The former head of the NYPD School Safety division attempted to steer lucrative city contracts to a Florida businessman in exchange for bribes that included cash payments, luxury hotel stays and Broadway tickets, federal officials said Thursday.
In exchange, the commanding officer, Kevin Taylor, pressured NYPD officials and City Council members to award the contracts to procure goods and services from the company, which sells panic buttons to school systems, according to an indictment.
While unnamed in the indictment, such products from the company SaferWatch were piloted during the 2024-25 school year in the city’s public schools. The Daily News first reported investigators served a search warrant on at least one SaferWatch employee after the company hired the brother of two of former Mayor Adams’ top deputies as a consultant.
The founder and CEO of SaferWatch, Geno Roefaro, 39, of Pompano Beach, Florida, was also arrested. Both men were charged with bribery and wire fraud.
“The NYPD procurement process is not for sale,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement.
Clayton said Taylor, 52, of Yonkers, accepted “tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of bribes” between July 2023 and February 2024 in exchange for using his influence to benefit Roefaro’s business: “Corruption will not be tolerated from those, like Taylor, who are entrusted to keep New York City’s children and teachers safe.”
Federal officials alleged that Roefaro tried to sell his product to the city through “seemingly legitimate means.” When those efforts were ineffective, Roefaro bribed Taylor with tens of thousands of dollars in cash payments, between which Taylor issued a memo recommending the NYPD award the company a contract worth more than $11 million, according to the indictment.
He also paid for Taylor to travel to Las Vegas with a romantic partner, including a helicopter tour and medieval-themed dinner theater, officials said.
Shortly after the trip, Taylor testified before the City Council on the panic-button pilot, which ran in four city high schools through a purchase order issued by the NYPD for $19,860.
A week after the Council hearing, Taylor allegedly traveled to the Bahamas with his romantic partner, again on Roefaro’s dime, including airfare and at least two meals, one of which was at a high-end steakhouse.
As the end of 2023 neared, and without Taylor securing more than a second pilot program for the company, federal officials alleged that Roefaro grew increasingly frustrated with Taylor’s “failure to deliver on his end of the corrupt bargain” and messaged the School Safety chief on Signal.
“I’ve got nothing from you brother and I’m already in for hundreds [of thousands of dollars],” Roefaro wrote, according to the indictment.
“You can’t play with the big boys and piss like a puppy,” Taylor responded.
The NYPD and city’s Department of Education, seemingly at Taylor’s direction, scheduled a press conference for early 2024 to announce the procurement of the company’s tip line, but it was ultimately called off, according the indictment. While pushing for the announcement, Roefaro spent thousands of dollars on tickets to multiple Broadway musicals for Taylor, officials alleged.
The day after the Daily News’ report published, Taylor texted another individual a link to a news article and expressed concern that Roefaro could incriminate Taylor if approached by law enforcement.
Clayton said Taylor also used his NYPD influence to try to extort at least two other business owners for payments.
“His alleged actions corrupted the city’s contracting process and manipulated high-level executives,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. “While this alleged misconduct is exceedingly rare among NYPD officials, the FBI will not tolerate those who abuse their authority for personal gain.”
If convicted, both men face a maximum of 20 years in jail.
Lawyers for Taylor and Roefaro did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
