New York City’s second-highest-ranking police officer, who served as chief of department, abruptly resigned Friday night following allegations of sexual misconduct, according to the Police Department.
The former top chief, Jeffrey Maddrey, submitted his resignation and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch accepted it Friday night, according to a statement from the department. The New York Post reported Saturday morning that Mr. Maddrey had traded overtime for sexual favors from a subordinate, sometimes demanding sex at Police Headquarters.
“The N.Y.P.D. takes all allegations of sexual misconduct seriously, and will thoroughly investigate this matter,” the department’s statement said.
The chief of department is in charge of all crime-fighting strategies, quality-of-life initiatives and operational planning. John Chell, who had been chief of patrol, will be the interim chief of department, according to a Police Department news release.
Commissioner Tisch told executives and chiefs about Mr. Maddrey’s resignation in a call Saturday morning, according to two people briefed on the communication.
Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, has taken an outsize role in the department and Mr. Maddrey was one of several of his associates who had reached its top echelon. Mr. Maddrey did so despite a series of troubling investigations and allegations, including that he had once harassed a female subordinate.
Mr. Adams’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday. In October, during a podcast appearance, the mayor said that “everyone knows and loves” Mr. Maddrey.
But throughout his three-decade career — and long before being elevated to the department’s highest-uniformed rank — Mr. Maddrey faced disciplinary charges and litigation.
In 2016, Tabatha Foster, a former officer, sued him, accusing Mr. Maddrey of making persistent sexual advances. In 2019, a federal judge dismissed her case, and her state suit against Mr. Maddrey was dismissed this year.
In August, Edward Caban, the police commissioner at the time, dismissed internal charges against Mr. Maddrey that he had interfered with the arrest of a retired officer who had chased three boys while armed.
Mr. Adams appointed Ms. Tisch on Nov. 20, making her his fourth commissioner as allegations of corruption and cronyism have buffeted the department and his administration. The mayor himself faces a federal indictment.
Three police commissioners have quit the department in 18 months. Keechant Sewell abruptly resigned without giving a reason, but current and former officials said her powers had been circumscribed by the mayor and his allies.
Edward Caban quit as commissioner in September after news broke that federal investigators had seized his phone as part of an investigation into his brother’s business practices. Under Commissioner Caban, top chiefs had been straying from protocol, using the department’s public information account to call reporters liars, berating them on social media and tangling with politicians who had criticized the department.
An interim commissioner, Thomas Donlon, filled in until Ms. Tisch was appointed.
Commissioner Tisch appears to be trying to restore order. On Thursday, she replaced the department’s top spokesman with Delaney Kempner, who had most recently worked as the top spokeswoman for Letitia James, the New York attorney general.
The allegations against Mr. Maddrey present a new challenge for Commissioner Tisch, who is still shaping her administration and only beginning to outline her vision for how the department should be run.
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