Did This NYPD Captain Go Too Far?

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:05]your boss.

[00:00:06]>> He's your boss.

[00:00:21]>> What was your initial thoughts when uh that popped up on the screen?

[00:00:28]Well, I mean, you know, we've been taught all along not to say anything of such. You know, you've been told to keep your your political thoughts and your political uh you know, preferences out of the limelight, especially when you're in uniform, you know. So, cuz you remember when you're in uniform, you represent the department, you know, and that's the same reason why when you want to go and talk to the news or do anything else, DCPI has to get involved and make sure that, you know, what you're going to say or or who you're talking to is is okay. So that my initial uh thought was um although I I credited him for for saying it uh it was clearly to me um something that he probably shouldn't have done uh you know right out there in the open in front of uh you know being filmed. So I don't know was it you know was it intentional to to try to get transferred? Maybe he didn't like where he was you know >> he just he just got there right? Yeah, >> just he was just transferred there. I mean, I I don't have all the commands he was at. We don't have access to that, >> but I did read that he had just recently been transferred there. Um, and you know, he was uh promoted to captain in in 2001, >> you know, 21.

[00:01:54]>> He's got his 20 years coming July, so I think he'll make his pension.

[00:01:59]>> We'll talk about that. But uh in September of 21 is when he made captain.

[00:02:04]I don't know exactly where he worked prior as a captain, but the newspaper did say that he had just uh >> he had just been transferred to the 94 recently within the last couple of months. Um, so you know, it says it would, you know, Wilson was transferred on Monday to the department's communications division up in the Bronx and, uh, I think when I looked at his 50A, he worked in the 120 at one point, so I don't know if he lives in Staten Island and he's getting, you know, the shoestring transfer up to the Bronx, uh, to the 911 call center up in the Bronx.

[00:02:45]um department policy prohibits office from publicly expressing personal views about a political party while they are on duty. The spokesman added his disciplinary process is ongoing. The spokesman said so that transfer is not the end of it. you know, we'll get into exactly what the patrol guide says, but uh is uh first time I'm seeing um Sequoia Harris uh in in the comments and he's saying the patrol guide does say we have voice out political views, but the Constitution of the United States trumps the patrol guide.

[00:03:17]We've talked about this in the past when we talked about the freedom of speech, right? That you have the the constitutional right to say whatever you want. However, your employer can limit the things that you say in that if it brings a bad light upon the agency or company that you work for, they have the right to discipline you, to terminate you, or whatever the case may be. We've talked about that in the past with the people that have gone online with these uh you know disgusting vitrial vitrius, you know, uh rants, uh you know, pro Palestinian or pro-Israeli, whichever way they were speaking and they were speaking out and yeah, as long as you're not physically, you know, offending someone, you have that God-given right to say what you want. However, those rights are somewhat limited under your employment agreements.

[00:04:21]What's your take on what uh Sequoia Harris is saying?

[00:04:24]>> Well, the policy set by the employer and you're an employee. So yeah, you I mean you could go out and say things and do things, but if you violate the policy within the department, you can be disciplined, you know, you can be transferred or whatever they want to do.

[00:04:42]So you're you do have to uphold what they say. Yes, the constitution says you can say that. Uh, and you can you can absolutely, but the but with the, you know, stuff that's within the department, the P patrol guy procedures and everything else, they're going to say you can't do that. So, you're mandated by the, you know, if you want to hold your position within that department and that you can you don't say what they what they don't want you to say, but if you do say it, yeah, yes, you have a total constitutional right to say that. But they have a and they have a policy and procedure that they could easily, you know, get rid of you or do whatever they want to you. So it's it's a it's it's up to them to decide what you know with the policy and procedure when you join you know you you know and then when when policies and procedures are changed you're notified. So I don't think you really have any standing at all. So I mean if he was off duty I mean then I may say oh I you know agree with you a little bit there. Um but as soon as you and you you know and I you people when we used to uh do interviews we always would preface it with personally uh this is not I'm although I work for the police department does not represent the the the you know policies and procedures and the thoughts of the police department in itself these are my own opinions and that's when you're not in uniform right so that so but I think once you're in uniform that kind of you know specifies that you're given political opinion of the department. So, I I have a little bit of an issue with it.

[00:06:11]>> Yeah. No, I agree with you 100%. E New York City 26 says, "I agree with his personal views, which a lot of people do." Uh, but we are a paramilitary organization. Exactly. Like just like Rob said, "While in uniform, we shouldn't diss the mayor." The same way you will not hear a marine badmouth the president. So, you know, when you're in uniform, you you know, you're representing the police department, right? But when you're an executive, it becomes a little bit more is expected of you. We hold executives to a higher standard all the time, right? We talk about the lack of leadership. we talk about, you know, that's one of the main things that's been lacking with the NYPD and has caused a lot of the problems is that there's a lack of leadership, a lack of of of role models and people to to mentor the younger officers, the newer officers, and it's the same thing in the executive ranks. Obviously, you have these executives that are coming up that aren't being shown the right way. When you when you're an executive, you you're not only, you know, you're representing the agency, but you're also representing the city. And like when you're a duty captain, duty inspector, duty chief, whatever the case may be, you're making decisions, right, based on what's what's best for the city and and limiting the liabilities of the city as well as the department.

[00:07:42]So you're an executive. You're you're a captain of police.

[00:07:49]You have to know better. And whether you agree or whether you disagree with what he said, you have to be held and we hold them on the entire platform. And I know I know there's different views that are out there and there's, you know, a lot of chatter on social media with opinions of whether it's, you know, he has the right to say it, he should say it. Uh, you know, I I'll we'll give a little bit more. But let let's you know what? Let's let's listen to what exactly he said for anybody that hasn't heard it.

[00:08:25]He's like mommy.

[00:08:30]>> You don't like your boss.

[00:08:33]>> You want admit it?

[00:08:34]>> He's your boss.

[00:08:35]>> He's a No, like temporary.

[00:08:36]>> He's your boss.

[00:08:37]>> Is he your boss though? Is he your boss?

[00:08:40]>> He's your boss.

[00:08:41]>> He's your guy.

[00:09:01]All Democrats say no bas and that I mean that that comment there is even you know more egregious right >> right he's temporary he's expendable right he's nonsense you know, he's total nonsense. He's an embarrassment. Total nonsense. And at the end, you know, right here, went too far to say all Democrats are a waste of human race.

[00:09:45]Again, you're not having a beer with your friend in your backyard.

[00:09:49]You're in uniform.

[00:09:51]You're a protest.

[00:09:54]And this is what you're saying knowing that you're being videotaped.

[00:09:58]Complete uh poor judgment to say the very very least.

[00:10:09]I mean you got Reed um saying department was fast with the administrative transfer as no discipline was issued and accepted by the captain. This is just the mayor telling the PC what to do.

[00:10:23]How how do you feel about that?

[00:10:26]>> Well, I mean, the department did act fast. I mean, it could it be her protecting the mayor? It could go both ways, you know. So, but I think what what it is is it goes on social media.

[00:10:38]She gets notified. The mayor might see it. Yeah. There there's definitely calls back and forth between each other. And what are we doing about this? And why is this captain actually saying these things out in the public in uniform and literally conversing with somebody on uh you know live social media? I mean, yeah, sure. It could definitely um it could definitely have you know, you know, push back from the mayor or the PC and and I think probably everybody else that saw it was like, well, what you know, what did he just say? You know, you get I kind of had to watch it twice because I'm like, wait, this guy's working. He's in uniform and he's saying this. Now, I'm not saying, you know, I mean, I don't think every, you know, Democrat's a waste of life. That I mean, that that's a far-fetched statement.

[00:11:22]Some of the other things he said about the mayor and stuff like that, absolutely. Would we say that, you know, on in uniform? No. I I would I would never say that. And, you know, some like Sid Rosenberg and a few others are calling this guy hero. He he maybe he's a uh a hero in some people's eyes because he spoke his opinion and maybe uh you know gave out information that uh could be what most of the people in the police department think you know whether the cops you know all the way up to chiefs that they could all talk you know like we will talk about locker room you know theories and locker room you know chitter and chatter. So could it be?

[00:12:01]Yeah, probably is. Would I would I tell a cop to verbalize that on the street in a protest? No, you know, would would I do that? I mean, I think it it's it becomes very problematic and it can have huge implications to anything that he's done, any any type of uh CCB he may have or anything else. I mean, I just think it's it's it's not uh an appropriate thing to do. It I think you what you really want to do is maybe you know, the union should be pres presenting these things. Do you remember when uh Lou and Ramos were killed and you know everybody went against Delasio and we were at the funerals and a large uh section of police officers turned their backs when when the the mayor was actually talking.

[00:12:48]I can agree with that. I mean literally they want to show turn their back on the guy. They, you know, they're not they're not throwing any politics out there. Not condemning anybody, but they're standing uh tall. I think that that should have been done by the unions. I think this guy maybe he's a good he could be a good union guy but I think I think that's something the unions should and and not only just one union it should be a coalition like there should be a vote of no confidence at this point which has been done by the PBA before. So I just think I think by solely standing out there alone uh he puts his neck on and and you got I guess you have to give him credit for he puts his neck on the chopping block. So I don't know what what's your thoughts on that?

[00:13:30]I I mean I don't I don't I don't know. I I don't agree with him making these statements.

[00:13:41]Whatever his opinions and personal views are, we all have them, right? We're on a podcast. We're retired. We can say whatever the [ __ ] we want, right?

[00:13:50]And oh, I got that in just after 15 minutes. I'm good. Um so we can say what we want because we're no longer a representation of the New York City Police Department, right?

[00:14:00]And like I said, we we hold executives to task all the time on this show. We talk about lack of leadership and a problem with leadership that leads to trickle down problems because the boots on the ground aren't getting proper guidance and everything else. And you're supposed to lead by example. And that's what we talk about also, right? Not not hiding behind your desk, getting out there, leading by example. You were out there in the field. I was out there in the field. We led by example, Eric. Um, John, they're out there. They were out there, you know, uh, and leading by example. And that's not an example that you could lead by. I'm sorry. You can't stand there and and trash the mayor and somebody said Mandami said he didn't do the transfer.

[00:14:48]He may probably didn't. Tish has been very heavy-handed with discipline. We know that, right? I there's not much of an investigation other than to find out that that wasn't like an AI generated because at first I swear I thought that was possibly an AI generated video, right? Because I'm like there's no way a uniform captain of police is going to say something like that. But you see his body warn camera is on too. So I'm sure they looked at his body warn camera, confirmed that that interaction did did in fact happen, right? Which they can do remotely. They can do that right from Police Plaza or wherever. just pull it up if you have you have the access and watch the body on camera. I don't need to conduct a further investigation at that point. And remember, as executives, we work at the privilege of the police commissioner where we work. It's not like a cop, you know, where you really have to show cause to transfer them otherwise, you know, there's ramifications. We get transferred all the time as executives.

[00:15:52]We don't get asked. Sometimes you get asked, would you be interested in this or that, right?

[00:15:59]Or you're volunttoled, you know, I never I I was never asked.

[00:16:08]Well, I was asked, but I really didn't have a choice. And one time I was asked by uh Chief Mike Quinn uh and I I joked around with this about with with Tony Raganella. I was asked if I would be interested in uh taking over sort of control after uh the chief retired and I had lived on Stat Island at the time.

[00:16:31]Executives didn't get cars, take-home cars and that was up in the 44 in the Bronx. So I like chief is this something I can say no to and he said yes. So I respectfully declined. Right. But how often does that really happen? you you you find out sometimes from a phone call, hey, you're getting moved or a teletype comes down and you get transferred. Nobody even told you and as an executive you find out you're getting transferred. I've seen it happen time and time again. I was at a meeting one time in Queens North and Chief Tommy Chan was the exo of the burrow and he was sitting in a meeting with us and the wheel came in with a teletype. a chief got transferred from Manhattan from Brooklyn uh from Queens North to Manhattan South and he didn't even get a phone call. So, as executives, we work at at the discretion and the pleasure of the police commissioner. So, to transfer him and to even say it's an administrative transfer, which is punitive, right? It's it's it's a mark against you. It's an administrative transfer. I think that they had enough just from that video to to to basically what they did was they took him from any public facing position by putting him in a communications division because now he's not going to have contact with the public because you have to fear what is this guy going to say next.

[00:17:57]No, I I I laugh because you know for I I don't I just think they you know it's drummed through your head in every rank right as a sergeant as a lieutenant as a cop you know you you don't you don't you first of all you don't get hooked so I don't know if he was hooked right second of all things you don't say political things that are going to be against the city or you know any political views right that you're told don't do that okay everything's neutral because you you're enforcing the law the law in itself is supposed to be neutral okay it's not supposed to be bias it's supposed to be neutral anything that happens you're supposed to enforce it.

[00:18:33]So then, like you said, it goes on the CPI, right? The the central personnel index for the rest of his career, and I don't know how long that's going to be, it stays on there. So an administrative transfer, if you come and you want to apply to somewhere, they're going to be the question is going to immediately arise. Uh why were you transferred administratively? Because it's not a good transfer. Okay. I just And then you just mentioned that he he's taken out of the public view. I mean, to me, is it is this was this a suicide mission? you know, is this suicide by by PC? I'm going to say this stuff. I know it's going to go and I'm going to get transferred, you know. So, I mean, listen, if you don't like where you are >> as a as a a captain and above and you do something like this, you know, you're getting transferred. So, I mean, you know, it's going >> How much how much do how I would think that he lost his car as well.

[00:19:28]They moved him to the Bronx and he lost his category one car because the position in communications probably doesn't come with a car.

[00:19:36]>> It could be, >> right? Executive officers of commands get cars, commanding officers of of uh commands get cars and certain details get cars. I guarantee you a captain assigned to the communications division does not get a car. So now if he lives in Staten Island or Brooklyn, he's got to travel on his own dime every day up to the Bronx. Now again, June, July, whatever first he gets his 20 years. He can retire. He could probably have enough time on the books. He's been a captain for, you know, four or five years or for five years. So he's got enough time on the books, I'm sure, to run his time. Um, and was that was that his plan? Like you said, I'm going to say this and I'm just done cuz they're going to harpoon me and I'm done. So, detective no one asked if I was at the protest and still on a job and somebody asked me my opinion of Monty, what would I say? I'd say I have no opinion. No, I have no comment.

[00:20:36]I don't have I have no comment. I'm not I'm not I would never I wouldn't say I support him, but I just wouldn't have a comment.

[00:20:49]Yeah, I think that I don't know if it was done on purpose. I I I do think he may have made a uh a wrong decision unless he was looking to retire, unless he was looking to get out. I mean, you think about it, if he has five years in rank, he's going to retire at deputy inspector's pay, you know, and I'm not saying if he if he stayed another 10, he would retire at deputy chief's pay. So, I don't know if he necessarily wanted to do that. maybe he was looking to get out and uh this was his uh you know um his way to to to get transferred and as an excuse to to leave you know his last harrah and and it very well could have been you know so um you know as as far as I'm concerned he he knew what he was doing he knew that the he knew there was going to be repercussions he just didn't think oh I'm going to give my political opinion and it was so at that the last statement or you know relative to Democrats you know you could you cannot not like certain Democrats, you can not like certain Republicans. I don't think you want to paint that broad band, you know, that's often, you know, painted and it it becomes like almost um, you know, you can't judge everybody just by by one, you know, position or one thing they believe. You just have to judge people individually by their character and stuff, which is, you know, totally more important. So, I don't know if, you know, that that whole thing was, you know, staged to get out of there. Maybe he didn't want to do these demos anymore because guess what? As the exo of communications in the Bronx, he's not going to be going on these details anymore. So may maybe that was his game plan. That's why I I think I just think it was something of of a greater value to him to say this and get it out there.

[00:22:28]You know, he was looking for the opportunity and he uh and he and he got what he want. So I mean, can can you be administrative made administratively transfer at any time? Absolutely. The department could do that at any given time. They don't have to prove your innocence, prove your guilt. They could just say, "Listen, guess what? We're transferring you and you're going there." So, and will there will there be charges and specifications to come further? Yeah, there could be. So, I mean, I think one of the police spokespersons said that their their discipline was uh you know, being worked up or whatever. So, I just think that I listen again, I I give him if he wanted to do that, I give him credit for it.

[00:23:07]But it would, if any of us did it, to me it's it's almost uh you know, I I you know how they say when a per points a gun at a police officer, whether it's imitation pistol or anything else, it's suicide by cops. So, to me, this was this was uh suicide by PC. You know, this was like, hey, let me throw this out there and I know something's going to happen. And you know what it you're putting the police commissioner and the mayor's back against the wall. They have to do something because what happens if they don't? Every every person out there now in the police department says Captain Wilson did it so I can do it.

[00:23:41]I'm going to give you my political views now. So unfortunately you have to it had to be nipped in the butt and they and they did. So >> right. Yeah. Like you said his disciplinary process is ongoing is is the verbiage that they used. Right. So, the problem I see and we're going to get into I have the administrative guide I'm going to I found [clears throat] I'm going to pull up. Right. So, September 3rd of 2021, he became a captain. So, September 3rd of 2026, he's eligible for a deputy inspector's pension.

[00:24:14]He's probably got more than enough time to carry himself through September.

[00:24:19]However, if the job, like if he wants to go down and retire, he can he can drop his papers, but he's got to give the job the 30 days. Now, first of all, if he wants to retire prior to any discipline, he'd have to vest out and not have his 20 years because July 7, July 10th is when he gets his 20 years in.

[00:24:49]So if the job wanted to really do him in, they could expedite the charges, they could force him to retire prior to September 3rd, thereby limiting and reducing his pension and not allowing him that deputy inspector's pension. Uh and and they could as part of and what people might think, well, he's got time on the books and everything else. part of the penalty and we've seen it in the past right that uh file for immediate service retirement waving all acred time. So if he has time on the books he'd have to wave that time.

[00:25:29]Uh so I mean the job has options if they really want to go at him. Uh I disagree with ENYC26 where he says he's become untouchable other than the transfer. job can't do anything else to him because he has to claim uh that any other action is being done in retaliation for exercising his first amendment right. Once again, we've talked about that he has the first amendment right to say whatever he wants. He cannot say it as a representative of the NYPD, which is implied when you are in uniform. And even if he said those things in his personal life on his personal ex account or his personal Facebook account or Instagram or whatever, he could still be held accountable because you are reminded in the prohibit, you know, prohibited conduct that your offduty conduct is subject to discipline. So they could still have gone after him even if it was off duty.

[00:26:29]Yes, he has the first amendment right to say whatever he wants. However, it does that does not the first amendment gives you the right to say what you want, but it does not protect you from punitive actions if in the eyes of your employer it shines a bad light on them. And that's been proven in court. And that's why all these nurses and other people, teachers, have lost their jobs when they go on these silly caring tieres online thinking that it's all cool and okay and I'm covered by the First Amendment and I get in front of my phone and I can make a post and I can say whatever I want.

[00:27:09]Yeah, you can say whatever you want, but right, f around and find out.

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