The following is an extended version of the story which appears in our latest print edition.

 

A group of about 20 protestors, including family members of an emotionally disturbed man, Raul de la Cruz, who was shot by police in Kingsbridge Heights last month, held a rally outside the 52nd Precinct in Norwood on Friday, April 7, calling for “Justice for Raul” and the release of the names of the two officers involved in the shooting.

 

As reported at the time, De la Cruz, 43, was shot by police when officers from the 52^nd Precinct responded to a call regarding an emotionally disturbed person armed with a knife at 2685 Grand Concourse on Sunday, March 26, at around 10.04 a.m.

On April 7, outside the 52nd Precinct stationhouse, located on Webster Avenue, the leader of the group, Adrian Guerrero, holding a bullhorn, addressed about 10 to 15 members of the NYPD. At one stage, these included the precinct commanding officer, Deputy Inspector Jeremy Scheublin, members of the community affairs team, and other officers who had exited the stationhouse and had faced the protestors behind some fencing which was set up at the entrance, preventing the group from entering the precinct grounds.

 

“You can make this nice and easy right now,” Guerrero said in part. “Release the names! Give us the names of the trigger-happy cops that almost killed Raul and are still free.” Adding that De la Cruz only had a 10 percent chance of surviving the shooting, Guerrero continued, “He could be dead right now! Thank God he’s recovering. But you didn’t care at all. Anybody else who did this would be locked up by now but not you, not you because you’re in uniform and you got your badges and all of that bullsh*t.”

Guerrero added in part, “You’re going to be punished, and we will keep protesting. We will keep organizing until that day comes and there’s justice for Raul. We demand an end to the criminalization of mental illnesses. Calling for help should not be a death sentence. Raul is not a criminal.”

 

As previously reported, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell described how the incident unfolded on March 26, saying, “The caller, a father, described his adult son as having a medical episode, describes he feels he’s being followed. He goes on to say, ‘If any cops show up here today, I will kill them’.” Chell added that when two officers showed up at the location, they were met by the man’s father and began to enter the walkway to the vestibule of the building. He explained that the incident began in an apartment in the building.

Chell continued, “At this time, the subject comes out and clearly becomes agitated when he sees the officers, drops a bag, produces a large kitchen knife, starts advancing towards the officers. He’s given numerous instructions to drop the knife at which time he does not comply and results in the officers striking the subject.”

 

Chell said police immediately rendered aid to the man and called for an ambulance and De la Cruz was transported to hospital in critical condition. He said the department was reviewing the body camera footage of the incident and that an internal investigation was ongoing into the incident which he said unfolded within the space of about 28 seconds.

Back at the rally, another female protestor, speaking in Spanish, described De la Cruz as “a young man of Christ.” Referring to the responding officers as “abusers,” she lamented how police could fire a gun at someone without knowing whether or not they spoke English. “He likely didn’t understand,” she said, in part. Another male protestor, speaking in Spanish, said, “It’s not possible to call the police for help because you’re going to get killed; it’s clear.” Yet another female protestor shouted fervently and forcefully in Spanish, “We need better help for people with mental health problems!”

 

Referring to the police response in the case of De la Cruz, she added, in part, “There is no regard for [human] life. We want another way to respond to those with mental health problems! We want another way! We want another way!” This set off a chant of, “Another way! Another way! We want help!” by those gathered.

For the most part, police did not respond to the protestors, some of whom held signs which read, “Who will protect us from the police?” and “Justice for Raul.”

 

After the March 26 shooting, Gothamist reported that on the day of the incident the father of the victim, identified as Santo de la Cruz, had reportedly not dialed 911, but 311 for his son who was reportedly experiencing “a schizophrenic episode,” and that his father had asked 311 for medical authorities to commit Raul before something went awry.

Gothamist also reported that they were informed by 311 officials that 311 calls are automatically routed to the NYPD if the incident relates to a mental health crisis and the impacted person is armed, and that police then decide which department will be dispatched to handle the situation.

 

Raul’s father also reportedly told the publication that Raul did not understand English and that police were shouting at his son in English when they arrived. The incident followed an announcement, as reported, in mid-December by Mayor Eric Adams of a new plan, regarded as controversial by some, to provide proactive outreach and care to people living on the streets with untreated severe mental illness, part of which involves initial contact with police.

 

Guerrero later referenced the mayor’s mental health outreach program, saying police had been empowered to hospitalize people with mental illnesses without their consent. “They get to act with impunity,” he said. “You don’t get to keep getting away with this stuff without people coming out, and without some f’#cking protests, without the demands, without the families, without the support and love that’s out here.”

 

At one point, the man seen in one of the attached photos wearing a green hat, who publicly identified himself as Tyan Yewitt [unsure of spelling as difficult to hear], joined the protestors and began to air his own grievances with the police. Addressing the precinct employees, he said, “Dirty Cops… The 52nd Precinct do a lot of injustice to immigrants… ok a lot of us don’t have green cards. We don’t have our citizenship so these dirty cops, they know this and this is what they do.”

He added, “They come in our community and they squeeze us [gestured a choking motion around his throat with his hands]. That’s what they do and then when you do something or try to stop you, they say, oh, you’re trying to assault them or something.” [The man raised his hands in the air as if to indicate lack of culpability.]

 

He continued in part, “I know these guys. 30 years I’ve been here, 30 years. These are the most dirtiest cops that I know ’cause I deal with them. That’s what they do all day, every day. Addressing the precinct employees directly, he then said, “All y’all Spanish over here and Black fools. Y’all let these people come down here and control y’all. They all control y’all too in headquarter too so wherever y’all are, y’all get controlled. That’s the point.” Yewitt later alleged the precinct “protected criminals, was racist” and was run by “Irish and Italians.”

 

We asked the NYPD if there was a racial breakdown available for employees at the 52nd Precinct. We were advised that there was only a breakdown available for the department as a whole, extracts of which are attached and show the breakdown for both civilian and uniformed service members. [We have screenshot and enlarged the various sections further below to make them easier to read.]

 

Norwood News did not get a chance to interview Yewitt or ask him for proof of any of his allegations before he left the scene as we were interviewing other members of the De la Cruz family before they also departed. We also put Yewitt’s allegations of racism and crookedness at the 52nd Precinct to the NYPD for comment. We will update this story should we receive any feedback on the matter. As Yewitt was in the process of shouting his allegations at the various precinct employees, Guerrero shouted, “A pig is a pig.”

Another man, who publicly identified himself as Vané Eño [unsure of spelling as difficult to hear] also later joined the protest seemingly with his daughter, although we did not get a chance to confirm this with him before he left. He appeared emotional as he also addressed the precinct employees. Speaking in Spanish, he said police should not respond with guns during a mental health crisis, and the City should send mental health professionals instead. “Stop killing our children!” he pleaded at one point. He later told a TV reporter, “I don’t have a problem with the police.”

 

At one point, Victor, Raul’s brother, approached the barrier outside the precinct entrance holding a sign and was seen talking in Spanish with some female members of the NYPD community affairs team. Following earlier calls from the crowd for senior members of the precinct to respond to the protestors, one of the female officers, speaking in Spanish, appeared to offer Victor and one other person the opportunity to speak with the deputy inspector directly about the incident if he wished [inside the precinct].

Some protestors were then heard saying to police, “I think you guys are trying to take advantage of the situation.” They suggested to Victor that he call his lawyer for advice and produced a cellphone. Another protestor said to police, “There’s nothing they can do so what do you expect to accomplish? Tell us the names and that’s it!”

 

Another female protestor was then heard saying, “They’re trying to divide us, Yo!” The officers were heard repeating the offer for Victor to talk to Scheublin if he wanted or later by phone if he wanted. He nodded, and speaking in Spanish, replied, “Thank you,” and walked away. The protest broke up about an hour after it began.

As the protestors dispersed, we spoke to Santalena De la Cruz, Raul’s aunt, who said in part in Spanish of her nephew, “He’s a good man, a very hard worker, a quiet man. He never had any problems with the police. He only just has his psychological problems. He’s a Christian and serves God.”

 

Asked if Raul attended a particular church, his aunt said, “Yes, he goes to a church. I don’t remember the name.” Asked if it was based locally, she said, “Yes.” She added, “It seems as though he stopped taking his medication and my brother called for help and there was a shooting in the street because he [Raul] doesn’t understand English, and he didn’t understand what they were saying to him.” She added that Raul was never violent.

A local resident who saw the protest on TV later told Norwood News she did not recognize the protestors as being local residents. [We said at least some identified themselves as family members of De la Cruz.]

 

Norwood News later spoke directly with Victor who confirmed the family had only called 311, and not 911 on the day of the shooting. Asked if the family had said they were in danger when they called, he said, “no.” Of Raul, he added, “He is a young man of work. We want justice for Raul.”

We asked Victor for his thoughts about the report by Gothamist in which Raul’s father had said his son had been under [medical] treatment. According to the story, Santo had said, “He’s an evangelical; they don’t believe in that sort of thing [taking medication to help treat his mental health issues]. He stopped his treatment and changed his phone so his doctor wouldn’t reach him.” Victor replied in Spanish, “I don’t know anything about that. I don’t know the church in question.”

 

During a general public safety briefing with NYC Deputy Mayor for public safety, Phil Banks, on Friday, April 14, Banks referenced three other police-involved incidents (one fatal) in the City which all took place on April 13 (one in Kingsbridge, involving the 50th Precinct, as reported). Banks said all three were under investigation but did not reference the March 26 incident. Chell had already confirmed on March 26 that the shooting of De la Cruz earlier that day was under investigation.

As reported, a female police officer from the 50th Precinct was assaulted by a member of the public at the location of the police-involved shooting in Kingsbridge on April 13. She was hit across the head with a bottle in a daylight street attack. When asked if the assault was potentially in response to the earlier police-involved shooting at the same location on April 13, the NYPD responded, saying, “The incident remains ongoing by the Force Investigation Division.”

 

Meanwhile, in reference to the three police-involved shootings on April 13, Banks said, “The bottom line here is there are too many weapons on our streets, end of the story, bottom line. The NYPD and other city agencies have seized thousands of illegal guns over the past year, and we will continue to work to drive down gun violence,” he said. Norwood News reached out to the Mayor’s office for comment on the March 26 shooting. We did not receive an immediate response.

We also contacted the NYPD for comment on the police response to the March 26 incident, the demands of the protestors, and whether the two involved officers were still on active duty pending the outcome of the investigation. An NYPD spokesperson referred us to their website which explains the department’s policy regarding the release of body-worn camera footage of critical incidents within 30 calendar days of an incident.

 

According to the department, in some cases, this may take more than 30 days if the investigation is complex, if a court issues an order delaying or preventing release of the footage, or if additional time is needed to allow a civilian depicted in the video, or their family, to view the video in advance. Critical incidents, according to the NYPD, include [among others] an officer discharging a firearm and such discharge hitting or potentially hitting another person. Regarding the status of the impacted officers, a police spokesperson later said, “There is no change in duty status for the officers involved.”

Following a 2013 court case, Yanahit Padilla Torres v The City of York, which stemmed from a domestic violence incident during which a female domestic violence victim was not initially provided with an interpreter when she called police for help and was later arrested and chained to a hospital bed after police listened to the account of the incident provided by the perpetrator, who spoke English, the City passed Local Law 30, which mandated that language access be provided by all city agencies.

 

One of the law’s key requirements mandates each city agency to designate a language access coordinator, and to develop and implement a language access implementation plan to ensure meaningful language access to agency services. The NYPD implemented their own Language Access Plan accordingly.

According to the plan, NYPD services may be provided in the field or at a police facility e.g. precinct, housing public service area, transit district. Whatever the location, the language access protocol remains the same according to the plan. Officers are trained to obtain language services as necessary when working with limited English proficiency (LEP) persons.

 

According to the plan, typically, officers utilize the “Language [interpreter] Line” facility, which provides language services by phone, or certified members of the department provide language services in person. Norwood News asked the NYPD if this policy also applied in situations when an LEP was armed. We did not receive an immediate response.

Back at the rally on April 7, one young girl, identified as Raul’s cousin, broke down in tears at one point, saying, “He’s my cousin. Why you want to kill him? For what? We’re just here to be his friend. He’s a good man. Ya’ll are going to give people a heart attack. You’re out of your mind.”

 

As part of our latest Inquiring Photographer feature, we asked local residents for their views on how the City should best respond to mental health crises involving people who are armed.

 

If you or someone you know needs support, call 888-NYC-Well, text “Well” to 65173 or visit nyc.gov/nycwell.

 

*David Greene contributed to this story