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Police Commissioner Proposes

Discipline for Top N.Y.P.D. Chief
Commissioner Keechant Sewell has decided Jeffrey Maddrey
should be punished for freeing a retired officer who was arrested
for chasing three boys while armed with a gun.

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Jeffrey Maddrey, the chief of department, is foremost among 34,000 uniformed

officers. Vincent Alban for The New York Times

By Maria Cramer and Chelsia Rose Marcius

May 24, 2023

Commissioner Keechant Sewell has set a proposed punishment for

one of the New York Police Department’s top chiefs after
accusations that he interfered with the arrest of a retired officer
who chased three boys while armed, according to two people with
knowledge of her decision.

Jeffrey Maddrey, the highest-ranking uniformed officer, has been

told that the commissioner proposed a loss of up to 10 vacation
days, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because they are not authorized to discuss the case.

They said that Chief Maddrey plans to fight the charges in a

department trial that would be prosecuted by lawyers for the
Civilian Complaint Review Board, an independent agency charged
with investigating complaints of misconduct.

While the proposed punishment is might seem light, any discipline

for the chief of department would send a message about
unacceptable use of power to the 36,000 uniformed officers whom
he oversees in America’s biggest police force.

The review board concluded last month that Chief Maddrey had
abused his authority and “improperly influenced an arrest” when
he ordered the release of the retired officer, Kruythoff Forrester, on
the night before Thanksgiving in 2021.

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The New York Police Department is facing challenges on several fronts.

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rime units, promising they would be well trained and supervised. A new
report found they are still stopping and searching too many people
unlawfully .

Punishment for a Top Chief: Commissioner Keechant Sewell has decided

that Jeffrey Maddrey, the highest-ranking uniformed officer, should be
punished after accusations that he interfered with the arrest of a retired
officer who chased three boys while armed.
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Lambros Y. Lambrou, a lawyer for Chief Maddrey, could not Here Come the
immediately be reached for comment. When the board first issued Flash Periods

its recommendation, Mr. Lambrou said Chief Maddrey was

confident he did nothing wrong and would “fight this all the way to 11Zucchini Recipes
the end.” Our Readers Love

The department said in a statement that it would not comment on

open disciplinary matters.

The decision to discipline Chief Maddrey was a fraught one for

Commissioner Sewell, who has rejected hundreds of disciplinary
recommendations by the Civilian Complain Review Board , saying
in many cases that the board gave the department insufficient time
to act before the state’s deadline for imposing discipline.

Chief Maddrey has denied wrongdoing, and Mayor Eric Adams, a

former police captain who appointed Commissioner Sewell, has
publicly defended him.

“I’m just so proud to have him as chief of the department,” Mr.

Adams said last month, following the release of the board’s
recommendation. Soon after, religious leaders marched in front of
police headquarters in support of Chief Maddrey.

Department video showed Chief Maddrey striding into a Brooklyn

precinct the night of Nov. 24, 2021, after he got a call that Mr.
Forrester, whom he once supervised, was under arrest.

A sergeant had found probable cause to arrest Mr. Forrester after

the three boys, who were 12, 13 and 14 at the time, called 911 to
report he had come after them with a gun.

Mr. Forrester argued that he never unholstered his weapon and

had followed the boys after one threw a basketball at a surveillance
camera outside one of his buildings, breaking it.

The sergeant arrested him after the boys were able to describe Mr.
Forrester’s gun accurately. Mr. Forrester was initially charged with
menacing: the crime of putting another person in fear of
immediate physical injury.

The Brooklyn district attorney’s office said it found “no criminality”

by Mr. Forrester after reviewing video footage from police body
cameras and surveillance cameras on the street that did not show
Mr. Forrester holding a weapon.

The review board, however, said that the sergeant had probable
cause to make an arrest and that Chief Maddrey could not explain
how the children each described Mr. Forrester’s “distinctive
firearm so similarly,” according to its report.

When Chief Maddrey arrived at the precinct, he reviewed video,

then lectured the sergeant who had ordered the arrest, according
to the report. Chief Maddrey told him that, as a retired officer, Mr.
Forrester was allowed to carry a firearm and “that the children
should have been arrested for criminal misconduct,” the report
said.

Video then showed Chief Maddrey greeting Mr. Forrester in the

precinct lobby and warmly shaking his hand.

M.K. Kaishian, a lawyer for the boys, described the commissioner’s

decision as a positive move.

“It’s certainly something that the boys were asking for,” she said.
“They’re the true victims in this case. I don’t want to lose sight
amid this fiasco of the true harm that was caused to them when
they were chased by an adult with a gun.”

Maria Cramer is a reporter on the Metro desk. Please send her tips, questions and
complaints about the New York police and crime at maria.cramer@nytimes.com .
@ NYTimesCramer
Chelsia Rose Marcius covers breaking news and criminal justice for the Metro desk, with
a focus on the New York City Police Department.

A version of this article appears in print on May 25, 2023 , Section A , Page 19 of the New York edition with the
headline: Commissioner Seeks Discipline for Top N.Y.P.D. Officer . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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