NYPD Assistant Chief James McCarthy, who was stripped of his gun and shield after his home was searched during an ongoing federal bribery probe on Wednesday has put in his retirement papers, the Daily News has learned.
McCarthy, 62, the once powerful head of Patrol Borough Manhattan South — where he led scores of cops covering the borough south of Central Park — filed for retirement late Friday, just two days after the NYPD and the FBI executed a search warrant at his home, the NYPD confirmed.
The FBI and NYPD also searched the homes of former NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, former NYPD Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard, and Lt. James Lee, who worked under McCarthy at Manhattan South on Wednesday.
Both McCarthy and Lee were put on modified assignments once the search warrants were executed, officials said.
As he prepares to leave, the department has 30 days to file any departmental charges against McCarthy, officials said. His modified status may also hurt his chances of getting a “good guy letter” — a document that indicates he left the department in good standing, which can help him get another job in law enforcement if he wished, officials said.
“We will take all appropriate actions consistent with the law,” an NYPD spokesman said, adding that the department “will not do anything to impede any ongoing criminal investigations.”
According to his NYPD profile, which is still active online, McCarthy was transferred to the department’s Support Services Bureau after he was drummed out of Manhattan South.
Assistant Chief Melissa Eger, the head of Patrol Borough Staten Island, was transferred to Manhattan South to replace McCarthy.
Gardiner Anderson / New York Daily News
NYPD Staten Island Borough Commander Melissa Eger was transferred to Manhattan South to replace McCarthy. (Gardiner Anderson / New York Daily News)
No criminal charges have been filed against McCarthy or any of the other cops who had their homes searched Wednesday.
If he hadn’t put in his papers Friday, he would have had to retire by December, when he turned 63, the mandatory age for retirement in the NYPD, officials said.
The bribery allegations could be tied to promotions in the department, a source with knowledge of the case said. The Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is heading the probe, declined to comment.
All four cops have close ties to former New York Mayor Eric Adams, a former cop, who faced a federal indictment on corruption charges before they were waived by President Trump.
Theodore Parisienne, Shawn Inglima/New York Daily News
Former Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard, left, and former Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey. (Theodore Parisienne, Shawn Inglima/New York Daily News)
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Wednesday said the search warrants were part of a probe that “is ongoing and concerns conduct by former and current members of the NYPD.”
“I promised New Yorkers that under my leadership the NYPD would conduct itself with integrity and that there would be a thorough investigation of any claim that members of service failed to meet that standard.”
“This investigation and our actions this morning are part of the ongoing effort to fulfill that commitment and hold the department to its highest ideals,” she added.
A call to McCarthy for comment was not returned Friday. The assistant chief joined the NYPD in January 1985.
McCarthy was promoted to NYPD assistant chief in May 2022, during Adams’ first year in office and was assigned to Patrol Borough Manhattan South. As head of Manhattan South, McCarthy would “check in on” Adams during his off-duty late night jaunts in bars and clubs in lower Manhattan, a police source with knowledge of the case said.
During a Palestinian protest in 2024, he accidentally pepper-sprayed himself in the face while dealing with demonstrators on the Manhattan Bridge.