Family of Delrawn Small Calls on New External NYPD Panel on Discipline Policies to Review Case of Officer Wayne Isaacs as Example of Problem with Disciplinary System

The sister and brother of Delrawn Small, Victoria Davis and Victor Dempsey, were joined by elected officials, community supporters and other families whose loved ones were killed by the NYPD to demand police accountability. Specifically, they called for Mayor de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner O’Neill to ensure that Officer Wayne Isaacs, who killed Small, has departmental disciplinary charges brought against him immediately and is fired. In addition, they also called for the newly appointed panel of former federal legal officials reviewing the NYPD’s disciplinary system to examine the case of Isaacs as a prime example of the system’s dysfunction.

“NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs murdered our brother Delrawn Small in cold blood almost two years ago, and the NYPD has done nothing to hold him accountable,” said Victoria Davis and Victor Dempsey, the sister and brother of Small. “Delrawn was killed by Isaacs one day before Alton Sterling was killed by police in Louisiana and two days before Philando Castile was killed by police in Minnesota. While officers who killed them are no longer in those police departments, Wayne Isaacs remains on the NYPD with his taxpayer-funded salary. Isaacs is a threat to New Yorkers’ public safety and has demonstrated that he does not deserve to be a police officer, when he was so trigger happy to shoot and kill our unarmed brother who was simply approaching his car, failed to alert 911 to the shooting, gave no aid while our brother was bleeding on the street, and then lied about the incident. Mayor de Blasio must make sure the NYPD holds officers accountable when they brutalize and kill in our communities – NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs must be fired. The fact that this hasn’t happened yet shows how broken the NYPD’s disciplinary system is and the panel appointed by Commissioner O’Neill to review that system should start by looking at the case of Wayne Isaacs as a prime example of the problem.”

Delrawn Small was unarmed and killed in front of his partner, 4-month-old son, and 14-year-old stepdaughter by Officer Isaacs on July 4, 2016. Video footage showed that Small was walking up to Isaacs’ car on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn when he was immediately shot, contradicting the initial accounts of Isaacs and the NYPD that the officer was being physically assaulted. After shooting Small, Isaacs left him to bleed to death on the ground, offering no emergency aid and never even communicating that he had shot someone in his 911 call, in which he lied about being attacked.

“Delrawn Small should be with his family today, but on July 4, 2016, NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs chose to take his life, simply for walking towards Isaacs’ car,” said Loyda Colon, Co-Director of the Justice Committee. “Isaacs fired not one or two, but three shots through his car window, killing Delrawn, who was unarmed, in front of his family and endangering others in the area. Any officer who would engage in such a callous act of violence in the middle of a neighborhood filled with people is a danger to our communities and should not be a police officer. Major de Blasio and Commissioner O’Neill must bring disciplinary charges against Isaacs, convene a departmental trial and fire him from the NYPD immediately. It’s outrageous that we are coming up on the two year anniversary of Delrawn’s murder and Isaacs still has not even been charged by the NYPD. Additionally, if O’Neill’s new panel on NYPD discipline is serious about its mandate, they should review this case immediately as a clear example of what’s wrong with the NYPD’s disciplinary practices – that they lack transparency, move at a snail's pace, and are woefully insufficient, bordering on non-existent when it comes to police brutality and killings.”

Isaacs killed Small just one day before Alton Sterling was killed by police in Louisiana and two days before Philando Castile was killed by police in Minnesota. While those other officers have been removed from their police department, Isaacs has faced no discipline from the NYPD. The Louisiana police officer who killed Alton Sterling was fired in March 2018 and the Minnesota officer who killed Philando Castile was removed from his department more than a year ago. Isaacs was acquitted of second degree murder in a jury trial that ended in November 2017, and the NYPD has even failed to take action to hold him accountable in the following eight months. Isaacs remains in the NYPD, receiving a taxpayer-funded salary.

On Thursday, June 21, NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill appointed two former federal prosecutors and a former federal judge to comprise an external panel to review the NYPD’s disciplinary system. The NYPD’s broken and dysfunctional disciplinary system has recently received an increasing amount of attention. BuzzFeed News released a report shedding light on serious NYPD misconduct, including lying to grand juries and committing assault, that resulted in a slap on the wrist. The Daily News released a police misconduct series that highlighted cases of several officers who engaged in repeated serious misconduct but never faced meaningful discipline. A New York Times series on officers lying in court or on official records demonstrated those officers were never truly held accountable.

The NYPD’s disciplinary system has long been broken and dysfunctional and has failed no one worse than police brutality survivors and the families of those unjustly killed by the NYPD. The case of NYPD Officer Isaacs, who shot and killed unarmed Delrawn Small and has faced no discipline two years later and seven months after the conclusion of a murder trial, is a principal example.

“Firing Wayne Isaacs would represent a sincere commitment from the de Blasio administration to Delrawn’s family to seek accountability for their tragic loss,” said Anthonine Pierre, Deputy Director of the Brooklyn Movement Center. “Two years is far too long for an NYPD officer who has killed a civilian to stay on the force and as long as he remains employed by the department, he endangers the public safety of all New Yorkers. Mayor de Blasio’s actions on police accountability have amounted to little more than controversial policies, and this is an opportunity for the mayor to deliver on his rhetoric with concrete actions towards justice.”

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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 policing practices based on cooperation and respect– not discriminatory targeting and harassment.

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