NYPD chief probed for allowing on-duty detective to care for cancer-stricken mom

Yahoo

7 days ago

NEW YORK — An unusual arrangement that allowed an NYPD detective to work for nearly a year on a special police detail assigned to her cancer-stricken mother has emerged as the trigger for an Internal Affairs investigation and may well have accelerated the retirement of Brooklyn North Chief Scott Henderson, the Daily News has learned.
Henderson, a 30-year veteran who has led Brooklyn North since 2020, has come under scrutiny for allegedly allowing Detective Jaenice Smith, 51, to stay with her ailing mother, Barbara Ann Smith, the longtime president of Bushwick's 83rd Precinct Community Council, three law enforcement sources told The New York Daily News.
Smith spent 11 months on the special detail before her mom died in December and three more months on bereavement leave.
The investigation was triggered by an anonymous tip earlier this year that Jaenice Smith was not showing up to work. The NYPD then placed her on desk duty and demand the return of $150,000 in pay, the sources said.
There has been no disciplinary action against Henderson. A 'walkout' – a ceremony used to honor retiring commanders – was initially scheduled for July 24 and then 'postponed,' the department confirmed — apparently by Henderson himself.
The controversy has angered pastors and other supporters of Henderson, who oversees roughly 3,000 cops in the 10 precincts that make up Brooklyn North. They lay the blame for his retirement with Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Chief of Department John Chell.
Rev. Kevin McCall, a Henderson ally, told The News plans are now underway for a community celebration of the chief's career.
'The community will host a walkout for our Chief Henderson and the Police Commissioner and John Chell (are) not invited,' McCall said. 'We will show the NYPD how you honor someone that served the community for 30 years.'
An NYPD source said an investigation into allegations involving Henderson and Detective Smith is ongoing.
A lawyer for Detective Smith declined comment.
But a source familiar with the sequence of events said Detective Smith, once she came under scrutiny, explained to investigators that the arrangement was with 'the full permission and authority of Henderson.' The controversy started a couple of months ago with the anonymous tip that Smith wasn't coming to work at police headquarters where she was assigned.
Investigators, the source said, have obtained 'countless' text messages verifying Henderson gave permission to her to be assigned to her mom because of her mom's 'critical role in NYPD community relations,' sources said.
An attorney for Henderson did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Detective Smith's mother, Barbara Ann Smith, was so prominent in Bushwick as a president of the precinct community council that since her death at age 77 in December the precinct's muster room has been renamed in her honor. On July 14, 2025, the City Council also voted to rename Decatur St. between Central and Wilson Avenue as Barbara Ann Smith Way, a council spokesman said.
'Barbara worked tirelessly to bridge gaps, bring people together and make sure every voice was heard,' said Assemblymember Maritza Davila, a Democrat.
Council Member Jennifer Gutierrez called her a 'true powerhouse and cherished community leader.'
Detective Smith, meanwhile, joined the NYPD in July 2005. Across her 20-year career, she has been assigned to borough commands, the Personnel Bureau, Internal Affairs and Community Affairs before she was moved to Brooklyn North for the special detail. She had made 16 arrests in her career, three of them for felonies.
In February 2024, when it was clear that Smith was gravely ill, Detective Smith was reassigned from her normal duties in Community Affairs to her mother's home, according to the sequence of events described by the sources.
Smith's account, the sources said, is that Henderson assigned her to her mom via a Brooklyn North security detail without Smith initially asking for it. Once she began the new assignment, the sources said, she checked in regularly with the command.
'No one was hiding anything,' one police source said. 'All the supervisors were aware.'
Meanwhile, police brass including then Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey and First Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella would visit from time to time, the sources said.
After Barbara Smith died in December, her daughter was given another three months of bereavement leave. In the meantime, the Internal Affairs investigation started.
Detective Smith was relieved of her guns and shield and placed on desk duty in Queens Courts on March 27. The NYPD filed disciplinary charges for stealing time and demanded she repay the $150,000 in salary she earned during the period she was assigned to her mom. Those charges are pending.
After Smith disclosed that Henderson had approved the special assignment, investigators questioned him. He allegedly 'downplayed' his role in approving the assignment, the sources said.
Smith's lawyers are pushing for her to be allowed to retire later this month. 'She's upset they are taking such a hard line on this,' a source familiar with the case said.
'She thought when the head of the borough approved it, she could rely on that.'