Jessica Tisch, the head of the New York Police Department, is cracking down on apparent abuse of overtime pay as the agency faces internal and external investigations into the matter.
Among at least 29 officers who were moved into new jobs over the past two days, 16 earned more than $100,000 in overtime pay in the last fiscal year. The moves come as investigators are scrutinizing accusations that Jeffrey Maddrey, the department’s former highest-ranking uniformed officer, demanded sex from a subordinate in exchange for overtime.
Several of the employees who were moved worked under Mr. Maddrey, formerly the chief of department, and other top police officials, according to city payroll records and internal police documents obtained by The New York Times.
Two officers who worked for Mr. Maddrey collectively made $312,769 in overtime alone.
Two other officers, who together made around $289,000 in overtime, were transferred out of the operations bureau led by Kaz Daughtry. Eleven officers were moved out of the department’s public information office. Ms. Tisch last week announced that the head of that office, Tarik Sheppard, is also being replaced.
Federal investigators have joined a city Department of Investigation inquiry into the provision of overtime and the allegations of misconduct against Mr. Maddrey, who resigned on Friday, according to two people familiar with the matter. The F.B.I. declined to comment on Sunday. The Manhattan district attorney is also investigating.
Danielle Filson, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney, said in a statement that the allegations against Mr. Maddrey are “extremely serious and disturbing.”
Mr. Maddrey’s lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.
The upheaval continued Saturday night, when Ms. Tisch announced that Miguel Iglesias, the department’s chief of internal affairs, had been “relieved of his command” and would be replaced by Chief Edward A. Thompson, who most recently worked in the Department of Sanitation and had worked in internal affairs for about 10 years.
Mr. Iglesias was responsible for investigating police misconduct. Ms. Tisch did not say whether his departure was related to the accusations against Mr. Maddrey.
“Above all else, the N.Y.P.D. Internal Affairs Bureau must always be dedicated to preserving integrity and rooting out corruption in all its forms,” Ms. Tisch said in a statement announcing Chief Thompson’s appointment.
“It is an essential function that is crucial to maintaining honor and nobility in the profession and preserving public trust,” she added. “Chief Thompson is up to the task.”
Even before the accusations against Mr. Maddrey, the Police Department has long attracted scrutiny for its high overtime spending. As of March, the agency had spent close to $271 million more on overtime in fiscal year 2024 than originally budgeted, the City Council speaker, Adrienne Adams, said at a public hearing in May, noting that the department routinely exceeded its overtime budget.
Word of personnel changes quickly swept through police headquarters in Manhattan over the weekend, and some officers privately praised Ms. Tisch, calling the changes long overdue. Several said they had been exasperated with officials who showed favoritism toward some subordinates and awarded them with cushy positions and bigger paychecks.
Some were also glad to see Mr. Maddrey and Mr. Iglesias go. In group text chats, the rank-and-file lauded the police commissioner, and shared a photo a with a golden halo around her head. Underneath the picture it said: “Saint Tisch. Patron saint of common sense.”
On Saturday, Kayla Mamelak Altus, a spokeswoman for Mayor Eric Adams, said City Hall was “deeply disturbed by these allegations, and the N.Y.P.D. is investigating this matter.”
A spokesman for Gov. Kathy Hochul did not reply to a request for comment on Sunday.
Representative Ritchie Torres, a Democrat who represents parts of the Bronx and has been publicly weighing whether to run for governor, wrote on X that Mr. Maddrey “had a cloud hanging over him long before the latest allegations” and “should have never been appointed as Chief of Department.”
In 2016, a former police officer, Tabatha Foster, accused Mr. Maddrey of making persistent sexual advances. She filed two lawsuits, the first in federal court and the second in state court. Both were dismissed.
More problems followed Mr. Maddrey after Keechant Sewell, then police commissioner, appointed him to chief of department in December 2022.
Four months into his tenure, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, which investigates police misconduct, said Mr. Maddrey had abused his authority when he voided the arrest of a retired officer accused of brandishing a gun at three boys.
Mr. Adams, a former police captain and longtime friend, defended him. Mr. Maddrey “dedicated his life to this city,” Mr. Adams said at the time. “I’m just so proud to have him as chief of the department.”
The board brought departmental charges against Mr. Maddrey. A Police Department judge recommended that they be dismissed. In August, Edward A. Caban, then the police commissioner, agreed.
Last week, Capt. Gabrielle Walls, another former subordinate, asked a New York court to add Mr. Maddrey’s name to a sexual harassment lawsuit she had filed against another top chief.
On Saturday, after hearing of Mr. Maddrey’s resignation, Captain Walls said she felt “vindicated.”
“They need to get them out. There are predators in the N.Y.P.D.,” she said, adding that now she was “praying more females will come forward.”
Mr. Maddrey has also been named in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Timothy Pearson, a former police inspector and close confidant of Mr. Adams who resigned in September from his City Hall post.
Mr. Pearson was accused of sexually harassing a police sergeant and then punishing her when she refused him. The woman accused Mr. Maddrey of helping Mr. Pearson retaliate against her.
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