A former police commissioner filed a lawsuit against New York City Mayor Eric Adams and top police officials on Wednesday, accusing Adams of running the city’s police department and City Hall as a “criminal enterprise” by manipulating the system for personal and political gain.
The lawsuit marks the fifth time in two weeks that a former top official has accused the New York Police Department of wrongdoing.
The Wednesday suit was filed by former FBI official Thomas Donlon, who was appointed to the role in 2024 to stabilize a shaky police department. However, Donlon stepped down from the job just weeks after federal agents searched his home for classified documents in an unrelated investigation.
In the lawsuit, Donlon said his short time in the department involved “uncovered systemic corruption and criminal conduct being perpetrated by the NYPD’s leadership.” He also said when he reported his findings to Adams, the mayor “condoned the misconduct,” allowing the wrongdoing to continue.
Earlier this month, a group of former officials filed four lawsuits, saying the department is led by cronyism, corruption, and retaliation.
In one suit, former Chief of Detectives James Essig said he “noticed that there were a high number of unusual and/or unvetted transfers of Investigators to the CTFD [Criminal Task Force Division],” according to the lawsuit.
Essig is suing for his lost wages, pay increases, increases to his pension, punitive damages, and court fees.
In response to the previous suits, Adams’s spokesperson said in a statement that “the Adams administration holds our top brass at the NYPD to the highest standards. We will review the lawsuit.”
FORMER NYPD OFFICIALS FILE SERIES OF LAWSUITS ALLEGING CORRUPTION IN POLICE DEPARTMENT
While Donlon accused Adams and other police officials of various federal crimes and called for an independent authority to oversee decision-making at the NYPD, there is no indication that the federal prosecutors in Manhattan will agree with his claims because most of them have not been confirmed yet.
“These are 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,” said Kayla Mamelak Altus, a spokeswoman for Adams. “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.”