Attorney General James’ Office of Special Investigation Releases Report on Death of Jason Pass

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James’ Office of Special Investigation (OSI) today released its report on the death of Jason Pass, who died on November 1, 2023 following an encounter with members of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in Brooklyn. After a thorough investigation, which included review of body-worn camera footage, interviews with involved officers, and comprehensive legal analysis, OSI concluded that a prosecutor would not be able to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the officers’ actions were justified under New York law.

On the morning of November 1, NYPD officers were patrolling in the vicinity of Bay 44th Street and Harway Avenue in Brooklyn when the license plate reader (LPR) in their patrol vehicle alerted them to a vehicle Mr. Pass was known to drive parked on the street. Mr. Pass was a wanted suspect in a double homicide that had occurred a few days before and was flagged as “armed and dangerous.” The officers called for backup and approached Mr. Pass’ vehicle. During the encounter with Mr. Pass, two additional police vehicles arrived on the scene. Mr. Pass got out of his vehicle, with a knife in his hand, and attempted to flee. The officers followed, and when they caught up with Mr. Pass, they spoke with him for over 25 minutes in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. Mr. Pass then charged at the officers with a knife, and officers fired their service weapons in response. Mr. Pass was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. NYPD recovered a knife at the scene.

Under New York’s justification law, a police officer may use deadly physical force when the officer reasonably believes it to be necessary to defend against the use of deadly physical force by another. In this case, officers had reason to believe Mr. Pass, a wanted suspect in a previous double homicide, was “armed and dangerous,” according to the LPR. When officers encountered Mr. Pass, he was armed with a knife. Mr. Pass also attempted to charge at officers with the knife. Under these circumstances, given the law and the evidence, a prosecutor would not be able to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the officers’ use of deadly physical force against Mr. Pass was justified, and therefore OSI determined that criminal charges would not be pursued in this matter.