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This database was last updated in July 2020 and is no longer being updated. Data on this page may be out of date.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
Rob Lewis Police Officer Black male Hispanic male, 30 years old Exonerated 2012
Kyle Stanley Police Officer White male Hispanic male, 24 years old Unsubstantiated 2012
Jon Derise Police Officer White male Black male, 54 years old Exonerated 2012
John Livingston Detective White male Black male, 36 years old Unsubstantiated 2012
Brian Alexander Police Officer White male Black male, 35 years old Unsubstantiated 2012
Derrick Mcintosh Police Officer Black male Black male, 34 years old Exonerated 2012
Matthew Zito Detective White male Black male, 27 years old Exonerated 2012
Johnny Orellana Lieutenant Hispanic male Black male, 38 years old Unsubstantiated 2012
Clement Krug Police Officer White male Black male, 20 years old Exonerated 2012
Christophe Furda Police Officer Asian male Unknown male, 16 years old Exonerated 2012
Kishon Hickman Sergeant Black male Black male, 52 years old Exonerated 2012
Bobby Glover Police Officer Black male Hispanic male, 18 years old Exonerated 2012
Gerard Delprete Detective White male Black male, 21 years old Exonerated 2012
Kenny Valladares Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 18 years old Exonerated 2012
Joseph Hayward Lieutenant White male Hispanic male, 15 years old Exonerated 2012
Berkley Vantull Sergeant Black male Black male, 48 years old Exonerated 2012
Gerson Cabrera Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 38 years old Exonerated 2012
Jacobo Garay Police Officer Hispanic male Unknown male, 28 years old Exonerated 2011
Thomas Manning Police Officer White male White male, 43 years old Exonerated 2011
Jason Santana Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 37 years old Exonerated 2011
Jonathan Hom Police Officer Asian male White male, 31 years old Exonerated 2011
Vitaliy Zelikov Sergeant White male Black male, 35 years old Unsubstantiated 2011
Jeffrey Fitterman Police Officer White male Black male, 28 years old Exonerated 2011
Joseph Bermudez Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 21 years old Unsubstantiated 2011
Christophe Schmidt Lieutenant White male Hispanic male, 36 years old Unsubstantiated 2011
Konrad Zakiewicz Police Officer White male Black male, 22 years old Exonerated 2011
Davis Santiago Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 40 years old Exonerated 2011
Angel Vasquez Sergeant Hispanic male Black male, 29 years old Exonerated 2011
James Hart Police Officer White male Hispanic male, 32 years old Exonerated 2011
Scott Hamburger Police Officer White male Hispanic male, 32 years old Exonerated 2011
Victor Rosa Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 35 years old Exonerated 2011
Vincent Maher Police Officer White male Black female, 43 years old Exonerated 2011
Michael Tarulli Police Officer White male Black male, 51 years old Exonerated 2011
Jose Ramos Police Officer Hispanic male Hispanic male, 26 years old Unsubstantiated 2011
Jaime Santiago Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 23 years old Exonerated 2011
Bernard Corso Police Officer White male Black male, 29 years old Exonerated 2011
Matthew Palmieri Police Officer White male Not available Exonerated 2011
David Terrell Detective Black male Black male, 17 years old Unsubstantiated 2011
Judith Moreno Police Officer Hispanic female Hispanic male, 45 years old Unsubstantiated 2011
Carlos Fabara Sergeant Hispanic male Hispanic male, 25 years old Exonerated 2011
Mark Vazquez Sergeant Hispanic male Black female, 24 years old Exonerated 2011
Jessenia Tabb Police Officer Hispanic female Black male, 35 years old Exonerated 2011
Diery Louis Police Officer Black male Unknown male, 24 years old Exonerated 2011
Tyler Ehrlein Detective White male Hispanic male, 24 years old Exonerated 2011
Edwin Soto Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 18 years old Exonerated 2011
Duane Atkinson Police Officer Black male Black female, 19 years old Unsubstantiated 2011
Justin Ellis Police Officer White male Black male, 34 years old Exonerated 2010
Ramon Hernandez Police Officer Hispanic male Black female, 14 years old Exonerated 2010
Carlos Martinez Police Officer Hispanic male Hispanic male, 29 years old Exonerated 2010
Carlos Nieves Police Officer White male Black male, 18 years old Exonerated 2010
Ronald Hobson Police Officer Black male Hispanic male, 39 years old Exonerated 2010
Justin Ellis Police Officer White male Black male, 34 years old Exonerated 2010
Thomas Moroney Police Officer White male Hispanic male, 54 years old Exonerated 2010
Anthony Lee Police Officer Black male Unknown female, 44 years old Exonerated 2010
Clyde Jasmin Police Officer Black male Unknown male Exonerated 2010
Jeffrey Fitterman Police Officer White male Black male, 22 years old Exonerated 2010
Jeffrey Fitterman Police Officer White male Black male, 52 years old Exonerated 2010
Christophe White Police Officer White male Black female, 27 years old Unsubstantiated 2010
Colin Austin Sergeant Black male Black male, 27 years old Exonerated 2010
Ryan Scannell Police Officer White male Black male, 32 years old Exonerated 2010
Diery Louis Police Officer Black male Black male, 30 years old Exonerated 2010
Darren King Sergeant Black male Black male, 28 years old Exonerated 2010
Christophe Ianno Police Officer White male Black male, 30 years old Exonerated 2010
Michael Ernst Police Officer White male Hispanic male, 25 years old Exonerated 2010
Jon Derise Police Officer White male Black male, 61 years old Exonerated 2010
Ramiro Ruiz Sergeant Hispanic male Black male, 44 years old Unsubstantiated 2010
Mervin Montalban Sergeant Hispanic male Unknown male, 23 years old Exonerated 2010
Steven Malone Police Officer White male Unknown male, 28 years old Exonerated 2009
Migdalia Ramos Police Officer Hispanic female White male, 31 years old Exonerated 2009
John Slavinsky Police Officer White male Black male, 62 years old Exonerated 2009
Jason Brunson Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 37 years old Exonerated 2009
Joseph Durante Sergeant White male Black male, 29 years old Unsubstantiated 2009
Brian Motyka Police Officer White male Hispanic male, 33 years old Substantiated (Charges) 2009
Christophe Mcgee Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 30 years old Exonerated 2009
Joseph Lafata Police Officer White male Black male, 22 years old Exonerated 2009
Daryl Melhado Police Officer Black male Black female, 24 years old Substantiated (Charges) 2009
Joseph Cordones Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 20 years old Exonerated 2009
Keith Dsouza Police Officer Asian male Black male, 35 years old Exonerated 2009
Erik Rubinstein Police Officer White male Other Race male, 31 years old Exonerated 2009
Anthony Davila Detective Hispanic male Black female, 17 years old Exonerated 2009
Lawrence Sanchez Police Officer Hispanic male Hispanic male, 22 years old Exonerated 2009
Darrin Smalls Police Officer Black male Black female, 27 years old Exonerated 2009
Luis Martinez Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 32 years old Unsubstantiated 2009
Michael Cusumano Police Officer White male White male, 28 years old Exonerated 2009
Christophe Owen Sergeant White male Black male, 35 years old Exonerated 2009
Wilson Alba Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 19 years old Unsubstantiated 2009
Thomas Gagliardi Sergeant White male Black male, 19 years old Unsubstantiated 2009
Eduardo Vite Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 47 years old Exonerated 2009
Anthony Romero Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 19 years old Exonerated 2008
Jorge Rodriguez Sergeant Hispanic male Black male, 35 years old Exonerated 2008
Antonio Santana Police Officer Hispanic male Hispanic male, 35 years old Exonerated 2008
Julian Coston Police Officer Black male Black male, 34 years old Substantiated (Charges) 2008
Anthony Davila Detective Hispanic male Black female, 17 years old Exonerated 2008
Richard Charles Police Officer Black male Black male, 26 years old Exonerated 2008
Thomas Napolitano Police Officer White male Black male, 27 years old Exonerated 2008
Antonio Santana Police Officer Hispanic male Not available Exonerated 2008
Matthew Wright Police Officer White male Asian male, 21 years old Exonerated 2008
Lorenzo Jones Police Officer Black male Black male, 61 years old Exonerated 2008
Roberto Suarez Police Officer Hispanic male Black male, 14 years old Unsubstantiated 2008
Andrew Beirne Police Officer White male Black male, 31 years old Exonerated 2008
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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