A former New York City police chief embroiled in an overtime-abuse investigation ordered the removal of tracking devices from department vehicles assigned to him and his subordinates, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
The devices, known as automated vehicle location devices, are used to keep officers safe and can help record their time and movements for purposes of accountability.
The former police official, Jeffrey Maddrey, who resigned as chief of department in December, asked during his two-year tenure in that role that the devices be taken off the vehicles, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the investigation’s confidentiality. It was unclear how many vehicles were involved.
Mr. Maddrey, whose home was searched by federal agents in January, was the department’s highest-ranking uniformed officer, a job from which he oversaw operational planning and the development of crime-fighting strategies. During his tenure, which began in December 2022, overtime use exploded, particularly by officers who worked for him and other high-ranking officials with close ties to Mayor Eric Adams.
Mr. Maddrey, once a close ally of Mr. Adams, resigned in December after he was accused of pressuring a lieutenant who worked in his office into a sexual relationship in exchange for giving her overtime opportunities. This week, four former chiefs filed lawsuits against Mr. Adams and Mr. Maddrey, among other officials, accusing them of creating a culture of cronyism and corruption, where officers who tried to resist faced humiliation and retaliation.
Federal investigators learned of the removal of the tracking devices as they examined allegations of overtime abuse and misconduct against Mr. Maddrey, which began after the sexual abuse accusation surfaced in December. Federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York have questioned or have sent subpoenas to detectives, officers and high-ranking department officials, according to one of the people who was familiar with the investigation. Several officers received subpoenas in the past month, according to the person.
Mr. Maddrey’s lawyer, Lambros Lambrou, said Friday that when his client was chief of department, he and other high-ranking executives had “special ordered cars” without the devices, also known as AVLs. Mr. Maddrey was worried about his security and had valid reasons to be concerned about his whereabouts being known, Mr. Lambrou said.
Detectives assigned to drive him may have had the devices either turned off or removed from their take-home police vehicles, Mr. Lambrou said.
Mr. Maddrey had a “rank of three stars or above and was on the news all the time,” Mr. Lambrou said. “It’s a safety concern, and it’s ordinary and sound practice for AVLs to be turned off at his level.”
The department declined to comment on the investigation or the possible misuse of the devices during Mr. Maddrey’s tenure. A spokesman for the Southern District declined to comment.
Since Mr. Maddrey’s resignation, the Police Department has been cracking down on the abuse of vehicles. On Jan. 14, soon after Mr. Maddrey’s departure, Commissioner Jessica Tisch sent a memo ordering that all unmarked department vehicles have AVLs installed by the end of June.
She also ordered that the department’s information technology bureau submit monthly reports that document any vehicles without a device and vehicles “that have failed to transmit data over the past month,” according to the memo.
The vast majority of the department’s vehicles are required to have the devices, said Kenneth Corey, who retired as chief of department in November 2022 and was replaced by Mr. Maddrey.
“They’re a huge tool for internal affairs and conducting investigations,” said Mr. Corey. “If someone makes an allegation against an officer that they did something at a certain time, the AVL could show they weren’t even there.”
On the flip side, he said, “it can help substantiate complaints of misconduct or that you weren’t where you were supposed to be at a given time.”
During overtime abuse investigations, the devices can help internal affairs investigators learn whether an officer with a take-home vehicle was at work or was somewhere else, Mr. Corey said.
Jillian Snider, a retired police officer who teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said that the department made a big push to install the devices in all precinct vehicles around 2017, including unmarked units.
Officer safety was a key reason, Ms. Snider said. Department officials wanted the devices as a backup tool to find officers responding to large-scale emergencies or dangerous calls, she said.
“I cannot think of one valid reason to have an AVL removed,” Ms. Snider said.
Mr. Maddrey told officers he wanted the devices removed for security reasons, according to one of the people with knowledge of the investigation. That justification makes little sense, Ms. Snider said.
“If it’s for security reasons, you’d want your AVL even more because if you became unreachable for some reason, then you’d have that backup,” she said. “You’d want someone to know where you are.”
Mr. Corey said that the information transmitted from cars driven by high-ranking chiefs or their security officers is secured and not widely available in the department.
“It’s not like anybody can just look at it,” he said.
The federal investigations involve eight people who worked for Mr. Maddrey when he was chief of department, according to a legal document that described the information prosecutors are seeking.
Many of those officers earned significant amounts of overtime in 2024. Federal investigators have been seeking copies of messages sent through text, WhatsApp or iMessage from those officers and Mr. Maddrey, according to the document.
Federal investigators are seeking records of financial transactions between Mr. Maddrey, his relatives, and current and former members of the department.
The case began around December, after Quathisha Epps, then a lieutenant working in Mr. Maddrey’s office, publicly accused him of coercing her into sex in exchange for overtime opportunities.
Mr. Maddrey has denied those allegations. His lawyer, Mr. Lambrou, said that Mr. Maddrey and Ms. Epps were in a consensual but brief relationship.
Ms. Epps, who is now retired, told the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that he had humiliated her during unwanted sexual encounters, many at his office at police headquarters in Manhattan. In interviews with the New York Post and WABC-7, she accused him of sexually assaulting her repeatedly.
Ms. Epps is one of the eight people who worked for Mr. Maddrey whose communications investigators are seeking, according to the legal document. Her lawyer did not respond to a message for comment.
During fiscal 2024, Ms. Epps made about $200,000 in overtime, roughly doubling her salary while working under Mr. Maddrey — the most of any department employee.
Federal investigators are seeking documents that would provide information about any romantic, personal or sexual relationships between Mr. Maddrey and other current and former department employees, according to the internal court document.
They have asked for records of compensation, including overtime, for department employees who worked in Mr. Maddrey’s office or in any unit that was overseen by his office from December 2022 to the present.
They are also seeking documents that would show financial transactions, including any transactions done over mobile applications like Zelle or Venmo, between Mr. Maddrey, members of his family and members of the department, the document stated.
Maria Cramer is a Times reporter covering the New York Police Department and crime in the city and surrounding areas.
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