The NYPD's oversight board will recommend discipline for Officer Wayne Isaacs, more than four years after the off-duty cop fatally shot Delrawn Small in front of his girlfriend and two children.
In a statement, the Civilian Complaint Review Board said they had substantiated a complaint related to Small's killing. "CCRB prosecutors will vigorously pursue a guilty verdict in the NYPD’s administrative trial room," said spokesperson Ethan Teicher.
Isaacs fired three shots from his service weapon at Smalls on July 4th, 2016, after Smalls approached the window of his car in East New York over a driving dispute. Both Isaacs and NYPD officials initially claimed that Small physically assaulted the cop, prompting him to fire in self defense.
Surveillance video released shortly after the incident appeared to contradict that narrative, showing Small falling to the ground almost immediately after walking up to the side of the vehicle.
The New York Attorney General brought second-degree murder charges against Isaacs, but he was ultimately acquitted by a jury in 2017. A separate internal NYPD investigation also cleared Isaacs, and he has since returned to active duty status, according to a department spokesperson.
"After so many years of waiting to hear something like this, and after the devastating news of the criminal trial, it's bitter and sweet," the victim's brother, Victor Dempsey, told Gothamist on Friday. "It's that feeling of...starting the process all over again."
The CCRB spokesperson declined to comment on the record about what specific type of discipline Isaacs could face, or why the agency took several years to reach their conclusion. The oversight agency's recommendations can range from formalized training up to termination.
While both the CCRB and the NYPD can conduct investigations into police misconduct, the NYPD Commissioner has the sole authority to punish or fire an officer. Earlier this week, Commissioner Dermot Shea brushed off questions about the why the department's disciplinary process was not swifter or more transparent.
"We're far from perfect, and a lot of people are frustrated at that, but I don't think it's nearly as bad as you just made it to be," he told Gothamist.
Dempsey said that he was not aware until this week that Isaacs, who was previously assigned to modified duty, had resumed active duty patrol. Records show that the officer took home $70,000 in total pay in 2018, an increase from the previous two years.
A spokesperson declined to say when he was taken off modified duty.
Both Dempsey and his sister, Victoria Davis, have spent years pushing Mayor Bill de Blasio to take action against Isaac.
"During this whole process not once has the mayor reached out to give us updates or condolences," said Dempsey. "The lack of transparency always kept us in limbo. It's been a long, long, long four years. Long is an understatement."
A spokesperson for Mayor de Blasio did not respond to inquiries.
UPDATE: The mayor's press secretary, Bill Neidhardt, provided Gothamist with the following statement: “On behalf of the Mayor, the First Lady and City Hall, we offer our deepest condolences. We hope the entire Small family, and all their friends and neighbors, know how deeply saddened we are by the loss of Delrawn’s life.”
