Last year, the NYPD's highest-paid employee earned more than $400,000 from her administrative work, with more than half of her income coming from staggering overtime pay, The Washington Post has learned.
Lt. Kwathesha Epps, a 19-year veteran of NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddry's office, will earn a staggering $403,515 in fiscal year 2024, having earned $204,453.48 in overtime pay on top of her base salary of $164,477. $ and additional benefits, according to city payroll records.
The staggering amount of overtime alone — the highest the department has paid in at least a decade, according to NYC Open Data — would be enough to cover the salaries of three new NYPD officers with a starting salary of $58,580 for the department.
Even Epps' inflated total compensation exceeded her boss' earnings by more than $111,400. Madry, the top uniformed cop, earned $292,069 in fiscal year 2024, according to city records.
The NYPD's highest-paid lieutenant, a special lieutenant, earned an impressive six-figure income by doing administrative tasks in Madre's office, such as personnel matters, according to a source familiar with her role.
This revelation angered NYPD officers who put their lives on the line in the streets.
“What administrative work would require you to be there 115 to 120 hours every month to use that kind of money?” One Bronx cop who spent 20 years on the job fumed to The Post.
“This is ridiculous for someone who has never been out on the streets,” he added. “She has not been arrested, and she is not even in a position to do so [be] Dealing with prisoners or courts at all.
Epps, 51, worked approximately 1,627 hours of overtime on top of her regular shifts — or an average of about 74 hours per week, records show.
“Does any detective on the street make that much money? What about the commanders or inspectors who carry out orders?” barked another veteran cop with more than 25 years on the job.
“They don't make that kind of money.”
The total pay of Epps, who survived cancer three times last fiscal year, also dwarfs the total compensation of former NYPD Police Commissioner Edward Caban, who earned a total of $288,332 in fiscal year 2024, records show.
Other NYPD officials who topped NYPD salaries last year included Christopher Millevoye, a 13-year stationary engineer who earned $389,192.65 by taking home a staggering $200,859 in overtime pay, and Lt. John B. Brennan, a A veterinarian with the department for 26 years did the funding. $378,437.62, with $168,132.38 in overtime.
Records show 392 NYPD employees earned at least $100,000 in overtime during the last fiscal year.
In a heated City Council budget hearing in May, top NYPD officers attributed at least $168 million in unplanned overtime pay to policing anti-Israel protests and migrant shelters.
“Employees are always going to get overtime because the alternative is having too many employees,” said Ken Girardin, research director at the Empire Center for Public Policy, a conservative watchdog.
“But public employees, especially a large operation like the NYPD, shouldn't be getting $100,000 in overtime. This shows that something is fundamentally broken.”
Epps justified her massive overtime hours and earnings by the fact that she juggles “more than one role” in the department, but pointed to the NYPD's Public Information Office for clarification on her responsibilities.
“I'm a really good lady, and I do positive things,” she said.
The New York Police Department did not respond to the newspaper's request for comment.
