New York City Mayor Eric Adams's promise to cut NYPD overtime spending in half has been shattered. Despite vowing to address overtime abuse, overtime spending has reached record highs under his administration. Current and former police officials attribute the crisis to a breakdown in the chain of command, with close involvement of City Hall officials undermining the NYPD's hierarchy and oversight.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams campaigned on a promise to cut NYPD overtime spending in half. He vowed to identify police officers who abuse the opportunity for extra pay and subject them to discipline. But since Adams entered office, overtime spending has reached record highs. Current and former police officials attributed the problem to a breakdown in the chain of command , where the agency’s checks and balances don’t apply for those with a direct line to City Hall .
Adams, a former cop himself, offered some of his top officials an unusually close hand in NYPD affairs — at times allowing them to leapfrog the commissioner on issues like promotions and policing policies. Department veterans told Gothamist that the close involvement of both the deputy mayor for public safety and an inner circle within the police department under Adams disrupted the NYPD’s hierarchy and facilitated lapses in oversight. “The controls are in place,” said Ray Kelly, a former police commissioner who served under mayors David Dinkins and Michael Bloomberg, about overtime spending. “They just weren’t properly used or paid attention to.” Police overtime spending – which in the past year cost roughly double what the city allocated to parks — is supposed to be tracked by several individuals, for example, including the supervisor of each unit. But under Adams, it came more directly under the purview of City Hall. That assigned his administration's budget office, his first deputy mayor and his deputy mayor for public safety — at the time Sheena Wright and Phil Banks III — with close monitoring of overtime spending. The order was addressed to the commissioners of public safety agencies, who are supposed to act as a buffer between their departments and the administration. As Adams has cycled through four NYPD commissioners during his tenure, observers have pointed out that the first three didn’t really appear to be in control. Many veteran police officials said the weakening of the commissioner created a power vacuum that fostered dysfunction and overtime abuse. “The police department is a quasi military organization,” said George Grasso, a first deputy commissioner between 2002 and 2010. “You have to have a defined chain of command.” Grasso added, “The overtime is just one element of the kind of mismanagement and disrespect for the chain of command.”The latest scandal came to the fore when former chief of department Jeffrey Maddrey resigned amid allegations that he tried to use his authority to sign off on overtime to coerce his former lieutenant into sex. His accuser made over $200,000 a year in overtime while working in an administrative role, as the New York Post reported. With overtime spending running rampant in the department — up 60% overall since 2022 — Maddrey’s lawyer has argued that the accuser was trying to distract from her own overtime abuse. As chief of department, Maddrey was the highest-ranking uniformed officer, in charge of operational aspects of the NYPD’s roughly 33,000 police officers. His relationship with Adams stretched back decades, with Maddrey earning the now-mayor’s support while he rose through the ranks as a beat cop in Brooklyn and even as he suffered a series of scandals that included accusations of misconduct. Others included Kaz Daughtry, Maddrey’s former driver and a deputy commissioner who reportedly“You just didn’t understand who was running the department,” said Edwin Raymond, a former lieutenant who retired in 2023, after 15 years and a since-dismissed lawsuit over arrest quotas that he said disproportionately affected Black and Latino people. “In all my years, no matter what criticism I had, it never felt that way.” without former commissioner Keechant Sewell present. Sewell resigned amid widespread reports that she was unable to make her own decisions over promotions. Her successor, Edward Caban, was often absent at public safety press conferences that were instead led by Adams and Banks.'If people were doing that in our administration, we’d demote them and tell them to retire.” Jessica Tisch, the fourth police commissioner to serve under Adams, may be able to exert more power than her predecessors. She started her tenure by cracking down on hundreds of informal transfers that let officers effectively “hide” on the job. An NYPD spokesperson told Gothamist that she’s instituting monthly overtime caps, assigning compliance officers for each bureau, monthly overtime reports, and stricter guidelines for officers to report overtime. But Bill Bratton, a former NYPD commissioner who served under mayors Rudy Giuliani and Bill de Blasio, said those controls are not new and existed during his tenure.e now justifies the use of such spending for public safety and argues that the criticism fails to recognize the reality of the demands on the police force. Adams has pointed to the number of protests over the last year to explain the recent high levels of overtime spendin
NYPD Overtime Eric Adams Police Department Corruption City Hall Chain Of Command New York City
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
NYPD Lieutenant Retires Early Amid Overtime ScandalLieutenant Quathisha Epps is retiring from the NYPD after 19 years, foregoing a larger pension and benefits due to controversy surrounding her significant overtime earnings and potential return to patrol duty.
Read more »
Disgraced NYPD Chief's Lawyer Claims 'Consensual' Relationship in Sex-for-Overtime ScandalJeffrey Maddrey's lawyer insists the relationship with Lt. Epps was consensual and is considering civil litigation against her. Maddrey faces accusations of sexual extortion in a scandal engulfing the NYPD.
Read more »
Former NYPD Chief Maddrey Denies Quid Pro Quo in Overtime ScandalFormer NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey addressed a press conference Friday, denying any wrongdoing in connection with an internal investigation into a lieutenant's alleged overtime abuse. Maddrey's attorney stated that the former chief never approves or assigns overtime, and insisted the relationship between Maddrey and the lieutenant was consensual.
Read more »
Ex-NYPD chief admits a relationship with subordinate, but denies he demanded sex for overtime payA former top New York City police official has admitted through his lawyer that he had a “consensual, adult relationship” with a subordinate. But he denied her claims that he demanded sex in exchange for extra pay.
Read more »
Former NYPD Chief Admits to Office Fling, Denies Sex for OvertimeFormer NYPD Chief Joseph Maddrey admits to a sexual relationship with a subordinate but denies demanding sex for overtime pay.
Read more »
NYPD Sex-for-Overtime Scandal: Investigators Search Headquarters for EvidenceInvestigators searched the 13th-floor office of former NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey as part of an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and a sex-for-overtime scheme. Lt. Quathisha Epps accused Maddrey of demanding sexual favors in exchange for approving her overtime pay.
Read more »