The president of the probation officers union on Monday blasted the way Department of Probation leadership handled the case of the 5,000 bullets that went unaccounted for from the NYPD’s firing range at Rodman’s Neck in the Bronx.
Dalvanie Powell told the Daily News the two female probation officers who discovered the problem last July found themselves the target of an internal investigation. They were abruptly transferred and filed for retirement within the past two weeks, she said.
“This is yet another example of how the current administration always acts first and maybe asks questions later,” Powell said.
“What’s truly sad is that these two female members did the right thing by immediately reporting the ‘missing bullets.’ They were the only ones who created a record-keeping system—not the agency. Instead of being recognized, they were ridiculed, mistreated, and abruptly transferred before the investigation was even concluded.”
The News reported Sunday that in July the two officers discovered an allotment of 5,000 bullets purchased by the Department of Probation for firearms training at the range couldn’t be located.
They reported the discrepancy internally to two DOP assistant commissioners, but nothing was done until December when another probation employee filed a complaint with the NYPD.
Powell said the matter is representative of a pattern of “disrespect and mismanagement” under current Commissioner Juanita Holmes that has contributed to the attrition rate.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a Feb. 2 report that Probation has suffered an attrition rate of 128% compared to the three years before the pandemic.
From 2016 to 2019, the agency lost an average of 67 officers a year. In 2022, 148 officers left the agency, followed by 157 in 2023 and 152 in 2024, the DiNapoli report said
“When dedicated and experienced employees are treated unfairly, it not only harms them personally but also weakens the agency as a whole,” she said.
“The Commissioner and her administration owe my members a great deal — starting with an apology.”
Amaris Cockfield, an Adams administration spokeswoman previously said an internal review determined the bullets were merely “improperly inventoried.” She said one assistant commissioner was suspended for 30 days and demoted.
Cockfield declined to provide a more detailed timeline of events.
Powell said Probation didn’t disclose the result of its internal review involving the bullets to the union, the two officers or their lawyers until after they filed for retirement. Even then, they were only told the finding was “unsubstantiated,” but they weren’t told what that means or given a written report of the conclusions.
The two officers had long careers with Probation, Powell said.
“We have a lot of questions—starting with what really happened and when this investigation was actually concluded,” Powell said. “To be clear, they did not retire by choice. They retired because of the humiliation they suffered and the damage to their reputations.”
