Ex-NYPD chiefs allege corruption and cronyism in lawsuits against Mayor
Adams and his allies
[July 09, 2025]
By JAKE OFFENHARTZ
NEW YORK (AP) — Four high-ranking former New York City police officials
are accusing Mayor Eric Adams and his top deputies of doling out
promotions to unqualified allies as part of a scheme that also involved
alleged cash bribes paid to the ex-police commissioner.
In separate lawsuits filed Monday, the former officials — including the
NYPD’s one-time chief of detectives — described a culture of rampant
corruption and cronyism atop the nation’s largest police department,
which was rocked by overlapping federal investigations late last year.
Each of the plaintiffs says that, with Adams’ tacit approval, they were
either demoted or forced into retirement after raising concerns about
the practices, according to their lawsuits.
A spokesperson for Adams, who is currently running for reelection, said
he would review the lawsuits, adding that all of the police department’s
leaders are held to the “highest standards.”
Beginning in 2023, the suits allege that Chief of Department Jeffrey
Maddrey, a longtime ally of Adams, began bypassing internal hiring
regulations to promote dozens of “unqualified friends” to key public
safety posts. Inquiries to an attorney for Maddrey were not returned.
At the time, several veteran NYPD officials raised objections, including
the department’s chief of detectives, James Essig, who noticed an
“unusually high number” of inexperienced transfers to the department’s
sex crimes unit, according to his lawsuit.
But when Essig complained to Edward Caban, then the first deputy to the
police commissioner, he said he was reprimanded for raising the issue.
After Caban was promoted to police commissioner, he informed Essig, a
veteran of the department for four decades, that he would be demoted
from his position by five ranks.
According to the suit, Essig later learned Caban was “selling
promotions” to hand-picked friends for up to $15,000.
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Edward A. Caban, center, speaks after being sworn in as NYPD police
commissioner outside New York City Police Department 40th Precinct
on July 17, 2023, in New York. Mayor Eric Adams on the right. (AP
Photo/Jeenah Moon, File)
An attorney for Essig, Sarena Townsend, declined to elaborate on the
basis of the bribery allegation. Essig resigned in September of 2023
rather than accept the demotion.
In an emailed statement, attorneys for Caban called the bribery
allegation “unsupported and reckless,” adding that there was “no
merit to the allegations raised in these complaints.”
Caban resigned from his position in September following a raid on
his home by the FBI. Maddrey, whose home was also searched by
federal agents, stepped down after being accused of demanding sex
from a subordinate. Neither has been criminally charged.
A spokesperson for the NYPD did not respond to a request for
comment.
The lawsuits also accuse current police officials, including Chief
of Department John Chell, of working to squash internal oversight of
the mayor’s allies and policing priorities.
In one instance, the NYPD's former chief of professional standards,
Matthew Pontillo, said that an audit of the department’s Community
Response Team turned up “troubling patterns” of unconstitutional
stops by officers who delayed turning on their body cameras.
After Pontillo raised the finding in a meeting with
then-Commissioner Keechant Sewell, Chell pulled him aside and said,
“Why’d you have to tell her?” according to the suit.
Sewell met with Adams later that day, according to the suit. She
resigned hours later and was later replaced by Caban.
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