NYPD hit in gifts probe ‘blackmail’

Five high-ranking police officers were improperly forced out of the NYPD during a federal probe into favors done by cops for two well-connected mayoral donors, an arbitrator ruled earlier this month.

David Stein ruled that Lawrence Byrne, the deputy commissioner for legal matters, improperly pressured Inspector Peter DeBlasio and Deputy Chiefs Andrew Capul, David Colon, Eric Rodriguez and John Sprague to retire in July 2016.

Stein found that Byrne's behavior amounted to blackmail when he reneged on a deal to allow them to retire after using up thousands of hours of unused leave, according to a copy of the July 16 decision obtained by the Daily News.

Instead, Byrne told their union leader Roy Richter that the officers had run up too much time and would be demoted, lose the accrued time and face disciplinary action unless they retired immediately.

“We commenced this grievance because our members' collective bargaining rights were violated,” said Richter, president of the Captains Endowment Association. “We are pleased the arbitrator ruled in our favor after a full hearing of the facts.”

Stein wrote that Byrne said then-Commissioner Bill Bratton wanted them out because they were named in newspaper articles linking them to the scandal.

“They were never informed of the basis for any suspicions the department may have about them, nor were they able to assuage the department of any concerns it may have had with respect to any of them,” Stein wrote.

The union argued in part that the department had violated laws against blackmail, the document said. “This curtain of silence made Byrne's threats even more coercive,” Stein wrote.

The city, meanwhile, argued that the union couldn't prove its allegations. Stein sent the case back to the parties for more negotiation.

The NYPD did not have immediate comment.