and state law enforcement agencies and deploying them as a weapon to silence anyone who disagrees with him, which will disparately target Black, Latinx, immigrant, and other communities of color here in New York. Trump is using his bully pulpit to criminalize sanctuary cities and attack anyone who stands in the way of his mass deportation and detention agenda. In a dangerous step towards martial law, the Executive Orders also expand the role of the military in local law enforcement, and opens the door to deploying the military against U.S. Citizens.

“These Executive Orders have no legal basis. The NYPD is run by the city of New York, not the president. We have witnessed people in New York City and around the country exhibit exemplary courage standing in the face of militarized police. Now is the time for New York elected officials to step up and exhibit similar courage to reject these executive orders and any subsequent resources, policy and rhetoric that promotes police violence and militarization.

“The only way to reduce violence and tackle the challenges facing New York is to invest in programs and services that promote real safety for all New Yorkers, reduce homelessness, reduce overdoses, reduce incarceration and empower New Yorkers to thrive. Our officials must curb the NYPD’s excessive power; reduce the NYPD’s bloated budget, size and scope; hold abusive officers accountable; fire NYPD officers who have abused and killed New Yorkers and break the cycle of hyper aggressive policing with impunity. New Yorkers have the power to choose a different path than the one that the president has laid out – a path that moves beyond the politics of fear and toward the possibilities of a true, collective safety. The future of New York and the country depends on it.”

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Nine Years After Fatal Shooting, NYPD Cop To Face Disciplinary Trial

AniyaBrown — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 12:00:40 +0000

In the nearly nine years since off-duty police officer Wayne Isaacs shot and killed 37-year-old Delrawn Small in an alleged road rage incident in Brooklyn, a criminal prosecution, an acquittal, two lawsuits, an appeal and three investigations have unfolded.

But so far, there has been no NYPD disciplinary trial for Isaacs, who shot Small three times as he approached Isaacs’ vehicle on foot at an East New York intersection in the early hours of July 4, 2016. That, according to the city’s independent Civilian Complaint Review Board, is about to change.

Isaacs was indicted by a Brooklyn grand jury for murder and manslaughter but was acquitted of the charges in November 2017. The NYPD restored him to full duty in December 2018, after the department’s Force Investigation Division determined that he had not violated policy and should not face discipline.

In October 2020, the CCRB substantiated three improper-use-of-force charges against Isaacs — one for each shot — that the board said constituted the crime of assault in the second degree. But it wasn’t until Friday that review board officials told THE CITY that they can finally move forward with their own investigative findings and prosecute Isaacs at a disciplinary trial in the coming months, which the NYPD will be required to conduct.

The board’s decision to proceed to trial comes after a state appellate court in late March reversed a lower court’s ruling that would have allowed the CCRB to gain access to Isaacs’ sealed criminal court file, which includes grand jury material and other evidence the board says it couldn’t obtain through other means.

Isaacs has maintained that he acted in self-defense after Small allegedly punched him through an open car window. His attorney, Stephen Worth, noted that Isaacs was cleared years ago of criminality by the legal system and of misconduct by the Force Investigation Division.

“He’s been back to full duty since 2018,” Worth told THE CITY. “So for this case to go forward, it’s ludicrous.”

Victoria Davis, Small’s younger sister, said that despite the long process and the ups and downs over nearly nine years, she has always tried to remain hopeful — “especially that the people who are responsible for holding Wayne Isaacs accountable would do so.”

“Wayne Isaacs needs to be fired, Wayne Isaacs needs to go through the full disciplinary trial that we’re pursuing, and he needs to be held accountable,” Davis, 40, told THE CITY. “There hasn’t been any accountability thus far.”

Disciplinary cases for incidents in which civilians are killed by police notoriously take a long time, often because of delays in the NYPD’s provision of records to the CCRB but also because criminal investigations and lawsuits intervene.

The termination of police officer Jason Pantaleo in the killing of Eric Garner in 2014 took over five years to resolve, and was the lone time an officer has been terminated as a result of a probe by the CCRB.

More recently, then-NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban’s decision in April 2024 not to discipline two officers in the shooting death of Kawaski Trawick in his home, confirming the recommendation of an administrative judge, also came over five years after the incident. The police commissioner has unilateral say on disciplinary outcomes but weighs the recommendation of administrative trial judges, who are employed by the NYPD.

As far as disciplining Isaacs, no one has blamed the NYPD for the delays, which CCRB officials suggest is the longest running disciplinary case the board, established in 1993, has been involved in.

A lawsuit from the Civilian Complaint Review Board’s seeking the sealed criminal court records, and the appeal by Isaacs’ attorney that reversed a lower court’s ruling, accounted for three and a half years of elapsed time.

That’s one of the reasons why the CCRB is backing legislation that would give its investigators access to sealed court records involving shootings by police in cases when officers are acquitted.

“Sealing statutes are meant to protect individuals who were wrongfully arrested — not to protect officers who engaged in misconduct,” said CCRB spokesperson Clare Platt. “That’s why the CCRB has been advocating for an exemption to these statutes.”

Legislation that would provide the board with access to sealed files has been introduced in the state Senate and Assembly every year since 2023, but has died in committee twice. It’s still pending in both houses this year.

Long and Winding Road

Early reporting on Small’s killing portrayed Isaacs as the victim of an assault who acted in self-defense. It was later revealed in the court case that Isaacs told responding officers and paramedics that Small had punched him through the open driver’s side window, and that his jaw was hurting.

Within days of the shooting, the pendulum swung the other way after The New York Post published grainy footage of the incident showing Small had barely reached Isaac’s car door when he was shot three times.

The Post’s story on the video said Isaacs “waited just one second before fatally gunning down another driver.” The article acknowledged this contradicted a prior story in the publication that quoted an unnamed person, identified as a witness, who claimed Small had “pummeled” Isaacs.

Advocacy groups, including Communities United for Police Reform, have highlighted that Isaacs failed to render aid to Isaacs after getting out of his car and seeing him bleeding on the street. Isaacs called 911 and requested an ambulance, the group said, but failed to alert the dispatcher that he had just shot someone.

In late September 2016, a Brooklyn grand jury indicted Isaacs on charges of murder and second-degree manslaughter. It was the first police killing prosecuted by the office of state Attorney General, following a 2015 executive order by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo — later expanded and written into state law — appointing the attorney general as a special prosecutor for police killings of unarmed individuals.

The trial took place in Brooklyn in late 2017. Despite supporters of Small saying the video clearly demonstrated that he didn’t hit Isaacs or even have enough time to do so prior to getting shot, a number of jurors who acquitted Isaacs told The New York Times they saw something in the footage that resembled a punch.

“His head kind of goes all the way down,” an unidentified male juror told The Times, referring to Small. “Then you see his shoulder come up very clearly, and strike forward. His shoulder drops down.”

Small’s family has said it felt that he was the one that was put on trial rather than Isaacs.

“During the trial, the defense attempted to criminalize Delrawn by focusing on his tattoos and his previous interactions with the criminal legal system — even though there was no way for Isaacs to have known about any of these things when he shot Delrawn,” Davis, his sister, later testified before City Council. “Simply because Isaacs was not convicted by a jury, doesn’t mean he is not guilty of murdering my brother.”

After the acquittal, the court sealed Isaacs’ criminal case file.

It wasn’t until May 2018 that the CCRB received a complaint about the incident, already past the 18-month statute of limitations the board has for substantiating charges against a police officer and filing disciplinary charges. The only exception to that time limit is when the board determines that a member of the department has committed a crime.

In October 2020, the CCRB did just that, finding that Isaac’s use of force wasn’t just beyond the NYPD patrol guide standard for what is reasonably necessary, but that it also constituted assault. If they could persuade an NYPD administrative judge and, then, the NYPD police commissioner of their findings, Isaacs would face disciplinary action for the killing that could include termination.

But in March 2021, Isaacs filed a lawsuit challenging the CCRB’s bid to administratively prosecute him. It failed, but wasn’t dismissed until early 2022.

While that case was pending, the CCRB filed a lawsuit in Brooklyn in late 2021 seeking to obtain the records from the sealed criminal case, arguing that it contained information that was essential to Isaacs’ disciplinary trial. City Corporation Counsel attorneys represented the board on the case.

On March 8, 2023, Brooklyn Supreme Court judge Danny Chun granted the CCRB access to the files, writing that the board had “met its burden by showing that without an unsealing of the criminal records, it could not accomplish protecting the public through investigating and possibly disciplining a police officer.”

Isaacs’ attorney appealed, and 10 days ago the appellate court reversed Chun’s ruling.

“The CCRB’s conclusory allegations that the records are vital and necessary for use in the

defendant’s disciplinary trial are insufficient to justify unsealing the records,” judge Darrell Joseph wrote in the March 26 ruling, with three of four other justices concurring. “Moreover, given that the CCRB was able to conclude its investigation and recommend that the defendant be subject to discipline, it was not ‘impossible’ for the CCRB to fulfill its legal mandate without unsealing the defendant’s records.”

As of last year, Isaacs’ NYPD base salary had doubled since the incident, reaching $105,000. With the terms of a new police officers’ union contract, back pay, overtime and other payments, his total haul that year was $218,000.

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Delrawn Small