Jamiel Altaheri, a former NYPD officer who most recently served as police chief in Hamtramck, Michigan, resigned just a day after starting a new post overseeing patrols at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. His quick exit came after hospital law-enforcement officials raised concerns about a Michigan investigation into his conduct.
What happened
According to The New York Times, Altaheri, a 20-year NYPD veteran who left the department in 2024, had been hired to supervise the special officers who patrol NYC Health + Hospitals facilities and had begun work at Jacobi. The outlet reports that agency officials questioned him about a Hamtramck city report and about his employment as an executive at a construction company. Altaheri told the paper he was approached around noon and chose to resign two hours later.
Hamtramck investigation and allegations
Altaheri’s tenure in Hamtramck became the subject of a 59-page investigation conducted for the city by the law firm Miller Johnson. That probe concluded that he and another officer engaged in what it described as “significant” misconduct and detailed incidents that included driving a city-issued truck after drinking. The findings triggered a political fight in the city and led to a negotiated exit from the department last year, as covered by CBS News Detroit.
Officials’ responses and vetting questions
A spokesperson for Mayor Zohran Mamdani told The New York Times that neither the mayor’s office nor the transition team had any role in Altaheri’s hiring. Health + Hospitals has not provided a full public explanation of how the selection was made, but officials confirmed to the paper that they questioned Altaheri about the Michigan report shortly before he stepped down.
Why it matters
The rapid reversal at Jacobi highlights broader questions about how the city’s public hospital system vets outside candidates for security leadership roles and how out-of-state controversies are flagged during hiring. Altaheri left Hamtramck under a negotiated agreement and resigned with severance amid controversy, and his sudden departure from Jacobi is likely to prompt renewed scrutiny of internal hiring and review processes at Health + Hospitals.
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