Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NYPD, union in legal showdown after brass says fired officers are legally unfit to serve
By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Jul 11, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Jul 11, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The city’s largest police union is fighting the NYPD in court over the potential firing this week of dozens of police officers agency officials say should never have been approved for the force.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has made extensive personnel changes since taking the helm of the department in November. Department leadership said Friday that it discovered an inspector allowed 31 officers to be hired improperly in 2023 and 2024 after recruits received “final notices of disqualification” for things like lying about criminal arrests, prior criminal convictions and summonses — on top of failing a department psychological evaluation.
Attorneys for the Police Benevolent Association, which represents rank-and-file officers, told a state judge this week that it’s too late for the NYPD to fire the officers as their issues were disclosed and the department hired them anyway.
“The NYPD already revoked and/or waived those purported disqualifications,” the union wrote in a filing this week. Union lawyers said the recruits graduated from the academy and are now working officers “who have demonstrated their fitness for service.”
The union won a temporary victory Thursday when a judge blocked the firings until lawyers for the city and the union could argue their positions in court next Tuesday. The petition says if agency brass wants to reintroduce these issues it has to trigger a 30-day window for the officers to appeal their firings.
Instead, the union says, the NYPD told officers the firings were final.
Department spokespeople, who declined to speak on the record, say the issues uncovered by the NYPD make it unlawful for the officers to remain on the force.
The union is looking to reverse the firings, or at least allow the officers a chance to appeal their terminations, according to court filings.
The firings emerged from a recent internal investigation into Terrell Anderson, an inspector who headed a division in the NYPD that assessed new department recruits, a police spokesperson said.
Through the investigation, investigators learned Anderson allegedly allowed numerous candidates into the Police Academy who should have been disqualified because of their psychological assessments, the NYPD spokesperson said.
Anderson could not immediately be reached for comment. And the Captains Endowment Association, which represents Anderson, declined to comment.
Lt. Patrick Gordon is president of the Guardians Association — a Black fraternal organization within the NYPD. He said Anderson was put in his role to address “systemic bias” in the department.
The NYPD, Gordon said, never made policy changes to address that bias, but still expected Anderson to make reforms.
“They put him there to address it, but they didn't give him the tools to really do it,” Gordon said. “So he's there reviewing cases on a case-by-case basis, cases that could be subjective.”
Charles Lane contributed reporting.
Tagged
new york city
nypd
public safety
Ben Feuerherd
Ben Feuerherd covers public safety and policing for WNYC and Gothamist. He previously covered federal courts for The New York Post and The Messenger. His work has also appeared in POLITICO, the Daily Beast and NBC New York. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Queens man found dead, police say, and injured woman is his mother, neighbors say
Police are investigating a related incident in which a 62-year-old woman was found injured beneath the Van Wyck Expressway.
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 14, 2026 at 7:39 p.m. ET
Man shot by ICE in NYC's Marble Hill said federal officers never identified themselves
The wounded man said he didn't learn ICE agents were involved until he woke up in the hospital.
By
Arya Sundaram
and
Samantha Max
News
Man shot by ICE in NYC's Marble Hill said federal officers never identified themselves
The wounded man said he didn't learn ICE agents were involved until he woke up in the hospital.
By
Arya Sundaram
and
Samantha Max
Brooklyn school dean says MTA officers assaulted him over a $3 bus fare he says he paid
By
Carol Chen
National Grid customers in NYC will see higher gas bills this winter
By
Rosemary Misdary
Bruce Blakeman joins Gov. Hochul in support for expanding NY rape law
By
Jon Campbell
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .