Delrawn Small’s Siblings Demand Overdue Firing of Cop who Killed their Brother

Yesterday, the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) substantiated the excessive-force complaint against Officer Wayne Isaacs in the July 2016 killing of Brooklyn father Delrawn Small. In response, Communities United for Police Reform and the Justice Committee, along with the siblings of Small, Victoria Davis, and Victor Dempsey, are calling for the immediate firing of Isaacs.

 "It has been four and a half years since Wayne Isaacs murdered our brother in front of his 4-month-old baby, his teen stepdaughter and his girlfriend," said Victoria Davis, sister of Delrawn Small and Victor Dempsey, Delrawn's brother.  "The details of Isaacs' cold-blooded murder of our brother will live in our minds forever. We know that Isaacs was driving so recklessly it made our brother fear for the safety of his family. We know that Isaacs shot three bullets into our unarmed brother without warning. We know that Delrawn’s children and girlfriend had to watch him die. We know that Isaacs didn’t bother calling 911 for Delrawn, but he did call for himself without ever mentioning that he had shot a man. We know that Delrawn’s teen stepdaughter ended up having to make that call. We will never forget what Isaacs and the NYPD did to our brother, but we demand that some accountability finally be served by firing Isaacs.

“We lost our brother one day before Baton Rouge police killed Alton Sterling and two days before Philando Castile was killed in his car in front of his girlfriend and her daughter. Officers in those cases were fired, but in the over 4 years after Delrawn's killing, Mayor de Blasio and the NYPD have put protecting Wayne Isaacs and his job ahead of justice and ahead of the safety of all New Yorkers. We have rallied, asked to meet with Mayor de Blasio, delivered 61,000 petitions, and some of our supporters even followed the mayor on his failed presidential campaign to demand that Isaacs be fired. Not once has de Blasio bothered to respond to any of our requests.

 “Delrawn was the world to us, his children and so many in his life. He was our big brother and our protector, and we’ll never get the many years we expected to enjoy with him back.

“The least de Blasio and the NYPD could do now is to get a killer cop off of the streets and prevent him from terrorizing more Black New Yorkers. We’re pleased the CCRB did what the NYPD has refused to do by correctly substantiating charges against Isaacs.  We demand the NYPD immediately schedule a disciplinary trial and finally fire Isaacs. And they must fire him without a good guy letter or a pension, recognizing the grave danger he could cause New Yorkers by staying on the police force.”

MORE BACKGROUND:

On July 4, 2016, in East New York, Brooklyn, 37-year-old Delrawn Small was shot and killed by NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs. The killing occurred 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 Isaacs is still employed by the NYPD over 4 years later. Isaacs killed Delrawn in front of his loved ones, including his four-month-old son, 14-year-old stepdaughter, and girlfriend.

Initial accounts from Isaacs and the NYPD claimed that the officer was being physically assaulted when he fired his weapon, but nearby surveillance video, released days after these accounts saturated media coverage of the killing, discredited such accounts. The footage showed that Isaacs shot the unarmed Small within seconds and without provocation, 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. Isaacs also never sought to provide emergency assistance or check on Small’s health and well-being after firing his weapon, leaving Small to bleed out and die in the street.

 Isaacs was charged and prosecuted for murder by the NYS Attorney General’s office in the first case the office took after Governor Cuomo's 2015 executive order authorizing the AG to investigate police killings.

 About Communities United for Police Reform

Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) is an unprecedented campaign to end discriminatory and abusive 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.

About Justice Committee

Justice Committee is a grassroots organization dedicated to building a movement against police violence and systemic racism in New York City and empowering low-income Latinx and other people of color to address these issues.

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