Aide to top NYPD chief raked in $400K as administrators cash in on overtime bonanza

Meet the highest paid member of the NYPD — and it’s not the Police Commissioner.

Quathisha Epps, a lieutenant special assignment who works in Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey’s office, made $406,515 in fiscal 2024 which ended June 30, city payroll records show.

Former Police Commissioner Edward Caban, who quit in September amid a federal investigation, by contrast made $285,313 in fiscal 2024 – or $118,203 less.

As part of Epps’ enormous sum, she put in for working 1,626 hours of overtime on top of the 2,214 regular hours she was paid for, the records show. The overtime bonanza netted her $204,453 over her regular salary of $175,893. She earned another $26,169 in “other pay.” For context, if she labored for 52 weeks straight without vacation or days off, that volume of hours translates to working 73 hours a week — including 33 hours a week of overtime.

All in, the top 20 OT earners at the NYPD took in $6,770,828 in fiscal 2024, payroll records show.

Those numbers helped fuel skyrocketing NYPD overtime costs, which topped $1 billion in fiscal 2024, the highest amount ever, The News previously reported.

Top brass have blamed a shortage of cops, protests and “unplanned events.” for the escalation, coming as police presence in subways, parks and other spots has been beefed up to allay concerns about safety. The Police Benevolent Association has said the grind of forced overtime is burning out cops who work the streets and leading them to retire in droves.

A Daily News analysis of the department’s top 400 overtime earners shows well over half are, in fact, in operational units, most in units like narcotics, emergency services, warrants and gun suppression. Sixty-four are assigned directly to police precincts and 45 to transit commands, including 16 in the Transit K-9 unit.

But a significant portion of the top 400 have administrative assignments. For example, 13 of the top 400 earners are assigned to the police commissioner’s office, including Sgt. Dennis Rodriguez, who made $278,265 in fiscal 2024, including $113,000 from 983 hours of overtime.

“We cannot possibly expect the NYPD to get their overtime spending in check when its leaders at the highest levels appear to be abusing it,” said City Comptroller Brad Lander. “Paper pushing brass cannot be clocking in overtime if they want to instill some level of trust and order among the public and their ranks.”

Even as overtime skyrockets, the line operational units are constantly short-staffed, fighting to keep up with an expanding case load, said several police sources. Those factors have contribute to a wave of retirements in those units. Meanwhile, top brass are constantly harassing commands when individual cops in line units exceed their overtime cap, a precinct cop said.

“This is the greatest challenge the NYPD has faced in years,” one police union source said.

Maddrey in March told the Council the department was keeping its ballooning overtime costs under control.

“I want you to be assured that we do put our best efforts in to reduce overtime,” Maddrey declared at the time. “Our biggest challenge with reducing overtime is the unforeseen and unknown.”

Twelve of the top 400 are assigned of Chief of Patrol John Chell’s office, four to Maddrey’s office and three to First Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella.

There are top earners working in a range of non-enforcement units like Data Analysis and Mapping, the Emergency Prep and Exercise section, the Property Clerk’s office, the Orders and Directives Section and the Police Pension Fund.

Two of the top 400 are assigned to the NYPD Public Information office, including Detective 1st Grade Esther Bueno, who earned $305,554 in fiscal 2024 including $122,116 on 975 hours of overtime.

Epps, the lieutenant in Maddrey’s office, is essentially an office supervisor.

“She has an inside job,” an irate NYPD source said. “It’s a misuse of taxpayer money.”

Epps, who was profiled in 2019 by NY1 as a three time cancer survivor, billed the city for 1,000 overtime hours in fiscal 2023, but just 496 hours in fiscal 2022 and 258 hours in fiscal 2021. In her 19 year career, which began in 2005, Epps has made just 16 felony arrests, along with 61 misdemeanor busts and issued 19 non–criminal violations, NYPD records show.

The NYPD did not reply to inquiries from The News.

Lou Turco, president of the Lieutenants Benevolent Association, said only, ““These are fiscal year numbers. The members of the Police Department work with calendar year numbers.”

Including Epps, four of the top 20 overtime earners worked in headquarters jobs in fiscal 2024. Detective 2nd Grade Ingrid Sanders, who also works in Maddrey’s office earned $352,462, including $163,413 on 1,456 overtime hours.

Lt. Special Assignment John Brennan, an aide to Chief of Patrol John Chell, made $378,438, including $168,132 in overtime for 1,254 claimed hours.

Lt. Special Assignment Christopher LaMarche, an aide to Caban, made $347,405, including $144,248 on 1,048 hours of overtime.

Police sources said Sanders, Brennan and LaMarche were constantly with Maddrey, Chell and then Police Commsioner Caban as those officials attended meetings and events after hours.

“The staggering amounts of overtime generated by these NYPD executive officers is questionable and shows increasing mismanagement of existing resources to adequately support the department’s rank-and-file workforce and New Yorkers,” said Rendy Desamours, a City Council spokesman.

“Other city agencies do not come close to this, illustrating the double standard that allows for the Department’s management challenges.”

Overall, 382 cops made $100,000 or more in overtime and 264 cops billed 1,000 hours of overtime or more in fiscal 2024, the payroll records show.

Epps may have been paid the most overtime dollar amount. But three department employees actually claimed to have logged more hours.

Dawana High, a communications tech, billed for 2,091 hours. Another tech, Suzette Bailey-Kora billed for 1,969 hours. Traffic agent Pedro Dominguez billed for 1,759 hours.