The shooting of mentally ill Denis Volchkin by two NYPD officers was controversial from the start. Denis had been arrested for assaulting his mother several times over the years. On October 3, 2014 – the date of the shooting – police had responded to his home, but Volchkin had already left. They were called back to the scene when he returned. Within minutes, Denis Volchkin was dead as a result of a shooting that his mother said needn’t of happened. This week, it was announced after the investigation concluded that the shooting was justified, however, the officers did violate policy – as it pertains to dealing with mentally ill individuals.
The disciplinary report, which was dated March 2016, stated that the officer who fired the fatal shot was justified in doing so because of circumstances that developed within the house. The report went on to say that both officers violated policy by not notifying the Emergency Services Unit – the specialty unit designated to handle mentally ill individuals. The actions of the officers inside the house were also flawed, according to the report. “The officers’ tactics were not sound,” it stated, as well as “they should have requested additional resources but instead engaged the armed perpetrator, who was isolated and contained inside the house, and created a situation which resulted in the necessity to fire.”
The report condemned the officers’ actions, yet no discipline will be taken. Due to the fact that the report was finalized after the allowable period of 18 months in which an officer can be disciplined, both officers involved will go untouched by justice. The report indicated that the discipline that would have been handed down, would have been administrative in nature, resulting in the loss of vacation hours. Basically, the NYPD admitted the officers had escalated a situation that could have been resolved in other ways, other than shooting him. Due to the fact that they did escalate the situation, they created a situation in which their only way out was to shoot.
The lawyer for the Volchkin family, Jeffrey A. Rothman, believes that the failure to hand down discipline in this matter could result in a repeat of the same mistakes made in this incident. Discipline is intended to correct faulty behaviors, but in this case, no corrections were made. “That displays a shocking degree of indifference,” stated Rothman. “Not making sure that officers are properly trained and not ensuring that officers know when they have made serious and indeed fatal errors leads to people dying.”
This case contradicts the findings of another NYPD cases involving a sergeant, Hugh Barry, who shot and killed a woman who was mentally ill. In that particular case, the sergeant was disciplined for failing to call the Emergency Services Unit. No such discipline will occur in the case of Denis Volchkin. The family attorneys have not advised of a lawsuit, however, based on the findings of the disciplinary report, one is likely to occur.
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