The NYPD’s highest-paid employee, Lt. Quathisha Epps, who earned over $400,000 last year, has filed for retirement amid an internal affairs investigation into her excessive overtime, The New York Post reports.
Epps, who is retiring just short of 20 years with the department, will face a reduced pension and lose a $12,000 annual supplement for officers reaching the two-decade service mark.
Epps notably earned about $204,000 in overtime last year in her administrative role in NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey’s office but her overtime was capped after The Post’s report on her high earnings last month.
RELATED STORIES
Sources stated that Epps was informed she would return to patrol duties, a less desirable assignment compared to her current desk job.
“There is no way she was going to go out on patrol,” one source told The Post.
Epps, 51, is under an internal affairs investigation for allegedly falsifying overtime hours and signing off on her own timeslips, sources said. Complaints also include her arriving late, leaving early, or not showing up to work.
Records indicate she logged nearly 1,627 hours of overtime last year, averaging about 74 hours per week in addition to her regular shift.
Epps’ $164,477 base salary, combined with her extensive overtime, brought her total compensation to over $400,000, making her the highest-paid NYPD employee.
In contrast, her boss, Maddrey, earned about $292,000. Epps’ substantial overtime earnings have caused discontent among rank-and-file officers.
“What administrative work requires you to stay there 115 to 120 hours every f–king month to apply that type of money?” one Bronx cop griped to The Post last month.
Facing a return to patrol duty and an internal probe, Epps filed for vested separation retirement on Monday. Her last day will be January 14. Epps was suspended without pay on Wednesday, according to sources and an internal memo obtained by The Post.
Epps’ early retirement after 19 years will yield her about $16,000 a month including half of her pension contributions. The NYPD has 30 days to complete its investigation before her pension takes effect.
