A New York City administrative judge ruled last month that city Probation Department officials wrongly retaliated against a veteran woman officer who they accused of “bringing the agency into disrepute” for preferring business attire over a department-issue polo shirt for appearances in Brooklyn Family Court.
Word of the decision comes as Probation Commissioner Juanita Holmes is facing union criticism for replacing officers’ shields with a new design that mimics those worn by NYPD patrol officers.
Both the change in shield design and the uniform requirement are initiatives pushed by Holmes, a former NYPD chief of patrol appointed to run Probation by Mayor Adams in March 2023.
The March 24 decision stemmed from disciplinary charges filed against Winifred Rivers, a 32-year agency veteran officer who was suspended, transferred to the Bronx and accused of “insubordination, conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline” and the “disrepute” allegation in June 2024.
Rivers had been a court liaison officer in Brooklyn Family Court for 25 years. In September 2023, Holmes ordered all officers to wear a uniform including the polo shirt with the Probation logo.
Rivers continued to wear business clothes, including dresses, in court for the next seven months, insisting Holmes’ edict had not gone through the agency’s formal policy-making process, the decision states.
In June 2024, an NYPD sergeant brought over to work at Probation by Holmes directly ordered Rivers to wear the polo shirt, the decision states.
Rivers refused “vehemently,” the decision states. “We are not a uniform agency,” she told the sergeant.
Rivers was then visited by the agency’s general counsel and again declined to wear the polo shirt in court. She was then suspended and transferred to the Bronx, far from her home in Brooklyn.
Kevin Casey, the administrative judge, ruled that the agency violated Rivers’ rights in disciplining her for “disclosing information to the agency she reasonably believed was true” for reasonably believing the agency’s action was improper, the decision states.
“[Rivers] sincerely and reasonably believed that the polo shirt was inappropriate court attire, [and] the Department is not a uniformed agency,” the judge, Kevin Casey, wrote.
“When she voiced her concerns, she was objecting to department actions that she considered improper. Under these circumstances, the severe and improper adverse actions that followed were retaliatory and the disciplinary charges must be dismissed.”
A City Hall spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, the change in shield design from the blue-and-gold badge that probation officers have worn for decades to a silver shield almost identical to NYPD patrol shields is being criticized by Dalvenie Powell, the president of the United Probation Officers Association.
The new shields were handed out to new recruits in an academy graduation in February, and to rank-and-file members last week.
In a statement, Powell called the move “saddening and disheartening in a period of staff shortages, rising caseloads and unrealistic demands.”
Powell noted that probation officers in Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties wear almost identical blue and gold shields. She also said if probation officers are going to wear badges that resemble those of police officers, they should be paid commensurately, as well.
“If the city is going to treat probation officers as uniformed law enforcement, it must back up that recognition with action,” Powell said.
Previously, probation officers started at $45,934 per year and topped out at $57,885 after 11 years. In August, the city agreed to a new contract with the union that increased the starting salary to $61,386 up to $81,000 after 11 years.
By comparison, a police officer starts at $58,580 and reaches $126,532 after just five years. Similarly, a correction officer starts at $47,857 and tops out after five years at $96,803.
The City Hall spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the shield switch, either.
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