NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs to Face Trial in Delrawn Small Killing

Ten years after an off-duty police officer shot and killed Delrawn Small during a traffic dispute in East New York, the case is headed for a departmental trial in January, members of Small’s family said Wednesday.

Officer Wayne Isaacs will answer a charge that he used improper force when he fired on Small in July 2016. The case was brought by the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the city agency with authority to investigate police abuses, including fatal shootings.

For Small’s family, the trial is the latest turn in a decadelong effort to hold Isaacs accountable. The state attorney general charged Isaacs with murder and manslaughter, but a jury acquitted him on all counts. The family also sued in federal civil court and won a settlement from the city.

“Everyone’s been asking me, ‘How do you feel?’ I still don’t know how to answer that,” Small’s brother, Victor Dempsey, told reporters Wednesday after meeting with CCRB officials, as reported by Gothamist. “The reason I can’t answer that is because our family has been fighting for 10 years.” Dempsey said the only fair outcome would be for Isaacs to be fired, and he called on Mayor Mamdani to pay attention to the case.

The union representing Isaacs has pushed back hard. Patrick Hendry, the union’s president, said in a statement that it “defies belief that this case is still ongoing,” noting that Isaacs was acquitted by a jury, cleared by the NYPD under previous administrations, and that an NYPD trial commissioner has twice ruled the case should not proceed. He accused the CCRB of pursuing the case “without a single shred of new evidence” in order to expand its power and erase due process protections for officers. A CCRB spokesperson, Dakota Gardner, did not respond to Hendry’s remarks but said the board is confident in its case and pleased that NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch recognizes the importance of a trial.

The shooting happened in the early hours of July 4, 2016, shortly after Isaacs finished a shift with the 79th Precinct in Brooklyn. Both men were driving in East New York. After an incident on the road, Small got out of his car and walked to the driver-side window of Isaacs’ car. Isaacs shot him three times.

Isaacs has maintained that he opened fire only after Small punched him several times through the open window. Video published after the shooting, however, shows Small dropping and falling to the street almost immediately after reaching the window.

The department fully reinstated Isaacs after the criminal acquittal. NYPD records list him as currently assigned to the office of the Chief of Special Operations.

The trial has already stalled once. A year ago, the case was set for a departmental hearing but hit a legal snag when Isaacs’ attorneys argued the trial board lacked jurisdiction because he was off duty. Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado agreed and recommended dismissal. Tisch, who has final authority on discipline, overturned that recommendation in August.

In her letter, Tisch noted that Isaacs has argued he was taking “police action” when he shot Small, defending himself against violent crime. “[Isaacs’] position is that he was taking police action, but that nevertheless CCRB lacks jurisdiction over an allegation of excessive force arising from that police action,” she wrote. “That is untenable.”