LatinoJustice Files Lawsuit Against NYPD Over Officer Who Tased Civilian
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
July 29, 2024
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LatinoJustice Files Lawsuit Against NYPD Over Officer Who Tased Civilian
Article 78 Filed in Supreme Court of NY
BROLL & SOT HERE
New York, NY – Civil rights organization LatinoJustice PRLDEF and co-counsel Gideon Orion Oliver sued the New York Police Department (NYPD) for failing to punish an officer who tased a civilian. The lawsuit, called an Article 78, asks a court to compel the NYPD to serve charges on Detective Raul Torres.
LatinoJustice PRLDEF is representing William Harvin, Sr., who alleges that Detective Raul Torres tased him four times when he was unarmed and backing away from officers on May 29, 2020, during the execution of a search warrant. The Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) substantiated the allegations and recommended discipline on April 21, 2022, but the NYPD failed to serve the charges on Det. Torres.
“When I found out that the NYPD had sidelined my case it came as no shock,” said William Harvin, Sr. the plaintiff in the case. “New Yorkers keep experiencing cruel and violent acts by the same officers who vow to protect us. Yet it seems they are both being protected from any repercussions and rewarded for their acts. Victims are being denied their justice while officers like in my case are being promoted. This has to end.”
The NYPD’s Department Advocate’s Office has charged respondent officers, on average, within less than 37 days of the CCRB forwarding the substantiated case. In this case, NYPD has taken over two years to serve these charges. According to plaintiffs NYPD has not explained or showed how the case falls into the retained case category, nor has it pointed to any circumstances that could justify the delay in serving charges against Det. Torres.
“Since taking office, Commissioner Caban has ignored his obligation to discipline officers who violate New Yorkers rights,” said Andrew Case Supervising Counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF and one of the lead attorneys on the case. “When officers see there are no consequences for breaking the law, they will continue to harass, assault, and even kill New Yorkers. We are bringing this lawsuit to demand that a Court order Commissioner Caban to follow the law and hold violent officers accountable.”
“It is of vital importance that the NYPD bring disciplinary charges against Raul Torres and allow the process to move forward”, said Council Member Alexa Avilés. “Instead of following the rules for Torres in the time since his alleged abuses, the Department swept his case under the rug and has since promoted him. That is unconscionable. William Harvin Sr. and his family deserve justice.”
According to the petitioners the NYPD has retained a large number of cases, and that number has increased significantly under the leadership of Police Commissioner Edward Caban. In 2022, the NYPD retained ten cases, in 2023 twenty-one cases, and in the first quarter of 2024, it has retained nine.
“Since taking office in July 2023, Police Commissioner Edward Caban has engaged in a pattern of covering up for police misconduct by inexplicably refusing to serve substantiated charges and “retaining” cases of wrongdoing forward to the NYPD by the CCRB, said Gideon Orion Oliver, co-counsel in the case. “In doing so, Commissioner Caban has ignored real and serious findings of misconduct by the CCRB and shielded officers from the accountability of a disciplinary trial.”
A 2022 report by LatinoJustice PRLDEF, “Shielded from Accountability: How NYPD Officers Get Away with Lying to the CCRB” reveals that the issue of lying within the department is neither new nor isolated and reflects systemic failures in oversight and leadership. The report covers 144 cases involving 181 NYPD officers from 2010 through 2020. In more than half the cases the CCRB forwarded, an officer’s testimony was contradicted by video or audio evidence. Nearly half of the officers who lied to the CCRB were never punished at all, even for the misconduct they lied about.
The plaintiff is petitioning NYPD to take action and serve the delayed administrative charges on Detective Torres. The petition also requires the NYPD to serve immediately the administrative charges in all cases in which the CCRB substantiated an allegation and recommended that charges be served that have been pending at the NYPD for thirty days or longer.
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About LatinoJustice
LatinoJustice PRLDEF works to create a more just society by using and challenging the rule of law to secure transformative, equitable and accessible justice, by empowering our community and by fostering leadership through advocacy and education. For over 50 years, LatinoJustice PRLDEF has acted as an advocate against injustices throughout the country. To learn more about LatinoJustice, visit www.LatinoJustice.org