The allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation of female officers against Jeffrey Maddrey, former New York City Police Department (NYPD) chief of department, were an “open secret,” according to police sources and accusers. Maddrey abruptly resigned late Friday night as explosive sexual harassment claims against him emerged.
The sex scandal escalated Saturday when Lieutenant Quatisha Epps, 51, formally accused Jeffrey Maddrey, 53, of coercing her into a sexual relationship in return for massive overtime benefits, according to a New York Post report. Apart from Epps, two other women within the department have also leveled accusations against Maddrey.
“He’s a predator,” a police source stationed at NYPD headquarters told the New York Post. “It’s an open secret. Everyone knows who he is.”
Epps’ allegations against Maddrey
Lieutenant Quatisha Epps, who worked for Maddrey in an administrative role, accused him of soliciting sex at NYPD headquarters. “He wanted to have anal sex, vaginal sex, oral sex,” Epps said, according to the New York Post. “He was always asking me to kiss his penis.”
She claimed the harassment began after Maddrey’s promotion to chief of department in June 2023.
“He said he dreamed about f**king me in my a**,” Epps alleged. She further described an incident where Maddrey allegedly exposed himself: “His work pants were open,” Epps said. “He inserted himself, and he kept forcing it and forcing it,” she recalled. “And I kept asking him, ‘Can you please stop?’ Then I stopped asking him to stop and asked him to just slow down. ‘Can you please just slow down? You’re hurting me! You’re hurting me!’”
According to Epps, they had intercourse approximately ten times. She also alleged Maddrey subsequently approved significant overtime for her, some of which involved assisting his girlfriend. “Part of the overtime was to take care of his girlfriend,” she said. “He would have me go apartment hunting with her.”
Epps’ attorney, Eric Sanders, claimed Maddrey retaliated against Epps for ending the relationship by including her on a list of high overtime earners, leading to a 30-day suspension and investigation. Epps earned $400,000 last year, with $204,000 attributed to overtime.
Epps also claimed in her EEOC complaint that Maddrey was engaged in an “inappropriate sexual relationship” with another woman in his office. Records show the unidentified woman earned over $300,000 last year.
Maddrey denies the allegations. His lawyer said the timing of Epps’ complaint is suspicious. “She’s obviously drowning and in the deep end of the pool without a lifesaver. She wants to take down as many people as she can. This is completely meritless, and we deny every aspect of it.”
‘Crazy p—y is the best p—y’
Maddrey had also faced accusations of abuse from a former officer, Tabitha Foster, in a 2016 federal lawsuit. Foster, who served in the 75th Precinct in East New York, alleged Maddrey initiated a relationship with her while she was pregnant and he was her supervisor.
The lawsuit described the relationship as a multi-year affair that involved physical and mental abuse. Foster claimed Maddrey exploited her prior trauma and marital problems. The lawsuit included Maddrey’s alleged statement, “crazy p—y is the best p—y.”
In December 2015, Foster alleged Maddrey physically assaulted her in a Queens park, leading her to draw her firearm. She claimed he then took the gun, choked her, and disassembled it.
Following the incident, Foster publicly accused Maddrey on Facebook of pursuing pregnant married women within the department, triggering an Internal Affairs investigation. Maddrey received internal discipline for failing to report Foster drawing her weapon on him, resulting in a 45-day vacation day deduction.
A Brooklyn federal judge dismissed Foster’s lawsuit in 2019 at her request due to disagreements with her attorney. She refiled the case in Manhattan Supreme Court, but it was dismissed in November of that year. Maddrey denied the allegations in court documents.
‘He kissed me at the parties’
NYPD Captain Gabrielle Walls also accused Maddrey of harassment between 2015 and 2022 in a sexual harassment lawsuit she filed in July against another NYPD chief. This was before Maddrey’s resignation.
Walls claimed Maddrey made unwanted advances, including kissing attempts at parties and police functions, and visited her command at the 88th Precinct. “He basically kissed me at the parties and would make comments, ‘I want you so bad, you smell so good,’” Walls alleged, as quoted by the New York Post.
She said she hid in her office when Maddrey visited the 88th Precinct while she was a lieutenant there. “I had to hide in my office, turn off the light, and close the door,” she said.
Following the initial lawsuit filing, Walls was transferred from the 79th Precinct to the 114th Precinct in Queens. She and her lawyer, John Scola, alleged this transfer was retaliatory. “I prayed for this day every single day,” Walls said of Maddrey’s resignation, adding she felt “vindicated” and hoped others would come forward. “There’s so many more of us out there that hopefully will come forward.”
Maddrey’s attorney has yet to submit a response in court regarding the pending litigation.
Favoritism toward an unnamed detective
Epps also accused Maddrey of ordering her to assist another officer in the chief of department’s office with personal tasks. Epps claimed she was directed to help the female detective specialist find an apartment and purchase household goods, for which Epps billed overtime.
Maddrey allegedly told Epps to “take care” of the detective. Epps also said Maddrey instructed her to give the detective the keys to a New York City Housing Authority apartment on Eldridge Street, where Epps’ family members had lived.
A neighbor confirmed the detective moved into the apartment in October and said Maddrey had been seen at the building, according to the New York Post report. The detective, whose name is being withheld, earned over $150,000 in fiscal year 2024, according to SeeThroughNY.
After Maddrey’s resignation, chief of patrol John Chell will temporarily take his place.
