A bombshell lawsuit from a former NYPD interim commissioner accuses Mayor Eric Adams and his inner circle of turning the department into a cesspool of corruption.
The New York Post reported that Thomas Donlon, a former FBI official tapped as interim NYPD commissioner in September after Edward Caban’s resignation amid federal raids, filed a 251-page lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, alleging Adams and top police officials ran the NYPD like a criminal syndicate.
The suit names Adams, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry, NYPD Chief of Department John Chell, former deputy commissioner Tarik Sheppard, and former chief Jeffrey Maddrey as key players in a scheme marked by favoritism, retaliation, and cover-ups.
Donlon claims the NYPD’s leadership operated as a “criminal enterprise,” shielding loyalists while punishing critics through a calculated system of promotions and punishments.
“This enterprise – the NYPD – was criminal at its core,” Donlon states in the lawsuit, a charge that paints a grim picture of a department more loyal to political cronies than public safety.
Yet City Hall’s Kayla Mamelak dismissed the claims as “baseless” from a “disgruntled” ex-employee, a deflection that sidesteps the lawsuit’s detailed accusations of systemic rot.
Donlon’s tenure was marked by clashes with top brass, who he says sidelined him for refusing to play ball with their corrupt practices.
The lawsuit alleges leadership forged internal documents using Donlon’s commissioner stamp to promote politically connected but unqualified officers, costing taxpayers millions in unearned salaries and benefits.
“This corruption triggered a massive, unlawful transfer of public wealth,” Donlon asserts, highlighting how these promotions padded pensions and overtime for the undeserving.
In a particularly vindictive move, Donlon claims Adams’ allies orchestrated the arrest of his wife, Deirdre Donlon-O’Connor, over a minor fender bender, citing lapsed insurance—a charge rarely enforced so harshly.
The suit alleges Daughtry, Sheppard, and an unnamed official ordered the arrest and leaked it to the press, including The Post, to humiliate Donlon and his family. Such petty retaliation reeks of a leadership more concerned with settling scores than serving New Yorkers, undermining trust in the city’s top cop.
Tarik Sheppard’s response to the lawsuit—“I don’t trust you. Go ask the NYPD”—hardly inspires confidence, sounding more like a playground taunt than a professional rebuttal.
Sheppard’s reported outburst at the New York City marathon, where he called a Post reporter a “f–king scumbag” and had to be restrained, further exposes the unhinged behavior Donlon faced.
Meanwhile, Jeffrey Maddrey’s resignation amid a sex-for-overtime scandal adds fuel to Donlon’s claims of a department shielding misconduct while rewarding loyalty.
Donlon’s lawsuit doesn’t just point fingers—it demands a federal takeover of the NYPD to root out the entrenched corruption he alleges. His call for drastic intervention reflects a belief that the department’s leadership is too compromised to reform itself, a damning indictment of Adams’ tenure.
