High-rankers out at NYPD as new commissioner aims at reform

December 23, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

NYPD Counterterrorism Inspector Phil Van Gostein and then-Deputy Commissioner Jeffrey Maddrey answer faith leaders’ questions during a 2015 Clergy Forum convened in the aftermath of mass shooting at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina. Brooklyn Eagle File Photo by Francesca N. Tate

Share this:

CITYWIDE – SEVERAL HIGH-RANKING officers at 1 Police Plaza resigned or were fired over the last week in a flurry of sexual abuse, overtime abuse, power abuse and harassment allegations, reports The City, as new commissioner Jessica Tisch appeared to move to clean house at the troubled department, which has seen four different heads over the course of Mayor Adams’ tenure.

Foremost among the departures was Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, a longtime Adams ally who resigned on Friday in the wake of a sexual harassment complaint by a subordinate, Lt. Quathisha Epps. Epps herself filed her retirement paperwork last Monday following a report from the New York Post that she had earned more than $408,000, mostly in overtime pay, in 2023, and is allegedly facing an investigation into the overtime hours. Epps in her complaint alleged that Maddrey pushed her into accepting the overtime in exchange for sexual favors.

Maddrey has a spotted record within the NYPD and has faced several previous complaints, including a 2021 abuse of authority case validated by the department’s Civilian Complaint Review Board. A disagreement over appropriate disciplinary measures for Maddrey in that matter between former commissioner Keechant Sewell and Mayor Adams, who supported Maddrey, reportedly led to Sewell’s resignation.

Also out is Internal Affairs head Miguel Iglesias, who Tisch announced had been “relieved of his command” on Saturday. Tisch then announced several new appointments to top positions as “we begin to transform our leadership team,” according to a press statement.