Says NYPD smeared her
Activist sues brass, claims they said she lied about sex assault
A prominent Brooklyn criminal justice activist sued the city and top NYPD brass on Monday, alleging they circulated information about her 2017 sexual assault and spread claims she lied about it, the lawsuit alleges.
Dana Rachlin — whose suit marks the first time she’s come forward with the allegation of rape — alleges that after she reported it at the urging of current NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, details of the assault and falsehoods about her were used in 2021 and 2022 to attack her reputation because of her outspoken criticism of the police.
“It has been an extremely draining and exhausting thing,” Rachlin said at a Monday press conference. “It’s forced me to have conversations with people about my sexual assault when only a few [police] were supposed to know, but random commanders knew about it.”
The lawsuit comes at a time when NYPD brass is under fire for using social media to criticize critics and journalists including Daily News columnist Harry Siegel.
“What the NYPD has done to Dana is at the intersection of several issues — mishandling of sexual assault cases, the fact they treat even mild criticism of their policing as a crime and that City Hall is not only allowing it to happen but encouraging it,” said MK Kaishian, Rachlin’s lawyer.
The NYPD said it’s reviewing the suit. “While we believe it has no merit, we will not comment further on pending litigation,” it said in a statement.
Rachlin is a staffer for John Jay College, is an Assembly district leader in Greenpoint and co-founded the nonprofit NYC Together with Michael K. Williams, who died of a heroin overdose in September 2021. She worked closely with the NYPD on community issues for years.
On Oct. 17, 2017, she was sexually assaulted after a gala for her nonprofit at a Brooklyn hotel attended by police officials including Maddrey and current NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry, the lawsuit alleges.
At the hospital, Maddrey noted her neck was bruised and urged her to report the assault, the suit stated. He assured her the report would be confidential, known only to Daughtry and two detectives.
A rape kit was done and tested positive for male DNA. A witness, described as another cop, overheard the assailant apologize to her for the incident, the lawsuit said.
The next day, the detectives arranged a controlled phone call between Rachlin and her alleged attacker in which the man acknowledged she did not provide her consent and repeatedly apologized, the lawsuit alleges.
But Brooklyn prosecutors then told her the detectives had ended the call too early, the lawsuit says. Fearing further emotional trauma, she decided she did not wish to proceed any further at that time, the lawsuit states.
But the case file notes that she could reopen her complaint if she wished to at any time, the lawsuit states.
In 2020, the lawsuit claims, she began to air criticisms of police encounters with young men in Brooklyn in which she felt the police were violent.
She claims that after her criticism of a precinct commander, Craig Edelman, and police tactics, top brass circulated elements of the rape complaint to elected officials, government officials and other community activists.
One incident when youth were pepper-sprayed in the face involved Edelman, the lawsuit said. In another incident, Edelman allegedly threw a protester to the ground.
Before then-Police Commissioner Dermot Shea appeared on a local radio show, Rachlin suggested the host ask Shea why Edelman was still in command of the precinct. Edelman was then reassigned.
Maddrey sent her a text saying, “That wasn’t a good move,” the lawsuit alleges. Maddrey then allegedly ordered her barred from precinct stationhouses.
In June 2020, Chell allegedly told a subordinate, “We can humiliate her at any time,” the lawsuit said.
In April 2021, Rachlin said she was denied grants and blocked from precinct facilities. The Rev. Kevin McCall, a prominent Brooklyn activist, allegedly told Rachlin he would “destroy” her on social media, the lawsuit alleges.
The suit claims Brian Adams, the NYPD’s current community coordinator, and Chief of Patrol John Chell told McCall that Rachlin had “fabricated” the rape allegation because her attacker had “rejected” her and the NYPD had closed the case for that reason.
Rachlin then provided McCall with details of the assault to demonstrate it was credible, the lawsuit said.
McCall declined comment to The News.
The lawsuit alleges other high-ranking cops circulated the false claims to other community groups and even to “The Wire” actor Williams.
“From November 2017 to June 2020, I was working with them. I was facilitating forums [with high ranking police officials],” Rachlin said at the press conference. “If they believed all these things to be true, why were they with me these three years?”
On April 8, 2021, Rachlin begged Maddrey to stop the alleged campaign to undermine her, the lawsuit asserts.
“You absolutely are not making false allegations,” Maddrey supportively told her, the lawsuit said. He said he would speak with Chell and later promised “no further issues,” according to the suit.
In 2022, a letter purportedly from 61st Precinct cops was sent to then-Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell and widely circulated.
The letter contained pictures of Rachlin and falsely claimed she engaged in consensual sex and then filed a false rape claim, the lawsuit alleges.
A second letter titled “Beware of the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” alleged she falsely accused a Black man of rape. It stated she uses her “feminine charm to gain the trust of unsuspecting officers to advance her criminal activities.”
The letter also claimed Rachlin had improperly accessed the NYPD gang database and shared confidential information, the lawsuit alleges.
The document also shared her home address, forcing her to spend money on improved home security systems, the suit states.
Adams, who previously worked for The News, shared screenshots of Rachlin criticizing the police, saying he would complain to high-ranking officials about her, the lawsuit claims.
“Maddrey, along with other NYPD supervisor Defendants, including [Deputy Commissioner of Collaborative Policing] Chauncey Parker, knew of the abusive conduct of his subordinates and was aware of the defamatory nature of the claims made against Ms. Rachlin, but failed to intervene,” the lawsuit alleges.
The suit marks the latest legal problem for Mayor’ Adams administration. Top mayoral aide Timothy Pearson has been sued for sexual harassment, while Adams himself has been sued for alleged sexual assault. Pearson is yet to comment publicly on the allegation against him, while the mayor has strongly denied any wrongdoing.
The lawsuit filed in Brooklyn Federal Court seeks damages but does not specify a dollar amount.