Top-ranking NYPD officer abruptly resigns amid sexual misconduct allegations

[December 23, 2024]  By PHILIP MARCELO

NEW YORK (AP) — The highest-ranking uniformed officer in the New York Police Department has resigned amid allegations he demanded sex from a subordinate in exchange for opportunities to earn extra pay.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch accepted Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey ’s resignation Friday night, effective immediately, according to a department statement Saturday.

Chief of Patrol John Chell will take over as interim chief of department, and Philip Rivera will assume Chell’s duties as the head of the patrol division, the NYPD said.

Late Saturday, Tisch replaced the head of the internal affairs bureau, which investigates alleged police misconduct, saying in a statement that the unit “must always be dedicated to preserving integrity and rooting out corruption in all its forms.” She appointed Edward Thompson as interim chief after Miguel Iglesias was relieved of his command.

The NYPD declined to comment on the allegations against Maddrey other than to say it “takes all allegations of sexual misconduct seriously and will thoroughly investigate this matter.”

A lawyer for his accuser, Lt. Quathisha Epps, said the move was overdue.

“This should have been done a long time ago,” lawyer Eric Sanders said by phone Saturday. “This has been years in the making, this kind of behavior. This is not a shock for anyone who understands how things work in this department.”

Epps filed a complaint Saturday against the city with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming that Maddrey engaged in “quid pro quo sexual harassment” by coercing her to “perform unwanted sexual favors in exchange for overtime opportunities in the workplace.”

Epps, who holds an administrative post in Maddrey’s office, said that when she finally pushed back at Maddrey's demands, he retaliated by claiming she was abusing overtime, prompting the department to launch a review.

Sanders said his client was then suspended without pay despite putting in her retirement notice earlier this week.

Epps was the department’s top earner in fiscal year 2024, earning more than $400,000, according to local media reports — more than half of it in overtime pay.

“Ms. Epps has endured profound harm at the hands of individuals who exploited their positions of power for personal gain," Sanders said in a statement. "The retaliation she faced for standing up to this abuse underscores the need for immediate reforms to address systemic failures within the NYPD.”

Spokespersons for the department declined to comment on the complaint, but Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said it is investigating.

“These are extremely serious and disturbing claims that allegedly occurred at N.Y.P.D. headquarters in Manhattan," the office said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams said Tisch, whom he tapped last month to steady a department roiled by investigations, is conducting her own departmentwide review “to ensure no high ranking officers are using their power inappropriately."

“We are deeply disturbed by these allegations," Kayla Mamelak Altus said in a statement, while declining to comment further for now.

NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey attends a news conference outside New York City Police Department 40th Precinct, July 17, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon, File)

Maddrey's attorney, Lambros Lambrou, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the various allegations. However, in a statement to the New York Post, he dismissed Epps' claims as “completely meritless."

“What a convenient time to accuse somebody of misconduct after she’s caught stealing time,” Lambrou told the paper. “She’s obviously drowning and in the deep end of the pool without a lifesaver. She wants to take down as many people as she can."

Sanders responded that any overtime his client worked was at the request of Maddrey and approved by him and other department officials.

Meanwhile, Maddrey has been the subject of other misconduct allegations, including one from a police captain who says she rebuffed his unwanted advances for years.

John Scola, a lawyer for Gabrielle Walls, said in a statement that Maddrey’s departure “vindicates” the police captain, who this week amended her sexual harassment lawsuit against another top officer to include Maddrey.

Walls said in the filing that she dreaded interacting with Maddrey because he frequently tried to kiss her, and at times took to hiding with the door locked and lights turned off.

“We hope this high-profile resignation marks the beginning of a cultural shift to eliminate the pervasive environment of harassment and retaliation within the NYPD,” Scola said.

A former officer has also claimed Maddrey coerced her into a yearslong affair while he was her supervisor, though that case was dismissed by a state judge last month, the New York Post and others reported.

Earlier this year, an administrative trial judge in the department recommended dropping a disciplinary case against Maddrey regarding a November 2021 incident in which he ordered officers to void the arrest of a retired officer who previously worked for him.

Maddrey joined the police force in 1991 at the age of 20 and rose through the ranks to become chief of patrol in 2021, before being promoted to chief of department last December, according to his department biography.

The chief of department is charged with overseeing the department’s “crime-fighting strategies, quality of life initiatives, and operational plans,” according Tisch’s Saturday announcement. The chief of patrol manages the department’s largest bureau, which consists of 15,000 uniformed patrol officers and 3,000 civilians.

“The NYPD works tirelessly to protect New Yorkers, and these roles are critical to keeping our communities safe,” Tisch said in her statement. “The interim Chiefs of Department and Patrol will continue to lead the efforts to reduce crime and disorder and build public trust.”

___

Associated Press reporter Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed.

All contents © copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved