The New York Police Department’s highest-ranking uniformed police officer has resigned amid allegations that he demanded sex from a subordinate in exchange for opportunities to earn extra pay.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has accepted the department chief’s resignation Jeffrey Maddrey Friday night, effective immediately, according to an emailed statement from the department on Saturday.

John Chill, the department’s chief of patrol, will serve as interim chief of the department, while Philip Rivera will take over Chill’s duties as head of the patrol division, the department said.

The department declined to comment on the accusations against Madre other than to say that it “takes all allegations of sexual misconduct seriously and will conduct a thorough investigation into this matter.”

His accused’s lawyer, Lieutenant Kwathesha Epps, said the move was late.

“This should have been done a long time ago,” attorney Eric Sanders said by phone Saturday. “This has taken years, this type of behavior. This is not a shock to anyone who understands how things work in this department.”

Saturday, EPS I filed a complaint v. the city with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that Madry engaged in “quid pro quo sexual harassment” by forcing her to “perform unwanted sexual favors in exchange for overtime opportunities in the workplace.”

Epps, who holds an administrative position in Madry’s office, said that when she finally relented on Madry’s demands, he retaliated by claiming she was taking advantage of overtime, prompting management to launch a review.

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Sanders said his client was suspended without pay despite submitting her retirement notice earlier this week.

Epps was the department’s top earner in fiscal year 2024, earning more than $400,000, according to local media reports — more than half of it from overtime pay.

“Miss. Epps suffered extreme harm at the hands of individuals who exploited their positions of power for personal gain,” Sanders said in a statement. “The retaliation she faced for standing up to this abuse highlights the need for immediate reforms to address the systemic failures within NYPD.”

Department spokesmen did not immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press seeking comment.

But Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, said at an unrelated event on Saturday that the allegations against Madry were “deeply troubling and concerning” and that the department was conducting a full review, the New York Post reported.

Madre’s attorney, Lambros Lambro, also did not respond to a request for comment on the various allegations. However, in a statement to the New York Post, he dismissed Epps’ claims as “completely baseless.”

“What a good time to accuse someone of misconduct after they have been caught stealing time,” Lambro told the newspaper. “She is clearly drowning and in the deep end of the pool without a rescuer. She wants to take out as many people as possible.”

Sanders responded that any additional work his client did was at Madry’s request and approved by him and other department officials.

Meanwhile, Madry has been the subject of other allegations of sexual misconduct, including one from a police captain who says she made repeated unwanted advances.

A former officer also alleged that Madry forced her into a years-long affair while he was her supervisor, although a state judge dismissed that case last month, the New York Post and others reported.

Earlier this year, the department’s administrative trial judge recommended that A Disciplinary case against Madre Regarding a November 2021 incident in which officers were ordered to revoke the arrest of a retired officer he had previously worked with.

Madry joined the police force in 1991 at the age of 20, and rose through the ranks to become chief of patrol in 2021, before being promoted to chief of department last December, he said. Department CV.

The department chief is charged with overseeing the department’s “crime control strategies, quality of life initiatives and operational plans,” according to Tisch’s announcement Saturday. The patrol chief runs the department’s largest office, which consists of 15,000 uniformed patrol officers and 3,000 civilians.

“The NYPD works tirelessly to protect New Yorkers, and these roles are essential to keeping our communities safe,” Tisch said in her statement. “Interim Department and Patrol Chiefs will continue to lead efforts to reduce crime and disorder and build public confidence.”

& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press