“He confirmed me what love seems to be like, what security looks like, and the way a woman must be handled,” wrote Kilsi Polanco about her stepfather Allan Feliz. She penned her letter this previous Father’s Day to NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch, who will get the ultimate say on firing the cop who killed him.
“I’m pleased with her for sharing her story,” stated Julie Aquino, Polanco’s mom and Feliz’s accomplice. “But it surely makes me unhappy that she has to. She must be centered on her research, her mates, the issues that different 20 12 months olds must be doing. She shouldn’t have to lift her voice to get the cop who killed her dad fired.
“We all know Tisch can’t deliver our family members again, however she will be able to take steps in direction of ensuring that no mom, no youngster, has to undergo what we had by the hands of her officers.”
This previous February, an NYPD disciplinary trial decided Lt. Jonathan Rivera violated division protocol when he beat, tased and fatally shot Feliz throughout a 2019 visitors cease. He must be terminated based mostly on the NYPD tips. Nonetheless, Tisch stays the ultimate say and has remained largely mum 4 months after the trial’s resolution.
During the last 5 years, my household has fought to guarantee that Lt. Jonathan Rivera, the NYPD officer who killed my brother, Allan Feliz, is fired from the division.
Eric Garner’s dying gives the one precedent for Feliz’s household concerning an NYPD court docket greenlighting an officer’s termination after a profitable Civil Criticism Assessment Board (CCRB) prosecution. Then-commissioner James O’Neill fired Daniel Pantaleo just some weeks after his disciplinary trial concluded. Tisch doesn’t face a deadline to make her resolution.
Feliz raised Polanco since she was three years outdated and likewise had a son with Aquino shortly earlier than his dying. “To me, he’s my dad in each manner that issues,” Polanco wrote within the letter. Earlier than his dying, Feliz appeared ahead to taking them to Disney World and shifting into a bigger house with a yard. And selecting out a tiny Halloween costume for his toddler.
“These are issues that we obtained to expertise, me and Allan obtained to go to Disney World and expertise that collectively,” stated Feliz’s brother Samy. “He remembered being a baby, and the way it will stick to us for the remainder of our lives and how much affect these moments have of being with your loved ones after which being in such an enormous place and having these memorable moments.
“For Alan, it was identical to attempting to get a operating begin in creating these eternal, memorable moments.”
His son just lately graduated from kindergarten. Polanco was 15 when the taking pictures occurred and is now in school learning social work. And Rivera obtained a promotion from sergeant to lieutenant.
The household talked about challenges for explaining what occurred to Feliz’s son. “For some time, it even harm to take a look at him, as a result of he seems to be identical to our dad,” wrote Polanco within the letter. Aquino recounted how her son just lately devised a plan to “deliver his dad again.”
“To clarify to my son that’s not possible is tremendous emotional,” she stated. “It’s actually arduous. It will get me unhappy, however I keep robust and I simply inform him ‘you look identical to him.’ He tells me, ‘why do individuals say, oh look a bit Allan. Oh, identical to his dad.’ And I’m such as you’re his twin. You look identical to him, you smile like him.”
Aquino and Feliz’s mom Mery Verdeja additionally penned a letter to Tisch this previous Mom’s Day calling for Rivera’s termination. Different moms of police violence victims — together with Amadou Diallo’s mom Kadiatou Diallo — signed the letter. Tisch responded to them roughly two weeks later with a impartial assertion about how she couldn’t touch upon pending issues
However whereas justice could also be delayed, Aquino believes justice might be served if Tisch terminates Rivera. “We may have some type of peace, however we gained’t get Allan again,” she stated. In the meantime, the NYPD promoted Rivera, who was a sergeant, when he shot Feliz.
Tisch’s first main take a look at on officer self-discipline follows her predecessor Edward Caban burying misconduct instances with “retention” powers. He prevented greater than 50 substantiated CCRB investigations from reaching trial in simply his first 12 months, reported ProPublica.
To be clear, the NYPD handles disciplinary in-house even earlier than the commissioner’s closing stamp of approval. Instances like Rivera’s go in entrance of a NYPD deputy commissioner who serves as a de facto choose. The CCRB can’t impose disciplinary actions on offending officers and doesn’t “suggest” an officer’s punishment, as is often reported. As an alternative, a “presumptive penalty” assigned by the NYPD disciplinary matrix determines how misconduct is handled.
Since her appointment final November, Tisch is credited with overhauling NYPD tradition. She cracked down on extreme additional time and a number of other controversial figures like chief Jeffrey Maddrey — who evaded disciplinary measures below Caban — departed below her management. She beforehand headed the Division of Sanitation and labored for the NYPD in a civilian capability.
Three democratic mayoral candidates beforehand supported Feliz’s household of their present elected roles: NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, and State Senator Jessica Ramos. Lander hails as Tisch’s largest proponent within the race and promised to retain her as police commissioner if elected. Ramos and Mamdani didn’t elevate their arms when moderators requested candidates on who would maintain Tisch in her function through the first main debate.
“Whoever the subsequent mayor is — and whether or not they change the police commissioner or not — my direct ask for me and my household can be to grant us the [police accountability] that you simply all like to run on,” stated Samy Feliz.
Allan Feliz’s grand ambitions of a Disney World household trip stay on maintain after his dying six years later. However Aquino is decided to take their son to Orlando. “I really feel like his dream [wasn’t fulfilled], however I’ll guarantee that my son does go to Disney World and will get to see what his father needed him to see.”
