New York, NY – Last week, Victoria Davis and Victor Dempsey, siblings of Delrawn Small, Communities United for Police Reform (CPR), and the Justice Committee met with the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) regarding the prosecution of NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs who killed Delrawn Small in 2016.
NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs killed Delrawn Small on July 4, 2016, in front of his 4-month-old baby, stepdaughter, and girlfriend. Surveillance video showed that Isaacs was in his car on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn when he rolled down the window and shot Delrawn, who was unarmed, within seconds and left him dying on the pavement while Isaacs called 911 for himself, falsely reporting an assault, but not the fact that he had just shot Delrawn Small.
“Video shows that Wayne Isaacs shot our brother and left him to die in the street, and the NYPD chose not to discipline Wayne Isaacs for more than five years,” said Victoria Davis (she/her) sister of Delrawn Small and Victor Dempsey (he/him), brother of Delrawn Small. “It's a nightmare to know that our taxpayer dollars go toward his salary. At every turn, the NYPD, Wayne Isaacs, and his lawyers have delayed this process. Isaacs is a murderer and a danger to New Yorkers. We don’t want to hear any more excuses. Our family has suffered enough, schedule the discipline trial immediately so that the CCRB can prosecute. Then-Mayor Adams and the NYPD must fire Wayne Isaacs.”
The CCRB substantiated disciplinary charges against Wayne Isaacs in October of 2020. Despite two other notorious police killings happening days prior to Delrawn’s killing—Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota, in which both officers are no longer with their respective departments—Wayne Isaacs remains on the NYPD’s payroll five and half years later.
The NYPD waited months to serve charges on Isaacs and has yet to schedule a disciplinary hearing. Last week, New York State Supreme Court Judge Verna L. Saunders dismissed NYPD Officer Wayne’s Isaacs’ Article 78 lawsuit, his baseless attempt to block his long-delayed discipline trial.
“Mayor Adams said earlier this week that ‘if you don’t follow the law, you’re not going to serve in my police department.’ We’re asking Mayor Adams to make good on this promise,” said Monifa Bandele (she/her) Spokesperson for Communities United for Police Reform. “Wayne Isaacs killed Delrawn Small in 2016 and still has suffered no consequences for his misconduct. A judge dismissed his baseless lawsuit to block the prosecution last week. The CCRB and the NYPD must act now to schedule the trial before the end of this month. It’s been over a year since the NYPD served charges on Isaacs, the delays are unacceptable. Mayor Adams and the NYPD must fire Wayne Isaacs.”
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 more than five and a half years later. Isaacs killed Delrawn in front of his loved ones, including his four-month-old son, 14-year-old stepdaughter, and girlfriend.
Initial false accounts from Isaacs and the NYPD claimed that the officer was being assaulted when he fired his weapon, but nearby surveillance video, released days after these false accounts saturated media coverage of the killing, discredited Isaacs’ and the NYPD’s claims. The footage showed that Isaacs shot Delrawn Small, who was unarmed, within seconds and without provocation, contradicting the initial accounts Isaacs and the NYPD made. 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 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 prosecuted 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.