By Michele Evans / NYweeklyRecord.com / Date: 10/6/2026
Category: NYPD Accountability / Police Misconduct / Criminal Courts / Public Safety
NEW YORK CITY, NY – An NYPD detective was forced into retirement after admitting that he supplied false information used to obtain a search warrant and repeated false information to a Brooklyn prosecutor, according to department disciplinary records reviewed by Gothamist.
Detective Patrick Craig, an 18-year veteran assigned to the Gun Violence Suppression Division, pleaded guilty in June to three disciplinary charges tied to a 2022 shooting investigation in Coney Island. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch approved his forced separation on August 7.
The case cuts to a core safeguard in the criminal justice system: judges rely on sworn facts when deciding whether police may search a home or seize evidence. When those facts are wrong, the damage extends beyond a single officer’s career. It can compromise a prosecution, violate constitutional rights and weaken trust in every warrant built on an officer’s word.
According to the disciplinary decision, investigators were seeking a warrant connected to a man they believed had acted as a lookout for a street gang on Mermaid Avenue. Craig told a Brooklyn assistant district attorney that another detective, Michael Murphy, had positively identified the man from earlier encounters.
That identification had not happened before the warrant was approved.
Craig’s partner used the information in a sworn warrant affidavit. A judge signed the warrant on March 29, 2023, and police executed it the next day. On March 31, after the search, Craig emailed Murphy a photograph and asked whether he knew and could identify the man, the disciplinary record states.
Evidence recovered through the warrant was later suppressed. The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said it learned about the false identification while the criminal case was pending and disclosed it to defense lawyers. The office also said Craig would not be called as a witness again.
Craig admitted providing false information and failing to properly document investigative steps and consultations. He maintained that he did not intentionally make materially false statements, saying the man was known to police and that he expected Murphy could formally identify him.
The department judge rejected the reliability of that shortcut. Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Trials Vanessa Facio-Lince wrote that Craig was “cutting corners” to speed an investigation and that his conduct threatened the department’s integrity and commitment to the rule of law.
The NYPD’s Department Advocate sought termination, consistent with disciplinary guidelines that treat an intentional false official statement as grounds for dismissal. Facio-Lince recommended forced separation instead, citing Craig’s length of service, arrest record, departmental honors and testimony from supervisors and a prosecutor who described him as a respected investigator.
Under the final settlement, Craig had to retire immediately with vested pension benefits, forfeit 30 suspension days and all accrued leave, and agree never to seek reinstatement with the NYPD.
The penalty ends Craig’s police career, but it does not fully answer the accountability questions raised by the case.
The public record does not explain how the false identification moved through supervisory review before it reached a judge. It does not identify what discipline, if any, was considered for others involved in preparing or approving the warrant affidavit. It also does not say how many prosecutions that relied on Craig’s testimony may require additional review.
Those questions matter because credibility problems can follow an officer into every case in which that officer served as a witness. Prosecutors have constitutional duties to disclose material evidence favorable to the defense, including information that may undermine the credibility of a government witness.
Craig’s record already included prior discipline. In 2020, the department found that he unnecessarily struck a person in the face and refused to provide his name, resulting in the loss of 10 vacation days, according to records cited by Gothamist. The independent database 50-a.org lists Craig in 10 civil lawsuits and reports that the city paid $242,500 to settle seven of them. Allegations in civil complaints are not findings of liability, and settlements do not necessarily establish wrongdoing.
The NYPD did not respond to Gothamist’s requests for comment. Craig’s attorney described the case as a serious lapse in judgment that ended a career his client valued.
A forced retirement is a consequence. The larger test is whether the department and prosecutors identify every case touched by the credibility failure, notify affected defendants and explain how a false claim reached a warrant application in the first place.
Sources
Gothamist: NYPD Detective Forced to Retire After False Statements in Brooklyn Investigation
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