Ex-interim NYPD commissioner sues Mayor Adams, alleging he ran police department as criminal enterprise

Thomas Donlon, the interim NYPD commissioner in the months before current Commissioner Jessica Tisch took over in late 2024, has filed a civil racketeering lawsuit, accusing Mayor Eric Adams and some current and former police officials of running the department as a corrupt organization aimed at crushing dissent and obstructing justice.

In a 251-page complaint filed at Manhattan federal court, Donlon, who held the job from September to November 2024, alleges he was forced to retire amid a corruption scandal. Donlon succeeded Commissioner Edward Caban. The NYPD, Donlon's complaint continues, is a criminal enterprise involved in wrongdoing, including wire and mail fraud and retaliation against whistleblowers.

The various acts alleged were not isolated, according to the complaint, but rather, "coordinated and systemic, forming an unlawful scheme to preserve power, punish dissent and defraud the public."

In the complaint, Donlon seeks unspecified monetary damages and the appointment of an independent federal monitor to oversee parts of the NYPD, such as the disciplinary process.

In a statement, Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak Altus called the allegations "absurd" and "baseless."

"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," the statement said, describing the claims as "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."

Tarik Sheppard, a former NYPD spokesman who is named as a defendant in the suit, said Wednesday that Donlon "was in over his head when he got here," and didn’t understand the basic elements of policing.

Attorney John Scola, who represents Donlon, argued that if his client was ineffective, why was he a given a City Hall job for a few months after he left the NYPD?

Donlon’s lawsuit comes at a time when other ex-NYPD officials have filed their own litigation alleging wrongdoing and nepotism. The NYPD is also defending itself for trying to fire some 30 officers, claiming irregularities in the way they were hired.

Donlon’s complaint spells out allegations of high-level intrigue and duplicity that seem out of "Game of Thrones," the HBO series about political machinations in a mythical kingdom.

In one allegation, Donlon said his wife, Deidre O’Connor-Donlon, was arrested after a minor traffic collision in what he called a "deliberate abuse of power designed to punish and intimidate" him. The action was aimed at stopping the former commissioner from exposing misconduct of some of the police officials he is suing, notably former Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, Donlon's suit alleges.

His complaint also alleges that during his tenure as commissioner, other NYPD officials sidelined him and blocked his merit-based appointments, instead elevating unvetted personnel. Donlon also alleges that his police commissioner stamp was used to carry out illegal activities.

When he became acting police commissioner in September 2024, according the lawsuit, Donlon quickly uncovered systematic corruption by NYPD leadership and reported it to Adams. But the mayor took no action, Donlon alleges in his complaint.

Apart from Adams, Sheppard and Maddrey, who resigned in late 2024 after allegations of sexual harassment were made against him by a female subordinate, other officials named as defendants include: current First Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella, current Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry, the NYPD's current Chief of Department John Chell and NYPD attorney Michael Gerber.

NYPD officials referred all requests for comment to City Hall. The police commissioner is not named as a defendant in the Donlon lawsuit.