A high-ranking New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer has been accused of sexual misconduct and was taken off the job without pay last week.
Lieutenant Jose Briceno, who worked as an integrity officer at the Office of Equity and Inclusion, was suspended after a female colleague said that he made inappropriate statements about her looks and touched her body parts like shoulders, back and hips, reported PIX11.
Action was taken against the NYPD integrity control officer just a day after the NYPD got the complaint. An NYPD spokesperson said, “The current duty status of the uniformed member of service in question is suspended without pay." The spokesperson also shared that the investigation into this case is still ongoing and active.
The suspended cop, who was assigned to the Office of Equity and Inclusion in 2019, has been with the NYPD for 17 years. He worked as an integrity control officer in the unit that looks into the Equal Employment Opportunity Division within the NYPD. Pending the outcome of a full investigation by the NYPD, he was stripped of his gun as well. Depending on the results of the department’s investigation, Briceno could also be hit with criminal charges.
A statement is yet to be issued by the union that represents NYPD lieutenants on the allegations made against the officer.
A source said Tuesday, “It’s outrageous that the office tasked with ensuring people are treated fairly has this much controversy coming out it." The source said that such allegations can’t be made up, and claimed that the integrity control officer sent a "d**k pic to a subordinate female," according to New York Daily News.
This is not the first time a scandal has rocked the office as earlier this year, an investigation revealed that Deputy Inspector James Kobel, the former commanding officer of the Equal Employment Opportunity Division, a sub-unit of the Office of Equity and Inclusion, made several sexist and racist posts on an online message board, and so he was fired.
In March, two NYPD police officers, Sanad Musallam and Yaser Shohatee, were fired after they were found guilty of rape and sexual abuse of a teen girl, reported USA Today. The cops reportedly carried out months-long relationships with the girl between 2015 and 2016 during which they allegedly assaulted her.
