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This database was last updated in July 2020 and is no longer being updated. Data on this page may be out of date.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.

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
Joseph Matzinger Captain White male Black male, 24 years old Substantiated (Charges) 2013
Michael Lipetri Deputy Inspector White male Black female, 19 years old Unsubstantiated 2012
Gerard Delprete Detective White male Black male, 21 years old Exonerated 2012
Anthony Davila Detective Hispanic male Black female, 17 years old Exonerated 2008
Mohammed Rios Detective Hispanic male Black male, 34 years old Unsubstantiated 2017
Thomas Ramirez Detective Hispanic male White female, 18 years old Unsubstantiated 2014
Matthew Zito Detective White male Black male, 27 years old Exonerated 2012
Thomas Ramirez Detective Hispanic male White male, 23 years old Exonerated 2014
Katia Jasmin Detective Black female Refused female, 27 years old Substantiated (Command Discipline B) 2018
Katia Jasmin Detective Black female Black female, 38 years old Substantiated (Command Discipline B) 2018
Andrew Nash Detective White male Black male, 22 years old Exonerated 2018
Tyler Ehrlein Detective White male Hispanic male, 24 years old Exonerated 2011
Shante Terrell Detective Black male Black male, 29 years old Unsubstantiated 2006
Anthony Davila Detective Hispanic male Black female, 17 years old Exonerated 2009
Katia Jasmin Detective Black female Not available female Substantiated (Command Discipline B) 2018
Timothy Heines Detective White male Hispanic male, 28 years old Exonerated 2002
Katia Jasmin Detective Black female Unknown not described, 24 years old Substantiated (Command Discipline B) 2018
Ricardo Bocachica Detective Hispanic male Hispanic male, 32 years old Substantiated (Command Discipline) 2007
James Mccullough Detective White male Hispanic male, 37 years old Exonerated 2015
John Livingston Detective White male Black male, 36 years old Unsubstantiated 2012
David Terrell Detective Black male Black male, 17 years old Unsubstantiated 2011
Ramon Munoz Detective Hispanic male Black male, 19 years old Exonerated 1999
Thomas Ramirez Detective Hispanic male White female, 18 years old Substantiated (Charges) 2014
Byran Pitts Detective Black male Hispanic male, 53 years old Exonerated 2013
Anthony Henry Lieutenant White male Refused female, 22 years old Exonerated 2004
Michael Doyle Lieutenant White male Black male, 31 years old Exonerated 2013
Johnny Orellana Lieutenant Hispanic male Black male, 38 years old Unsubstantiated 2012
Steven Weiss Lieutenant White male Black male, 24 years old Exonerated 2013
Christophe Schmidt Lieutenant White male Hispanic male, 36 years old Unsubstantiated 2011
Christophe Schmidt Lieutenant White male Black male, 42 years old Exonerated 2006
Joseph Hayward Lieutenant White male Hispanic male, 15 years old Exonerated 2012
Raymond Festino Lieutenant White male Hispanic female, 32 years old Exonerated 2008
Jay Rivera Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 48 years old Exonerated 2015
Fitzroy Vigilance Police Officer Black male Not available Exonerated 1999
Christophe White Police Officer White male Black female, 27 years old Unsubstantiated 2010
John Ferrara Police Officer White male Black male, 33 years old Exonerated 2008
Hector Vargas Police Officer Hispanic male Refused male, 37 years old Exonerated 2015
Erik Rubinstein Police Officer White male Other Race male, 31 years old Exonerated 2009
Timothy Kraft Police Officer White male Black male, 25 years old Exonerated 2015
Ray Dutton Police Officer White male Black male, 22 years old Exonerated 2005
Cesar Polanco Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 23 years old Exonerated 2004
Carlos Martinez Police Officer Hispanic male Hispanic male, 29 years old Exonerated 2010
Joseph Bermudez Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 21 years old Unsubstantiated 2011
Evan Mele Police Officer Hispanic male Unknown Substantiated (Command Discipline A) 2017
Kevin Cox Police Officer Black male Black male, 29 years old Unsubstantiated 2014
Brian Farrelly Police Officer White male Hispanic male, 15 years old Exonerated 2005
Carlos Nieves Police Officer White male Black male, 18 years old Exonerated 2010
Brian Farrelly Police Officer White male White male, 19 years old Exonerated 2003
Ralph Gonzalez Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 24 years old Exonerated 2005
Jesse Trap Police Officer White male Black female, 16 years old Substantiated (Command Discipline B) 2018
Davis Santiago Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 40 years old Exonerated 2011
Dalsh Veve Police Officer Black male Black female, 67 years old Exonerated 2015
Brian Motyka Police Officer White male Hispanic male, 33 years old Substantiated (Charges) 2009
Joseph Foss Police Officer White male Black female, 36 years old Substantiated (Formalized Training) 2016
Timothy Schultz Police Officer White male Black male, 36 years old Substantiated (Charges) 2006
Christophe Winiarz Police Officer White male Black male, 26 years old Exonerated 2007
Theresa Callahan Police Officer White female Black male, 26 years old Exonerated 2007
Ray Dutton Police Officer White male White female, 52 years old Exonerated 2015
Jonathan Hom Police Officer Asian male White male, 31 years old Exonerated 2011
Jose Vasquezmiranda Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 31 years old Exonerated 2007
Anthony Gulotta Police Officer White male Black male, 29 years old Exonerated 2006
Brian Coffey Police Officer White male Black male, 55 years old Exonerated 2016
Daryl Melhado Police Officer Black male Black female, 24 years old Substantiated (Charges) 2009
Evan Mele Police Officer Hispanic male Black female, 23 years old Substantiated (Command Discipline A) 2017
Evan Mele Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 30 years old Substantiated (Command Discipline A) 2017
Leonardo Viera Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 20 years old Exonerated 2017
David Sammarco Police Officer White male Black male, 25 years old Exonerated 2006
Evan Mele Police Officer Hispanic male Not available male Substantiated (Command Discipline A) 2017
Andres Rodriguez Police Officer Hispanic male Unknown male, 20 years old Exonerated 2004
Christophe Ianno Police Officer White male Black male, 30 years old Exonerated 2010
Kervelin Ramirez Police Officer Hispanic female Black female, 22 years old Exonerated 2007
James Lagaris Police Officer White male Hispanic female, 47 years old Substantiated (Charges) 2014
Jaime Santiago Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 23 years old Exonerated 2011
Eloy Sanchez Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 44 years old Substantiated (Charges) 2002
Scott Berger Police Officer White male Black male, 29 years old Exonerated 2013
Kappa Farid Police Officer White male Black male, 29 years old Substantiated (Command Discipline B) 2015
Cesar Gomez Police Officer Hispanic male Hispanic male, 20 years old Exonerated 2007
Michael Rivera Police Officer Hispanic male Unknown male, 41 years old Exonerated 2005
Anthony Pizzo Police Officer White male Hispanic male, 24 years old Exonerated 2003
Daniel Castaldo Police Officer White male Not available Unsubstantiated 2019
John Zorrilla Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 36 years old Substantiated (Command Discipline B) 2015
Kenneth Oconnor Police Officer White male Black male, 17 years old Exonerated 2001
Matthew Palmieri Police Officer White male Not available Exonerated 2011
Joel Crooms Police Officer Black male Black female, 67 years old Exonerated 2015
Thomas Napolitano Police Officer White male Black male, 27 years old Exonerated 2008
Julian Coston Police Officer Black male Black male, 34 years old Substantiated (Charges) 2008
John Zorrilla Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 28 years old Exonerated 2014
Avidan Santiago Police Officer Hispanic male Unknown male Exonerated 2014
Evan Mele Police Officer Hispanic male Not available male Substantiated (Command Discipline A) 2017
John Roberts Police Officer White male Black female, 34 years old Exonerated 2003
Yasmin Hicks Police Officer Black female Black female, 24 years old Substantiated (Charges) 2004
Joel Roman Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 31 years old Exonerated 2006
Dennis Russo Police Officer White male Hispanic male, 33 years old Exonerated 2003
Ramiro Burgarelli Police Officer Hispanic male Unknown male, 28 years old Substantiated (Charges) 2008
Kyle Stanley Police Officer White male Black male, 48 years old Exonerated 2015
Migdalia Ramos Police Officer Hispanic female White male, 31 years old Exonerated 2009
Ricardo Bocachica Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 48 years old Exonerated 2005
Christian Addison Police Officer White male Black male, 29 years old Substantiated (Charges) 2004
Kyle Stanley Police Officer White male Hispanic male, 24 years old Unsubstantiated 2012
Pete Massa Police Officer White male Black female Exonerated 1999
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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.
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