NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Tuesday railed against the “broken criminal justice system’’ at a memorial Mass marking the first anniversary of the shooting death of hero cop Jonathan Diller.
Family, friends and colleagues of the tragic 31-year-old officer packed into St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre on Long Island to hear somber remarks delivered by Diller’s widow, Stephanie, and Tisch –who said the officer’s alleged killer “should never have been on the streets that night.
“A broken criminal justice system failed him,” the commish said of Diller, who died of a bullet wound to the stomach during a Queens traffic stop-gone-bad March 25, 2024. “It failed Stephanie. It failed [Diller’s son] Ryan … and it failed every New Yorker who valued public safety.
“That is why we’re fighting every single day — not just for our men and women at this department, but for the people of New York City — to fix what is broken,” she said. “We often talk about it in abstract terms … but this is real. Continuing down the current path that New York State is on is devastating and [has] deadly consequences.
“We owe it to Jonathan, his family and every cop who puts on that uniform to right those wrongs and to protect the brave people who do this incredibly dangerous work.”
Diller was walking up to the passenger side of a gray Kia Soul illegally parked outside a cell-phone store when Guy Rivera allegedly rattled off three rounds from inside the vehicle, shattering the silence of the quiet street in Far Rockaway that day. Cops have said they believe Rivera and a cohort were planning to rob the store.
In footage of the horrific incident shared by the Instagram account @ny_scoop, Diller appeared to drag himself behind the car as he collapsed on the pavement — and his partner fired two shots of his own, one of which hit Rivera in the back.
Diller’s partner also yanked a man later identified as Lindy Jones from the driver’s seat and yelled at him to “get on the f–ing floor” before putting him in handcuffs.
A swarm of cops descended on Diller as he moaned because of the pain of the gut shot, which struck just below his bulletproof vest.
Several officers carefully loaded Diller into an unmarked police vehicle. They rushed him to Jamaica Hospital, but he didn’t make it.
Rivera — an ex-con with a lengthy rap sheet that featured 21 prior arrests — was indicted on charges of first-and second-degree murder, attempted murder and a flock of weapons charges.
“We have a real recidivist problem,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference right after the murder. “These two individuals, one of the men had been arrested on a gun charge in April of 2023, the driver, he has more than 20 priors. The other has an equal amount of priors.”
Critics of the state’s bail-reform laws have claimed they are too lenient and lead to a revolving door for criminals.
Rivera is scheduled to appear in court April 3.
Stephanie Diller — who held the couple’s rambunctious young son Ryan in her lap throughout Monday’s service — spoke through tears about her fallen husband.
“One year ago, we lost our Jonathan in the most tragic way imaginable. It was hard to accept mentally the fact that he died but also the way that he died,” she said.
“It was like he was ripped from this world and from us. We were angry, heartbroken, confused and had no idea how we could possibly go on.
“But through Jonathan, we somehow found the strength to continue forward and are trying our hardest to celebrate his life instead of mourning. And this is what I want to do here today. I want to use the time to celebrate the man Jonathan was and the impact he had on those who knew him.”
She recalled how Diller was a courageous, generous jokester who wove his strength together with tenderness.
Kaz Daughtry, deputy mayor of New York City’s Public Safety Department, remembered the same — including Diller’s penchant for pranks.
“We talk about the funny things Jonathan said because Jonathan was an extremely funny, funny, funny officer,” Daughtry said.
“He made everyone laugh, and he lit up the room when he walked in,” he continued. “He was prankster … and we all just sit there and laugh, and that’s how we cope with it.
“Then you lay home at night, and you think about this day, and sometimes tears come down in your eyes. But those are happy tears to show that we will never forget Jonathan.”
Stephanie also remembered her husband as an amazing dad and said he set a great example for Ryan even though they were only together for a year.
“I don’t want him to be just a memory,” she said. “I want us to talk about him, remember him, I want my son to grow up knowing who his dad was through the stories people shared with him.”
But more than anything, she said, she remembers how much he loved her — and how often he said it.
“When I miss him, I search the phrase, ‘I love you’ on my phone — and a million old texts from him popped up,” she said. “He never missed an opportunity to tell you, whether it was texts or little notes on the coffee machine.
“The years we spent together felt like a lifetime in love that I will never forget,” the heartbroken widow said. “To my Jonathan: I love you forever. I miss you every second of every day. There is a big piece of me missing that nothing will ever fill.
“I hope I make you proud and continue to make you proud, and I can’t wait to see your smiling face again someday.”
