A detective allowed for nearly a year with full pay including overtime to care for her cancer-stricken mother could face a huge fine and forced retirement when her NYPD disciplinary trial starts Wednesday at police headquarters.
Detective Jaenice Smith, 51, claims Assistant Chief Scott Henderson, then the commander of Brooklyn North, approved the unusual arrangement since her mom, Barbara Ann Smith, was a prominent community leader in Bushwick who served 28 years on the NYPD’s 84th Precinct Community Council.
The NYPD, however, alleges Smith did not have approval and has accused her of “time abuse,” falsifying documents and official misconduct, according to department records and Smith.
The department has sought to force her to repay up to $149,000 in salary.
“This wasn’t about me; it was always about my mother,” Smith told The News Friday. “(Henderson) was offering this assignment to me but it was based on who my mother was in the community. And he knew exactly what I was doing. I wasn’t hiding.”
ITo buttress her claim, Smith shared a March 15, 2024 text exchange with Henderson in which she wrote, “Mom is doing ok … Her cervical cancer symptoms have now started to cause some new issues.”
“Keep fighting and praying. Definitely don’t worry about work,” Henderson replied.
The controversy, first disclosed by The News in July, contributed to Henderson’s retirement in July while facing an Internal Affairs investigation. He is listed as a potential witness in the trial.
The NYPD declined comment on the Smith case.
“The disciplinary process remains ongoing,” a spokesperson said.
Detective Jaenice Smith’s mother, Barbara Ann Smith, was a prominent community leader in Bushwick. (Facebook)
After joining the NYPD in 2005, Smith spent most of her career working as an executive assistant to high ranking NYPD officials, including at least six chiefs and was given a discretionary promotion to detective in 2017.
“These aren’t positions I applied for,” Smith said. “I would be working in a unit and they requested me to come and work for them.”
She was working in NYPD Community Affairs in early 2024 when her mother’s illness became more serious. Smith says she contacted various chiefs to obtain an accommodation to care for her mother. She also contacted then Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey’s wife, she said.
Finally, she reached out to Henderson, the Brooklyn North commander since 2020.
“He was like I’ll have you temporarily transferred as an unofficial transfer,” Smith said. “That arrangement continued. Every three days he would reassign me to that role.”
Initially, the “unofficial” transfer was to the hospital where her mom was being treated, Smith said. Then it was changed to the Bushwick brownstone where she and her mom lived on different floors, she said.
There are no records available showing Smith went through the more standard process where cops apply for an accommodation to care for a sick relative under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which requires documentation from the ailing person’s doctor.
City payroll records show including the period she was on the temporary assignment, Smith earned $185,380, including $39,689 in overtime, in fiscal 2024 and $154,244, including $4,173 in overtime, in fiscal 2025.
Under NYPD policy, the FMLA provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a given year. Cops are required to use up their vacation time first and aren’t allowed to earn overtime either.
In all, Smith spent 11 months caring for her mom before she died in December and three more months on bereavement leave.
@NYPDBklynNorth / X
Assistant Chief Scott Henderson. (@NYPDBklynNorth / X)
In late 2024 or early 2025, someone phoned in an anonymous tip that Smith wasn’t showing up for work in her official post at Community Affairs. That triggered an investigation.
Smith was placed on desk duty without her shield and guns on March 27 and transferred to the Queens Courts Section. She submitted to a formal interview with Internal Affairs May 21.
Though records show she reached her 20th year making her eligible for a full pension on July 11, the disciplinary case has forced her to remain on the job.
On Sept. 5, the NYPD offered her a plea deal where she would pay $40,000 and retire immediately, she said. Smith declined the offer.
On Oct. 6, Smith’s lawyer Eric Sanders, who is representing her in the trial, filed a discrimination complaint with the department.
“The only thing Detective Smith did was exercise her lawful caregiving and medical accommodation rights under federal, state, and local law — nothing more,” Sanders said. “Every witness the Department now calls a ‘facilitator,’ including Assistant Chief Henderson, confirmed that her accommodation was properly granted — and none of them were terminated. There was no personal relationship, no concealment, and no misconduct.”
Smith says her treatment tarnishes her mother’s legacy. “My mother has been a staple. She was deemed the Queen of Bushwick when she died, a community titan,” she said. “For me, it’s also an attack on my character. I just want to be made whole.”
