Interim NYPD Commissioner Tom Donlon and the police department’s top spokesman got into a shouting match about a “management-related” issue near the finish line of the New York Marathon on Sunday — a spat that got so heated their voices could be heard from hundreds of feet away, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the matter.
The confrontation between Donlon and Tarik Sheppard, the NYPD’s acting chief of staff and deputy commissioner for public information, only ended after Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey intervened and got in between them, as first reported by the Daily News on Sunday.
It initially wasn’t clear what sparked the disagreement.
On Monday, a police source familiar with the matter said the dustup was about a “management-related” issue Sheppard tried to raise with Donlon while they were near the finish line in Central Park taking pictures with NYPD officers who ran in the marathon.
Donlon, however, shut down the request, saying the park wasn’t an appropriate venue for such a conversation, which apparently set off the shouting match, according to the source.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation, wouldn’t get into further detail about the exact nature of the management issue. The source also sought to downplay the beef, saying disagreements are part of the job.
Another law enforcement source said the fact that the incident played out in public was embarrassing. The shouting from Donlon and Sheppard could be heard by NYPD officers assigned to the marathon route who were standing hundreds of feet away, according to sources.
“Tension at the top of the NYPD is nothing new. What is new is cops hanging their dirty linen out to dry,” said Ken Frydman, a public relations veteran who has represented several city cop unions. “That’s an operations-and-optics problem that doesn’t exactly instill the public’s trust in the people running the police department.”
Pictures posted on X by Donlon and First Deputy Police Commissioner Tania Kinsella show Donlon and Sheppard next to each other while posing alongside marathon runners in Central Park. In one picture, Donlon can be seen flashing a thumbs up.
Asked about Sunday’s altercation, Mayor Adams compared it to a family dispute.
“Anyone that’s in any type of relationship — a business relationship, a marriage, relationship with your children — human beings, we have arguments, we have disputes. How do you manage those arguments or disputes after? And that is what’s expected,” he told reporters at City Hall on Monday.
Adams deferred to Donlon as to whether any discipline will be meted out over the incident.
“If they did something that’s inappropriate, the police commissioner will sit down, the interim police commissioner will make that determination if there needs to be some next steps,” he said.
The bickering between the top NYPD officials comes as the department is in a state of uncertainty.
Donlon, an ex-FBI agent, was tapped by Adams to take over the reins at the NYPD on an interim basis after ex-Police Commissioner Edward Caban resigned on Sept. 12 in the wake of getting his devices seized as part of a federal corruption investigation. That probe has been scrutinizing whether Caban’s twin brother, ex-NYPD officer James Caban, tried to sell the promise of police favors to nightlife venues in the city.
Less than a week after his appointment, Donlon’s home was raided by FBI agents as part of a separate investigation that he has said is focused on “materials that came into my possession 20 years ago.”
Since then, there’s been some tension between Donlon and members of NYPD brass, according to sources inside the department. Against that backdrop, Sheppard was tapped as the NYPD’s acting chief of staff recently, an elevation that wasn’t publicly announced.
In mid-October, The News and other outlets reported Donlon was expected to soon resign. But Donlon has stayed at his post, and Adams has said he’s considering making Donlon the permanent commissioner.
“He’s in the running,” Adams said Monday when asked whether Donlon’s still under consideration.
