NYPD Commissioner approves judge's decision to dismiss controversial abuse of office case against Police Chief Jeffrey Maddrey

The NYPD's highest-ranking uniformed police officer has been officially acquitted of controversial abuse of power charges after Police Commissioner Edward Caban signed a judge's decision to dismiss the case, The Washington Post has learned.

The move came less than a month after District Judge Rosemarie Maldonado ruled that the Civilian Complaint Review Board – the NYPD's oversight body – exceeded its own authority when it initiated proceedings against District Chief Jeffrey Maddrey for allegedly obstructing the arrest of a former police officer in 2021.

“My client is satisfied with the outcome and looks forward to presenting the entire situation to him,” Lambros Lambrou, Maddrey's lawyer, said on Tuesday. “We are happy that the police chief accepted and approved Maldonado's well-considered recommendation.”

Caban's signature marks the end of an investigation that began after a November 2021 encounter between retired police officer Kruythoff Forrester and three young boys in Brownsville, Brooklyn, who hit Forrester's security camera with a basketball.

Forrester allegedly pulled out a gun and chased the trio, who were joking around outside a real estate office owned by the former cop's family, sources said at the time.

He was subsequently arrested by the police.

But Maddrey – who knew Forrester well from his time as a precinct chief – ordered a sergeant to nullify the arrest and told police to arrest the boys instead.

CCRB officials eventually determined that Maddrey had abused his authority, prompting former NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell to discipline him.

But the decision angered City Hall officials and partly led to Sewell's resignation.

In June, Maddrey's lawyer filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that the investigative panel did not have the authority to pursue it further.

Maldonado agreed two months later, stating that the CCRB could only investigate NYPD misconduct if it was directed “against members of the public.”

“Rather, the allegation of misconduct in this case involves a defendant who had no contact with the public but who allegedly made questionable orders after encountering the public at the precinct,” she wrote.

“Therefore, the defendant's 'participation in the investigation' at the station and his subsequent decision to nullify the arrest is a matter to be investigated by the (Internal Affairs Bureau) or another NYPD oversight agency, not the CCRB.”

Maldonado's ruling came just a day after outspoken CCRB Chair Arva Rice resigned following months of tension with the city administration, which has often been accused of being reluctant to discipline corrupt police officers.

Not everyone was enthusiastic about the decision.

“'Don't believe your lying eyes' is hardly a novel defense against allegations of NYPD misconduct, but it is particularly obscene to use it in this case,” MK Kaishian, the attorney for the three teens, said in a statement Tuesday.

She added that her clients' statements were supported by independent reporting and video footage, but the NYPD's unwillingness to “hold its senior officers accountable is an entirely different matter.”

“The system works overtime to protect powerful people, so it's all the more unfortunate that the police chief and his advocates have baselessly chosen to demonize child victims of violence and vilify honest NYPD members instead of simply demanding what they want: granting the police chief all his vacation days.”