NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The NYPD fired dozens of officers on Thursday who were hired despite having serious, disqualifying offenses noted during their application process, the department confirmed.
An internal investigation found that 31 officers who joined the police force over the last two years had received final notices of disqualification but were hired anyway. According to the NYPD, once these final notices were issued, the officers’ hiring was illegal.
“The department was not legally allowed to hire these individuals and was forced to inform them that they could no longer continue as members of the NYPD,” a department spokesperson said.
A source told 1010 WINS that Inspector Terrell Anderson, the former head of the Candidate Assessment Division, decided on his own to hire the officers despite them already being informed of their disqualification.
The source said that Anderson has since been transferred and is facing serious departmental charges.
Some of the disqualifying offenses included the former officers lying about criminal convictions, previous arrests and terminations from previous jobs; multiple arrests; criminal summonses; and driver’s license suspensions prompted by significant traffic violations, sources told 1010 WINS.
Police Benevolence Association president Patrick Hendry blasted the decision by the NYPD, stating that “these police officers aren’t responsible for the NYPD’s broken hiring process or the supervisors who made these decisions.”
Hendry said that as far as the former officers knew, they were qualified to join the police force, as the NYPD both hired and trained them. The PBA said that it is exploring its legal options to protect its members’ rights and hold the department accountable for this mismanagement.
“It is an absolute travesty that the department is trying to cover its tracks by summarily forcing them off the job, without affording them the same appeal process available to other applicants,” Hendry said.
The firings come days after four former high-ranking NYPD officials filed lawsuits against the department accusing it of rampant corruption and cronyism, with claims that some top officials were “selling promotions” for up to $15,000.
The suits allege that beginning in 2023, former Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey—who resigned in December amid sexual misconduct allegations—bypassed internal hiring regulations to promote “unqualified friends” to key posts.
According to the lawsuit filed by former Chief of Detectives James Essig, during this time he noticed an “unusually high number” of inexperienced transfers to the sex crimes unit.
The lawsuits also accuse current NYPD brass, including Chief of Department John Chell, of working against internal insight over the department.