What Occurred: Former New York Police Division Commissioner Thomas Donlon sued Mayor Eric Adams and different prime police officers on Wednesday, accusing Adams of working the pressure as a “felony enterprise” that the mayor used to “consolidate energy, impede justice and punish dissent.”
Within the 251-page criticism, Donlon stated the mayor used the division’s Group Response Group for political acquire. “CRT grew to become the enforcement arm of Defendant Adams’ political technique,” the criticism says, “a software for projecting ‘powerful on crime’ optics on the expense of civil rights and constitutional legislation.”
It additionally calls the CRT a “rogue” unit that answered “solely to Metropolis Corridor.”
The swimsuit drew extensively from a latest ProPublica investigation, which detailed how the mayor championed the CRT regardless of issues inside the Police Division concerning the unit. Adams, former officers stated, was so near the unit he had entry to a little-known livestream of the CRT’s body-worn digital camera footage, a element that Donlon cited in his authorized criticism.
What They Mentioned: “The Group Response Group speaks to the tradition below Adams of willfully violating the constitutional rights of civilians and officers,” John Scola, Donlon’s lawyer, instructed ProPublica. That tradition is: “We’ll do no matter we wish.”
Background: In 2023, a senior NYPD official wrote a scathing inside audit after discovering that CRT officers have been wrongfully stopping New Yorkers and failing to doc the incidents. Weeks later, Adams took to Instagram to spice up the unit. “Turning out with the group,” he wrote, displaying a photograph of him carrying a large smile and khaki pants, CRT’s official uniform.
The official who wrote that audit was pushed out months later. He and different prime former commanders just lately sued Adams alleging favoritism and misconduct, expenses the mayor denies.
Why It Issues: Donlon, a former FBI agent who held the job of police commissioner for under two months, from September to November 2024, lobbed his accusations in opposition to Adams because the mayor has been waging an uphill battle to maintain his job. Adams was indicted final fall on federal expenses of bribery, fraud and illegally taking marketing campaign contributions from foreigners. He pleaded not responsible. He averted trial by making a take care of President Donald Trump, who dropped the prosecution in change for Adams working with the administration on immigration enforcement. Nonetheless, he stays unpopular within the metropolis and is working for reelection as an unbiased in opposition to a preferred Democrat, Zohran Mamdani.
Response: In a press release, the mayor’s workplace dismissed Donlon’s claims.
“These are baseless accusations from a disgruntled former worker who — when given the chance to guide the best police division on the earth — proved himself to be ineffective,” the assertion stated. “This swimsuit is nothing greater than an try to hunt compensation on the taxpayer’s expense after Mr. Donlon was rightfully faraway from the position of interim police commissioner.”
Beforehand, Adam has defended the CRT. Requested concerning the unit at a press convention this spring, the mayor stated, “CRT is right here.” He continued, “I assist all my items.”
The NYPD didn’t reply to requests for remark concerning the swimsuit.
