The NYPD will serve disciplinary charges against Officer Wayne Isaacs, an off-duty police officer who used his service weapon to fatally shoot Delrawn Small, an unarmed Black man, following an apparent driving dispute in Brooklyn in 2016. The Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated an excessive force complaint against Isaacs last October, but it is up to the NYPD to serve the charges against Isaacs to begin disciplinary proceedings.
“We have been informed of the CCRB’s intention to go forward with this case. The NYPD will cooperate with the CCRB in every way,” Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said in a statement.
Police officials would not respond to a question about why the department allowed three months to pass before indicating they would move forward with the case. They also did not specify when the charges would actually be served.
But Fred Davie, chairman of the CCRB, confirmed that the NYPD notified the Board on Tuesday that the department will allow the charges against Isaacs to move forward.
“We are glad this case is moving forward, and I am hopeful the Deputy Commissioner of Trials’ office and Police Commissioner will concur with the CCRB’s findings following our prosecution of this case,” Davie said in a statement.
Officer Isaacs, who is also Black, shot and killed Small in Brooklyn on July 4th, 2016, when Small approached Isaacs’s driver’s side window during the dispute. Isaacs initially claimed that he fired his weapon in self-defense, after Small assaulted him. Security camera video later contradicted that claim. Small was shot in front of his 4-month-old baby, teenage step-daughter, and girlfriend.
“It’s been 4.5 years since our brother was killed by NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs,” said Victoria Davis and Victor Dempsey, Delrawn Small’s siblings, in a statement. “Mayor de Blasio has taken no action, and just last week the Mayor said that he still hadn’t seen the video of the shooting.”
The siblings said they only learned that the NYPD will finally serve the disciplinary charges through the media, first reported by the NY Daily News, and not directly from the city or the CCRB.
“It's good if the path is finally being cleared to fire Wayne Isaacs for murdering our brother, but as far as we know discipline charges still haven't been served and a trial date hasn't been set,” the Dempseys said.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman prosecuted Isaacs in 2017, in accordance with a state executive order making the attorney general a special prosecutor in cases where members of law enforcement kill unarmed civilians. Isaacs was found not guilty in the criminal case, and a separate internal investigation by the NYPD cleared Isaacs of wrongdoing.
If Isaacs is found guilty in the CCRB case of using excessive force resulting in death, the presumed penalty is termination, according to the NYPD’s new disciplinary guidelines. However, the guidelines also allow for officers to retire or resign, instead of being fired, under certain circumstances.
Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, Isaacs's union, said in a statement, “Police Officer Isaacs has already been acquitted by a jury of his peers and cleared by the NYPD Force Investigation Division. This attempt to take a third bite at the apple has nothing to do with justice. We’re confident that another impartial review of the facts will clear him once again.”
