New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, is being sued by four former high-ranking police officers who are accusing the embattled mayor of promoting corruption in the police department, the Associated press reports.
In separate lawsuits filed on Monday, the former official described a culture of rampant corruption and cronyism inside one of the country’s largest police forces.
In his lawsuit, James Essig, the former chief of detectives and 40-year force veteran, claims that the former commissioner of the NYPD sold promotions to the tune of $15,000. Essig says he was forced to resign after objecting to the practice. Essig’s suit adds that senior NYPD leadership often selected “friends and cronies” of theirs and Adams’ in hiring.
“They used the Police Department as their own little playground,” Essig told the New York Times.
Each of the plaintiffs says that, with Adams’ approval, they were either demoted or forced into retirement after raising concerns about the practices, according to their lawsuits.
They claim that the practice began in 2023 with Jeff Maddrey, the former police chief and an ally of Adams, allegedly bypassing standard hiring protocol to bring “unqualified friends” into positions in the city’s public safety apparatus.
The lawsuits come amid New York City’s mayoral race. Adams is running for re-election as an independent candidate although he ran as a Democrat in 2021. He was indicted on federal corruption charges last year – charges which were later dropped in an apparent deal with the incoming Trump administration – and has emphasized falling crime numbers under his administration in his campaign.
Adams is expected to face off against democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, who saw a decisive victory over former governor Andrew Cuomo in the city’s Democratic primary last month.
A spokesperson for Adams told the Times that his administration would review the lawsuits.
