Police reform advocates are waiting restlessly as NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch mulls over her first big test on the issue of officer accountability.
In February, an NYPD disciplinary trial found Lt. Jonathan Rivera guilty of first-degree assault for the killing of Allan Feliz in 2019, an offense that should lead to termination based on the department’s rulebook. Like with all police misconduct cases, the final call goes to the NYPD commissioner.
While there is no official deadline for Tisch to make her decision, Feliz’s family called for a decision by March 31. They have not received a response. So a day later —this past Tuesday on April 1— 50 organizations signed a letter calling for Tisch to fire Rivera.
“The deadline of the 31st was given simply to set an expectation for police commissioner Tisch to understand that this isn’t something that we’re just going to sit back and allow it to just keep accruing more and more time,” said Samy Feliz, Allan Feliz’s brother. “It has been already five years and this officer has still been patrolling the streets of New York, which is not providing any New Yorker any sense of safety nor accountability towards the NYPD.”
Rivera, at the time an NYPD sergeant, pulled over the unarmed Feliz with two other officers over an alleged seatbelt violation. Despite the dubious stop which the letter said “reek[ed] of racial profiling” — particularly since Feliz was wearing a seatbelt when pulled over — police ran his license and found outstanding warrants for failing to pay fines over minor offenses like spitting and littering. The encounter escalated when Feliz reached for the gearshift to allegedly drive away, leading to Rivera initially tasing, and then, fatally shooting Feliz in the chest.
While the State Attorney General opted not to bring criminal charges, the office found “serious concerns about the NYPD’s handling of the incident.” The Civilian Complaint Review Board, the independent city agency for police oversight, investigated and substantiated misconduct allegations against Rivera over the shooting, which led to the NYPD trial last November. Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado, who ostensibly serves as the “judge” for NYPD trials, rejected Rivera’s claim justifying the killing due to safety concerns of his fellow officers.
OP-ED: NYPD must fire cop who killed my brother
Over the last five years, my family has fought to make sure that Lt. Jonathan Rivera, the NYPD officer who killed my brother, Allan Feliz, is fired from the department.
READ MORE HERE“The CCRB is pleased with Trial Commissioner Maldonado’s recommendation of termination of Lt. Rivera and trusts that Commissioner Tisch will uphold this decision,” said CCRB interim chair Dr. Mohammad Khalid. “The CCRB is hopeful that this outcome will provide the family of Allan Feliz with a sense of justice and closure.”
Maldonado’s ruling makes Rivera the first and only other officer facing termination after an NYPD trial stemming from a CCRB prosecution since Daniel Pantaleo over the high-profile killing of Eric Garner. Then-commissioner James P. O’Neill greenlit Pantaleo’s firing roughly two weeks after the verdict.
Samy Feliz called the coalescence of 50 organizations a “blessing.” Andrew Case, the supervising attorney for LatinoJustice PRLDEF, says his civil rights group has stood with the family for years.
“We’re there for support to lend some credence to the idea that what you see with your own eyes is, in fact, true,” said Case. “You can do legal dances here and there about various things but you can’t do legal dances when this guy climbed into a car and killed somebody.”
More than 30 elected officials also back the Feliz family’s call for Rivera’s termination, including mayoral candidates Jessica Ramos and Zohran Mamdani.
“We’re told the police are always seeking to improve community relations,” said Ramos on March 6. “Well this is where it matters most. This is where we see that no one is above the law. Not any New Yorker, not even a police officer.”
“This is the most basic form of justice,” added Mamdani. “That a police officer, that has been found by a judge to have violated the NYPD’s policies by murdering a New Yorker during a traffic stop, lose their job.”
Whether or not Tisch terminates Rivera will set the tone for how she approaches police accountability in her tenure. Mayor Eric Adams appointed her last November following the exit of her predecessor Edward Caban, who reportedly buried numerous disciplinary cases stemming from substantiated CCRB investigations.
Tisch fashioned herself as a reformer over her first few months as commissioner through tackling excessive overtime and shaking up leadership. She notably relieved the previous Chief of Internal Affairs of duty in December and pushed out Jeffrey Maddrey, a prominent police chief whose substantiated CCRB case was dismissed by Caban.
The decision could also bolster public trust in the CCRB, the main channel for victims of police misconduct to pursue accountability. However, the agency lacks the direct power to discipline officers. Instead, the CCRB relies on the police to police the police with Maldonado, an NYPD official, overseeing the internal trials and the commissioner making the final call.
“It’s a sign of the tenacity and the confidence of the CCRB, admittedly operating with a limited authority,” said Case, who previously worked for the agency. “They can’t actually force this to happen, but they did their role as well as it can be done. And it’s a sign that there should be faith in the CCRB. And if the commissioner wants to have faith in the CCRB and wants people to believe in the CCRB process, then she should act on the Maldonado recommendation and fire Lt. Rivera.”
Those interested in learning more can follow the issue at justicecommittee.org/allan-feliz
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member who writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.