NYPD lawyer in probe over car misuse
Deputy commish eyed for using vehicles for personal trips
The NYPD lawyer in charge of prosecuting police discipline cases is being probed for breaking city rules by using department-issued cars for personal trips, the Daily News has learned.
Deputy Commissioner Kevin Richardson is suspected of improperly using at least three NYPD cars since he was appointed to his $228,000-per-year job in 2014 — including a 2014 Ford Taurus, a 2015 Ford and a 2016 Dodge Charger.
Richardson is supposed to use the cars only to drive home and to work and to official NYPD events and meetings, department rules say.
Investigators opened the case after receiving anonymous letters claiming Richardson used the cars for outof-state trips, vacations and other jaunts hundreds of miles away, sources said. The letters claimed his cars were fitted with lights and sirens – hardly necessary for a department lawyer.
“He lives less than 30 miles from police headquarters, but he has put thousands of miles on the cars each year,” one of the letters said.
Richardson — dubbed “Commissioner Uber” by the letter writer — also had the cars’ gas tanks filled three times a week at NYPD pumps, according to the allegations.
He used the cars and his NYPD driver to pick up and drop off friends and family at the airport and other places, the letters claim.
Richardson’s use of the cars so concerned high-level NYPD officials that Chief of Internal Affairs Joseph Resnick instructed top brass on the correct rules in an executive staff briefing Sept. 26, according to sources and records obtained by The News.
Resnick included the written policies in a handout distributed to the attendees, records show.
The News learned of the probe when the NYPD refused to turn over gas, toll and mileage records of Richardson’s department cars in response to a Freedom of Information Law request.
“A NYC Department of Investigations inquiry remains ongoing as to this matter; therefore, disclosure must be denied as the release of the requested records would interfere with this pending investigation,” Sgt. Jordan Mazur of the NYPD FOIL unit wrote.
As head of the Department Advocate’s office, Richardson oversees administrative cases involving noncriminal misconduct by police officers.
A Daily News series on the NYPD’s disciplinary system in March raised questions about whether Richardson intervened on behalf of Chief Jeffrey Maddrey, who was accused of lying to investigators following a scrap with a girlfriend.
In a statement on the vehicle usage, Deputy Commissioner Phil Walzak, a police spokesman, said, “The NYPD reviewed this matter thoroughly and appropriately addressed any identified issues regarding the use of category 1 vehicles. All NYPD personnel with category 1 and 2 designations have been briefed on Department policy on vehicle use and accountability.”
“Wonder if they will say that when DOI finds he owes the city thousands of dollars?” commented one observer. DOI declined to comment. In 2017, city Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte was forced to resign for using department cars for long personal trips to Maine. His replacement, Cynthia Brann, and eight top DOC staffers were fined for the same practice.