The burgeoning sex scandal at One Police Plaza is adding to the turmoil of a year that has seen three different commissioners, federal probes of top-ranking officials, and other shake-ups.
“It’s in shambles,” said a retired chief with dozens of years on the job.
“There’s no chain of command. It’s very sad. It really is sad for the department.”
Police Commissioner Eddie Caban resigned in September amid a federal investigation into whether police were warning nightclubs connected to his ex-cop brother about inpsections.
He was replaced by retired FBI official Thomas Donlon, a Mayor Adams crony who exited a month later after well-publicized run-ins with other brass.
Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Philip Banks, another close pal of Mayor Adams who previously served as the NYPD’s chief of department, also stepped down in October amid yet another federal probe.
More of the Police Plaza leadership vanished Friday night, when the force’s highest-ranking uniformed officer, Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, abruptly resigned when faced with Post revelations he was being accused of sexually harassing a female underling.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, now at the helm, and is trying to clean up the mess.
She recently pulled 500 officers who had been “improperly transferred” from permanent posts back to regular assignments, an internal memo shows.
The “telephone message transfers” are favors done by bosses to move cops to precincts they desire.
Last week, Deputy Commissioner for Public Information Tarik Shepard was transferred out of his post.
Since then, Tisch has moved about a dozen more people out of the public information office, police sources said.
The retired chief believes Tisch, a Harvard alum and former Sanitation commissioner, will right the ship.
“This is pre-Jessica,” the former chief said.
“She’s going to turn it around. But it will take time.”