The nation’s largest police force is “criminal at its core,” according to a new federal lawsuit by former interim New York City Police Commissioner Thomas Donlon.
Donlon said the NYPD “functions as a racketeering enterprise,” at the direction of Mayor Eric Adams.
In addition to Adams, the lawsuit named Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry, Chief of Department John Chell and former Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard among others.
“Senior leadership had abandoned lawful governance and engaged in outright malfeasance by using the NYPD to consolidate political power, obstruct justice, and punish dissent,” the lawsuit said. “The Defendants engaged in a coordinated pattern of racketeering activity that was deliberate, sustained, and directed from the highest levels of the NYPD and City Hall.”
The accusations in Donlon’s lawsuit are “absurd,” Adams’ press secretary, Kayla Mamelak Altus, said in a statement in response to the lawsuit.
“These are baseless accusations from a disgruntled former employee who — when given the opportunity to lead the greatest police department in the world — proved himself to be ineffective. This suit is nothing more than an attempt to seek compensation at the taxpayer’s expense after Mr. Donlon was rightfully removed from the role of interim police commissioner,” Altus said.
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“The NYPD is led by the best, brightest, and most honorable professionals in the nation — and their results speak for themselves: crime continues to fall across the city, with shootings at the lowest level in recorded history. We will respond in court, where we are confident these absurd claims will be disproven,” she added.
Adams appointed Donlon interim commissioner in 2024 after Edward Caban resigned the post following an FBI search of his home. Caban has not been charged with any wrongdoing and said at the time he was resigning because the raids “created a distraction.”
In the complaint, Donlon said he was commissioner “in name only” and true authority remained with an inner circle of Adams’ loyalists.
“The Defendants undermined Donlon’s authority by blocking his merit-based promotions and instead elevating unvetted individuals of their choosing. The Defendants then fraudulently used Donlon’s official Police Commissioner stamp — without his consent — to legitimize and carry out their corrupt scheme,” the lawsuit said.
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The lawsuit also accused several of the defendants of carrying out “a calculated and deeply personal act of vengeance” by orchestrating the false arrest of Donlon’s wife and leaking it to the press. Donlon’s wife was arrested for expired car insurance last December, sources told the New York Post.
“This was not a mistake. It was a deliberate abuse of power designed to punish and intimidate Donlon for exposing their misconduct,” the lawsuit said. “This coordinated humiliation was a direct warning: the NYPD Defendants would stop at nothing to silence and personally destroy Donlon, even if it meant violating the constitutional rights of his spouse.”
Donlon is looking for compensatory, emotional and punitive damages as well as injunctive relief, with “the full extent of damages incurred by Donlon are to be determined at trial.”
Adams is currently running for a second term as mayor, but chose not to run in the Democratic primary and will run for reelection as an independent instead.
