by Eric Umansky
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What Happened: Former New York Police Department Commissioner Thomas Donlon sued Mayor Eric Adams and other top police officials on Wednesday, accusing Adams of running the force as a “criminal enterprise” that the mayor used to “consolidate power, obstruct justice and punish dissent.”
In the 251-page complaint, Donlon said the mayor used the department’s Community Response Team for political gain. “CRT became the enforcement arm of Defendant Adams’ political strategy,” the complaint says, “a tool for projecting ‘tough on crime’ optics at the expense of civil rights and constitutional law.”
It also calls the CRT a “rogue” unit that answered “only to City Hall.”
The suit drew extensively from a recent ProPublica investigation, which detailed how the mayor championed the CRT despite concerns within the Police Department about the unit. Adams, former officials said, was so close to the unit he had access to a little-known livestream of the CRT’s body-worn camera footage, a detail that Donlon cited in his legal complaint.
What They Said: “The Community Response Team speaks to the culture under Adams of willfully violating the constitutional rights of civilians and officers,” John Scola, Donlon’s lawyer, told ProPublica. That culture is: “We’ll do whatever we want.”
Background: In 2023, a senior NYPD official wrote a scathing internal audit after finding that CRT officers were wrongfully stopping New Yorkers and failing to document the incidents. Weeks later, Adams took to Instagram to boost the unit. “Turning out with the team,” he wrote, showing a photo of him wearing a wide smile and khaki pants, CRT’s official uniform.
The official who wrote that audit was pushed out months later. He and other top former commanders recently sued Adams alleging favoritism and misconduct, charges the mayor denies.
Why It Matters: Donlon, a former FBI agent who held the job of police commissioner for only two months, from September to November 2024, lobbed his accusations against Adams as the mayor has been waging an uphill battle to keep his job. Adams was indicted last fall on federal charges of bribery, fraud and illegally taking campaign contributions from foreigners. He pleaded not guilty. He avoided trial by making a deal with President Donald Trump, who dropped the prosecution in exchange for Adams working with the administration on immigration enforcement. Still, he remains unpopular in the city and is running for reelection as an independent against a popular Democrat, Zohran Mamdani.
Response: In a statement, the mayor’s office dismissed Donlon’s claims.
“These are baseless accusations from a disgruntled former employee who — when given the opportunity to lead the greatest police department in the world — proved himself to be ineffective,” the statement said. “This suit is nothing more than an attempt to seek compensation at the taxpayer’s expense after Mr. Donlon was rightfully removed from the role of interim police commissioner.”
Previously, Adam has defended the CRT. Asked about the unit at a press conference this spring, the mayor said, “CRT is here.” He continued, “I support all my units.”
The NYPD did not respond to requests for comment about the suit.
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