Ever since Jessica Tisch became the head of the NYPD, she has been painted as a reformer, relatively immune to the stale cronyism that marked the careers of most other Eric Adams-appointed top cops. "I am not someone who accepts the status quo when the status quo doesn't serve New Yorkers," Tisch said upon taking the job. Part of her promise was to hold officers who commit misconduct accountable.
But on Friday, Tisch disappointed anyone who bought that, going against the recommendations of both the Civilian Complaint Review Board and an NYPD judge, and declining to fire Lieutenant Jonathan Rivera, who killed Allan Feliz during a traffic stop in 2019.
On Tuesday evening, Feliz's family gathered outside One Police Plaza, as they have numerous times since Feliz was shot and killed by then-Sergeant Rivera in the Bronx. "Commissioner Tisch, despite her promises, has proven that police cannot hold themselves accountable," Feliz's mother Mery Verdeja said in Spanish through an interpreter. Her daughter, Allan's sister, Verdeja, added, "This preliminary decision of hers is a mockery of justice."
In 2023, the Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated departmental charges of assault and menacing against Rivera, recommending that he be fired. In November of 2024, the NYPD finally held a disciplinary trial against Rivera, and this past February, Rosemarie Maldonado, the NYPD's deputy commissioner of trials, found Rivera guilty of first-degree assault and also recommended he be fired. Last week, after allowing Rivera's case to languish on her desk for months, Commissioner Tisch abruptly decided that Rivera would face no consequences for killing Allan.
Using the state attorney general's decision not to charge Rivera criminally as an excuse, Tisch decided that, even in such an exceedingly rare case in which the NYPD decides to hold itself accountable, there should not even be administrative consequences for Rivera. "I agree with the attorney general’s analysis and find that respondent’s shooting of Mr. Feliz was justified," Tisch wrote.
At Tuesday's rally, Allan's family said they were disappointed, but not surprised. "Hope is very slim for us," Sammy Feliz told reporters, wearing a pendant with his brother's picture on a gold chain. Allan's weeping mother added, "We fought and overcame obstacles at every turn to get that far, only for Commissioner Tisch to decide that she wants to toss it."