On Wednesday, Police Officer Brian Larkin received a “Mayor’s Excellence in Customer Service” award at police headquarters for his sterling work in community affairs in the 19th Precinct.
On social media, the NYPD called the award, “a testament to his unwavering dedication, professionalism, and commitment to the people of the Upper East Side.”
Despite the public recognition, Larkin has been passed over repeatedly for promotion to detective during the Adams administration while 11 other community affairs cops he says have less experience and fewer accomplishments have been promoted.
The promotion – worth roughly $50,000 a year more in salary and overtime and $25,000 in post-retirement pension payments a year – would be significantly more valuable than the award, which only came with a certificate.
“It’s not a good feeling to be applauded by the NYPD one day and ignored the next,” Larkin said. “If they truly valued the work I’ve done, I wouldn’t still be watching others leapfrog me for promotions.”
Larkin and another white community affairs officer with a similar story, Stephen Jones, allege in a new lawsuit filed in Manhattan state court Friday the two top officials in Community Affairs, Deputy Commissioner Mark Stewart, and Assistant Commissioner Alden Foster, set aside merit and promoted cops based on a bias in favor of Black and Hispanic cops and their connections to the Guardians, an influential fraternal association of Black officers.
In the backdrop, the lawsuit claims, former senior mayoral adviser Tim Pearson, long involved in the Guardians, and former Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks, acting with the tacit approval of Mayor Adams, stripped the NYPD and the police commissioner of independence in promotions and created a “shadow power structure” not accountable to the public, the suit alleges.
“Banks and Pearson modified the lists based on discrimination, loyalty, favoritism, and personal agendas,” the lawsuit alleges. “The NYPD was no longer a paramilitary institution governed by a chain of command. It had become a political patronage machine, serving the personal interests of City Hall.”
Banks and Pearson each resigned their posts last fall after their phones were seized as part of the federal corruption investigation into the Adams administration. Neither man has been accused of criminal wrongdoing, though a city oversight report tagged Pearson for falsely accusing two migrant shelter security guards of shoving him. Pearson has also been sued four times for abusing his power in promotions and retaliating against cops who complained. Those lawsuits are still pending.
Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News
Philip Banks III, Deputy Mayor of New York City for Public Safety. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News)
While the NYPD has long been sued for discrimination in promotions by Black and Hispanic officers, the Jones and Larkin suit is a less common example of white cops suing for discrimination for their lack of promotion.
“Police Officers Larkin and Jones devoted their careers to protecting New Yorkers, and are now fighting to restore the dignity and fairness they—and every officer—deserve,” said their lawyer John Scola.
The NYPD declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Patrick Gordon, the president of the Guardians, said the organization had no influence on the community affairs promotions cited in the lawsuit. “As fraternal presidents, one of our duties is to advocate for overlooked individuals and offer recommendations for consideration. I can say with certainty that was not the case here,” he said.
Long track records
Jones joined the NYPD in 2007 and was named community affairs officer in the 24th Precinct on the Upper West Side in 2011. Larkin joined the NYPD in 2008, and became a community affairs officer in the 19th Precinct in 2015.
The job has a wide-range of responsibilities from parades and protests down to lower-level community issues.
Despite their decade-plus each of experience in community affairs, they were passed over repeatedly for promotion from 2023 to 2025 while 11 Black and Hispanic community affairs officers were promoted to detective – all with far less experience, according to details laid out in the lawsuit.
Six of the 11 officers were promoted after eight months or less in community affairs, the lawsuit states. Three had six or fewer years as police officers. One of them is a trustee with the Guardians.
“There’s a lot of stuff we have on our plate in the community affairs job,” Jones said. “It takes a long time to build that rep in the precinct. You can’t do it in eight months.”
One factor in the wave of promotions, the lawsuit alleges, was that in February 2023, Community Affairs became one citywide unit centralized under Deputy Commissioner Stewart. During a citywide meeting of community affairs officers, the lawsuit alleges, Stewart referenced “the grid,” a process where commanders recommend cops annually for discretionary promotions.
“There is no grid. I am the grid,” Stewart allegedly said in the meeting, suggesting he would decide who got promoted, not a specific process or procedure.
“It was immediately deflating to hear that,” Jones said. “What it used to be before Mayor Adams, we would get nominated for specialist shields and names would be selected. Stewart took any level or order or process out of it.”
After a Black female officer was promoted 12 months after arriving in community affairs, a lieutenant allegedly told Larkin, “It’s the Guardians” preventing him from being promoted, the lawsuit alleges.
Earlier this year, after being passed over again, Larkin complained to Deputy Chief of Community Affairs Victoria Perry. Later he was informally reprimanded for talking to a chief, the lawsuit alleges.
As for Foster, the complaint does not contain references to specific acts or statements by him related to influencing promotions.
For the two cops, the cost has been in money but also in reputation. “Every time someone gets promoted over us, it’s tough,” Jones said. “It’s like what am I not doing when I am doing just as much if not more than these other people. Where is the fairness? These promotions should be based on merit.”
Added Larkin, “Other cops ask me why aren’t you ‘Detective’ Larkin,” Larkin said. “Our wives see the promotions, and they see everything we do. This has really hurt our careers. And all because we’re not in the circle.”
Originally Published: October 10, 2025 at 2:33 PM EDT
