As department head of the NYPD, Jeffrey Maddrey was the agency’s highest-ranking uniformed officer.
Today, he finds himself the target of several law enforcement agencies.
What you need to know
- Federal agents raided the home of former New York Police Department Chief Jeffrey Maddrey on Thursday.
- Maddrey resigned last month after being accused of demanding sex from a subordinate in exchange for overtime; he says the relationship was consensual
- Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the NYPD’s internal affairs bureau is also investigating the allegations against Maddrey.
On Thursday morning, FBI agents searched Maddrey’s home in southeast Queens. And the NYPD’s own internal affairs office is also investigating, according to a statement from Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
“Under my leadership, the New York City Police Department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs is working with law enforcement authorities to investigate allegations against former Department Chief Jeffrey Maddrey,” the statement said. . “Maddrey was suspended from the department this morning as law enforcement officers executed search warrants at multiple locations, including his residence.”
Maddrey had already resigned at the end of December, after being accused by a former subordinate of sexual misconduct.
Lt. Quathisha Epps said Maddrey coerced her into an ongoing sexual relationship in exchange for overtime. Maddrey denied the allegations, describing the relationship as a consensual office fling, and said Epps sought to deflect his own abuse of the overtime system.
Epps was the NYPD’s highest-paid employee last fiscal year, earning more than $400,000, including more than $200,000 in overtime.
Maddrey, through his lawyer, said he was not responsible for approving his overtime and was prepared to take legal action. “Now, without the constraints of the New York Police Department, he will take off the gloves and fight for his reputation in the future,” his lawyer, Lambros Lambrou, said at a press conference last Friday.
Former NYPD Patrol Chief John Chell was officially named Maddrey’s replacement this week.
Maddrey has long enjoyed the support of Mayor Eric Adams, who defended him in the face of previous controversies – but has taken a slightly different tone in recent days.
“These are troubling allegations,” the mayor said Tuesday during his weekly question-and-answer session with reporters. “They are going to conduct their review the way they are supposed to. And Commissioner Tisch is doing her examination there. And I’m proud of what she does.
Following the announcement of the federal investigation, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said Thursday that it had suspended its own investigation into the allegations against Maddrey.