NYPD Chaos Continues as Feds Raid Maddrey Home in Criminal Probe, Chell Promoted to Chief

Police commissioner Jessica Tisch is trying to right the ship of the reeling NYPD.

In the latest move, she promoted a new veteran NYPD officer to the top uniformed job in the department a day before the former chief of department who resigned in the midst of a sex scandal had his home raided by federal investigators on Jan. 2.

John Chell, a 30 -year veteran who had been in the number two uniformed post was elevated to chief of department, replacing Jeffrey Maddrey who resigned on Dec. 20 amid allegations he had boosted a lieutenant's overtime pay in exchange for sex.

Maddrey denied the claims, but his attorney admitted the married top cop had a “consensual sexual relationship” with Lt. Quathisha Epps, who the attorney said was a “self-professed swinger.” Epps had been suspended when the overtime pay issue first came to light.

Epps was one of the top earners in the police department, pulling in over $400,000 in annual pay in the 2024 fiscal year, which included $204,000 in overtime pay, on top of her $168,000 annual base pay.

She claimed Maddrey forced her into a sexual relationship starting in June 2023 and helped her get extra overtime while she was facing foreclosure of her home. Epps even claimed in a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that Maddrey had her bankroll a vacation to Miami for the top cop and his wife Helen. He resigned when the explosive allegations were revealed by the New York Post on Dec. 20.

The allegations drew the attention of federal investigators who teamed up NYPD investigators from internal affairs and raided his home on Jan. 2. Tisch said she formally suspended Maddrey following the raids but referred future questions on the investigation to the US Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York.

“At my direction, the Internal Affairs Bureau of the New York City Police Department is working with law enforcement authorities to investigate allegations against former Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey,” Tisch posted on X. “Maddrey was suspended from the department this morning [Jan. 2] as law enforcement agents executed search warrants at several locations, including his residence.”

She has been shaking up the department since being appointed in November after the then-NYPD Commissioner Ed Caban stepped down after his home was raided by federal agents. He has not been charged with wrongdoing.

In one of her first moves, Gothamist reported that she had ordered 500 officers who had been improperly transferred to report back to their original post.

Gothamist cited a memo, dated Dec. 9, which cited an internal audit that found hundreds of officers were transferred without proper approvals.

“This practice, commonly referred to as ‘telephone message transfers,’ has always been unauthorized and results in the department’s inability to appropriately account for staffing and ensure sufficient manpower for operational matters,” according to the memo.

Other shakeups were more visible. Tarik Sheppard, a controversial deputy commission of public information who had clashed with reporters on local papers as well as clashing the short-term interim Police Commissioner Tom Donlon, was transferred to an unknown new assignment. He was replaced by Delaney Kempner, who most recently worked as the top spokeswoman for NYS Attorney General Letitia James, although the NYPD web site still lists the position as vacant.

The day after Maddrey said he was resigning, Tisch bounced the Chief of Internal Affairs Miguel Iglesias, who was relieved of his duty and replaced by Edward Thompson. Tisch said he had failed to properly investigate claims about improper OT payments.

“Above all else, the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau must always be dedicated to preserving integrity and rooting out corruption in all its forms,” Tisch wrote in a statement. “It is an essential function that is crucial to maintaining honor and nobility in the profession and preserving public trust. Chief Thompson is up to the task.”

Morale had been plummeting at the department even before the latest scandals and shakeups. There are several thousand job openings and the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association said the department is operating shorthanded and is in an employment “crisis.” Rank and file officers complain that they are facing mandatory overtime on a regular basis to account for the extra policing needed in part to monitor protests over the past year. The PBA has said that hundreds of veteran officers are retiring each month.

Tisch is working to clean house, even as her boss, Mayor Eric Adams, faces his own problems with a trail set to start in April on the five-count federal bribery and corruption charges he faces. Adams has said he is not guilty and is vowing to fight the charges as he plans to run for reelection in the Democratic primary in June in a crowded field.

The appointment of Chell, who was the second highest ranking uniform cop as chief of patrol, was seen as a move to quell internal unrest in the department. But he has faced his own controversies as he has lashed out at journalists on X who he felt were too critical of the department. Most recently, he went on the right wing Newsmax cable tv station in uniform following Donald Trump campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in October.