Force: PEPPER SPRAY - The NYPD Files

Search Thousands of Civilian Complaints Against New York City Police Officers

This database was last updated in July 2020 and is no longer being updated. Data on this page may be out of date. For more recent information, visit the city's database of civilian complaints against the NYPD.

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Force: Pepper Spray

This page contains all allegations assigned to this category by the CCRB. Multiple similar allegations can appear for the same officer because a complaint received from a civilian can include multiple allegations.

Officers With Complaints

266

Complaints

297

Allegations

324

What the CCRB’s Conclusions Mean

Substantiated: The alleged conduct occurred and it violated the rules. (Here is a breakdown of the types of discipline the CCRB can recommend. The NYPD can choose to ignore those recommendations. It has discretion over what, if any, discipline is imposed.)

Exonerated: The alleged conduct occurred but did not violate the NYPD’s rules, which often give officers significant discretion over use of force.

Unsubstantiated: The CCRB has fully investigated but could not affirmatively conclude both that the conduct occurred and that it broke the rules.

Officer	Rank at Time of Complaint	Officer Details	Complainant Details	CCRB Conclusion	Year Received
Pete Massa	Police Officer	White male	Black female	Exonerated	1999
Ramon Munoz	Detective	Hispanic male	Black male, 19 years old	Exonerated	1999
Fitzroy Vigilance	Police Officer	Black male	Not available	Exonerated	1999
Christophe Lawrence	Sergeant	White male	Black male, 34 years old	Exonerated	1999
Timothy Mccormack	Sergeant	White male	Black male, 34 years old	Exonerated	1999
Pedro Ramos	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Hispanic male, 43 years old	Unsubstantiated	2000
Michael Ernst	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 25 years old	Exonerated	2000
James Williams	Police Officer	White male	Hispanic male, 25 years old	Exonerated	2001
Finbarr Fleming	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 26 years old	Exonerated	2001
Kenneth Oconnor	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 17 years old	Exonerated	2001
Cedric Green	Police Officer	Black male	Black male, 51 years old	Exonerated	2001
Eric Delman	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 18 years old	Exonerated	2001
Eloy Sanchez	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black male, 44 years old	Substantiated (Charges)	2002
Justin Dengler	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 15 years old	Exonerated	2002
Joey Rodriguez	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Hispanic male, 18 years old	Exonerated	2002
Timothy Heines	Detective	White male	Hispanic male, 28 years old	Exonerated	2002
Colin Austin	Police Officer	Black male	Black male, 16 years old	Exonerated	2002
Terrence Cane	Police Officer	White male	Black female, 41 years old	Exonerated	2002
Terrence Cane	Police Officer	White male	Black female, 58 years old	Exonerated	2002
Dennis Russo	Police Officer	White male	Hispanic male, 33 years old	Exonerated	2003
Darren King	Police Officer	Black male	Black male, 35 years old	Exonerated	2003
Anthony Pizzo	Police Officer	White male	Hispanic male, 24 years old	Exonerated	2003
Brian Farrelly	Police Officer	White male	White male, 19 years old	Exonerated	2003
Christophe Devaney	Sergeant	White male	Black female, 40 years old	Exonerated	2003
John Roberts	Police Officer	White male	Black female, 34 years old	Exonerated	2003
Craig Mastromatteo	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 31 years old	Exonerated	2003
Christophe Devaney	Sergeant	White male	Black male, 23 years old	Exonerated	2003
Jose Delrosario	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black male, 20 years old	Exonerated	2003
Victor Lara	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black male, 21 years old	Exonerated	2003
Kenneth Ayala	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black male, 33 years old	Substantiated (Charges)	2004
Osvaldo Nunez	Sergeant	Hispanic male	Hispanic male, 40 years old	Exonerated	2004
Scott Mateyaschuk	Police Officer	White male	Hispanic male, 30 years old	Unsubstantiated	2004
Kevin Devine	Police Officer	White male	Black female, 20 years old	Exonerated	2004
Thomas Cappolla	Police Officer	White male	Not available	Exonerated	2004
Christian Addison	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 29 years old	Substantiated (Charges)	2004
Berkley Vantull	Police Officer	Black male	Black male, 18 years old	Exonerated	2004
Andres Rodriguez	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Unknown male, 20 years old	Exonerated	2004
Jose Delrosario	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black female, 58 years old	Unsubstantiated	2004
Avis Washington	Sergeant	Black female	Hispanic female, 27 years old	Exonerated	2004
Thomas Kid	Sergeant	White male	Hispanic male, 42 years old	Exonerated	2004
Cesar Polanco	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black male, 23 years old	Exonerated	2004
Victor Appel	Police Officer	White male	Not available male	Exonerated	2004
Anthony Henry	Lieutenant	White male	Refused female, 22 years old	Exonerated	2004
Brian Brannigan	Police Officer	White male	Hispanic male, 27 years old	Exonerated	2004
Yasmin Hicks	Police Officer	Black female	Black female, 24 years old	Substantiated (Charges)	2004
Douglas Carr	Police Officer	Black male	Black male, 39 years old	Exonerated	2004
Jose Delrosario	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black male, 24 years old	Exonerated	2004
Ronald Bolte	Sergeant	White male	Hispanic female, 31 years old	Exonerated	2004
Terrence Cane	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 20 years old	Exonerated	2004
Keith Chatterton	Police Officer	White male	Unknown male, 40 years old	Unsubstantiated	2004
Carlos Lozada	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black female, 20 years old	Exonerated	2004
Ricardo Bocachica	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black male, 48 years old	Exonerated	2005
Ray Dutton	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 22 years old	Exonerated	2005
Ralph Gonzalez	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black male, 24 years old	Exonerated	2005
Michael Alleva	Sergeant	White male	Black male, 28 years old	Exonerated	2005
Michael Miller	Sergeant	White male	Black female, 40 years old	Exonerated	2005
Johnny Lawrence	Police Officer	Black male	Black male, 42 years old	Exonerated	2005
Edwin Ayala	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black male, 25 years old	Exonerated	2005
Christophe Salamone	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 31 years old	Exonerated	2005
Emile Provencher	Sergeant	White male	Black male, 23 years old	Exonerated	2005
Brian Farrelly	Police Officer	White male	Hispanic male, 15 years old	Exonerated	2005
David Nisthaus	Sergeant	Hispanic male	Hispanic male, 23 years old	Exonerated	2005
Melvin Moultrie	Police Officer	Black male	Black male, 37 years old	Exonerated	2005
Andrew Valenzano	Sergeant	White male	Black male, 42 years old	Exonerated	2005
Jorge Torres	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Unknown male, 20 years old	Exonerated	2005
Jason Forgione	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 34 years old	Exonerated	2005
Michael Rivera	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Unknown male, 41 years old	Exonerated	2005
Scott Longmaid	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 16 years old	Exonerated	2005
Hairo Franco	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Hispanic male, 25 years old	Exonerated	2005
Richard Lavelle	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 21 years old	Exonerated	2005
Thomas Loomis	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 15 years old	Unsubstantiated	2005
Anthony Gulotta	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 29 years old	Exonerated	2006
Gennaro Russo	Police Officer	White male	Black female, 30 years old	Exonerated	2006
Sandy Polanco	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Hispanic female, 23 years old	Exonerated	2006
Timothy Schultz	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 36 years old	Substantiated (Charges)	2006
Christophe Schmidt	Lieutenant	White male	Black male, 42 years old	Exonerated	2006
Fernando Centenotalavera	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black male, 47 years old	Substantiated (Command Discipline)	2006
Davey Hernandez	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black male, 39 years old	Exonerated	2006
Adam Samet	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 35 years old	Substantiated (Charges)	2006
Edward Scali	Police Officer	White male	Hispanic male, 36 years old	Exonerated	2006
Mike Civil	Police Officer	Black male	Black male, 28 years old	Exonerated	2006
Michael Scoloveno	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 25 years old	Exonerated	2006
Antonio Santana	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black male, 36 years old	Exonerated	2006
Joel Roman	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black male, 31 years old	Exonerated	2006
David Sammarco	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 25 years old	Exonerated	2006
Thomas Marco	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 26 years old	Exonerated	2006
Edwin Ayala	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Hispanic male, 14 years old	Exonerated	2006
Ted Holway	Police Officer	White male	Hispanic male, 24 years old	Exonerated	2006
Osvaldo Nunez	Sergeant	Hispanic male	Hispanic male, 19 years old	Unsubstantiated	2006
Shante Terrell	Detective	Black male	Black male, 29 years old	Unsubstantiated	2006
Angela Polancobrito	Police Officer	Hispanic female	Not available male	Substantiated (Command Discipline)	2006
Raymond Abreu	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black male, 25 years old	Exonerated	2006
Nerys Ramirez	Police Officer	Hispanic female	Black female, 18 years old	Unsubstantiated	2006
Jose Vasquezmiranda	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black male, 31 years old	Exonerated	2007
Robert Dress	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 26 years old	Exonerated	2007
Theresa Callahan	Police Officer	White female	Black male, 26 years old	Exonerated	2007
Christophe Winiarz	Police Officer	White male	Black male, 26 years old	Exonerated	2007
Wilson Alba	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Black male, 20 years old	Exonerated	2007
Mikal Wright	Police Officer	Black male	Unknown male, 36 years old	Exonerated	2007
Ricardo Bocachica	Police Officer	Hispanic male	Hispanic male, 23 years old	Exonerated	2007

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About This Data

For decades, disciplinary records of police officers in New York have been shielded from public view. After the state recently repealed the law that had kept the records secret, ProPublica requested and received a database from New York City’s Civilian Complaint Review Board, which investigates allegations of misconduct against NYPD officers. The database lists the name of each officer, the race of the complainant and the officer, a category describing the alleged misconduct, and whether the CCRB concluded the officers’ conduct violated NYPD rules. Police unions have opposed New York City’s plan to make public data about disciplinary investigations.

This database names about 4,000 of the NYPD’s 36,000 active-duty officers. Every officer in the database has had at least one substantiated allegation. We excluded any allegations that CCRB investigators concluded did not occur and were deemed unfounded. We also removed a small number of officers (62) against whom the CCRB had substantiated allegations, but whose substantiated allegations had not gone fully through the NYPD’s administrative prosecution process. The CCRB was not able to reach conclusions in many cases, in part because the investigators must rely on the NYPD to hand over crucial evidence, such as footage from body-worn cameras. Often, the department is not forthcoming despite a legal duty to cooperate in CCRB investigations. The CCRB gets thousands of complaints per year but substantiates a tiny fraction of them. Allegations of criminal conduct by officers are typically investigated not by the CCRB but by state or federal prosecutors in conjunction with the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau or the FBI. The NYPD’s own findings in cases in this database are not included here.

Read more about what we’ve included in the database and why, and see our answers to questions we have received about this data. If you have information about any of these officers or cases, please fill out our form.

All of the records in this data are from closed cases. But if you see an error, contact the CCRB. If the agency updates its records and lets us know, we'll do so as well.

The data used in this database is downloadable from ProPublica’s Data Store.

Source

This data was obtained through a records request made to the CCRB. It includes fully investigated allegations only for officers who were members of the department as of late June 2020 and against whom the CCRB has substantiated at least one allegation.