Eric Adams Sued for Running the NYPD Like a "Criminal Enterprise"

A former police commissioner says that under the New York City mayor’s watch, the police department was teeming with “systemic corruption and criminal conduct.”

https://newrepublic.com/post/198031/eric-adams-sued-running-nypd-like-criminal-enterprise

https://archive.ph/PgSv6



Another ex-NYPD official has filed a lawsuit accusing Mayor Eric Adams of overseeing a “coordinated criminal conspiracy” at the nation’s largest police department. Former Police Commissioner Thomas G. Donlon, whose tenure lasted mere weeks in the fall of 2024, says the NYPD, under the watch of Adams, “functions as a racketeering enterprise in violation of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).” Donlon went on to state that he “uncovered systemic corruption and criminal conduct being perpetrated by the NYPD’s leadership,” and that Adams “condoned the misconduct.”

The 251-page lawsuit details wire, mail, and honest services fraud, retaliation against whistleblowers, and obstruction of justice, all from the top down. Top police officials allegedly blocked disciplinary referrals for officers, and even forged Donlon’s official department stamp on important documents. These experiences have led to Donlon throwing weighty RICO allegations against his former NYPD colleagues.

“Specifically, Donlon informed Defendant ADAMS of fabricated promotions, systemic fraud, retaliatory policing, and the obstruction of internal investigations by high-ranking officials—most notably Defendant [Tarik] Sheppard, who had a documented history of unlawful violence, including the tasering and false arrest of protestors, resulting in civil rights lawsuits and monetary settlements,” the lawsuit stated. “Defendant ADAMS took no action in response. Instead, he condoned the misconduct and allowed the NYPD to function as a criminal enterprise. As a direct result of Defendant ADAMS’s failure and unwillingness to manage the NYPD, Defendant Sheppard fraudulently orchestrated his own promotion—granting himself greater authority and a higher salary.”

Donlon said he was completely frozen out by NYPD leadership after confronting Sheppard about his promotion scam, and they allegedly even carried out an unlawful arrest of Donlon’s wife as retaliation. “[Donlon’s] professional reputation—built over decades of federal and state law enforcement and intelligence service—was deliberately destroyed. The emotional toll of the retaliation against his entire family was and is incalculable,” the lawsuit read. “These were precisely the kinds of injuries RICO was designed to remedy, and this Complaint seeks redress for Donlon, whose unwavering aspiration from the beginning was to protect and serve the NYPD’s Finest.”

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