New York Attorney General Letitia James’ Office of Special Investigation (OSI) has released a report concerning the death of Jason Pass. The incident occurred on November 1, 2023, after an encounter with New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers in Brooklyn. Following a comprehensive investigation involving body-worn camera footage, officer interviews, and legal analysis, OSI concluded that it would be challenging for a prosecutor to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers' actions were justified under New York law.
The events unfolded on the morning of November 1 when NYPD officers patrolling near Bay 44th Street and Harway Avenue received an alert from their patrol vehicle's license plate reader about a car linked to Mr. Pass. He was a suspect in a recent double homicide and considered “armed and dangerous.” Officers requested backup before approaching the vehicle. During the encounter, two additional police vehicles arrived. Mr. Pass exited his vehicle holding a knife and attempted to flee.
Officers pursued him and engaged in conversation for over 25 minutes to de-escalate the situation. Despite these efforts, Mr. Pass charged at them with the knife, prompting officers to fire their service weapons. Mr. Pass was subsequently taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, and a knife was recovered at the scene.
According to New York’s justification law, police officers may use deadly force if they reasonably believe it is necessary for self-defense against deadly physical force by another person. Given that Mr. Pass was identified as "armed and dangerous" by the license plate reader and later charged at officers with a knife, OSI determined that there was insufficient evidence to refute the justification of deadly force used by officers in this instance.
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