Waste of the Day: NYPD Conceals Hit and Run

Topline: The New York Police Department’s (NYPD) highly paid director of traffic Franklin Sepulveda allegedly sideswiped a parked car and then told his subordinate to file a fake report about the incident.

The top traffic cop in the NYPD commits a moving violation, and his agency covers it up

Key facts: Sources interviewed by the nonprofit newsroom The City said a department traffic manager who parks Sepulveda’s car was the first to notice the damage. Sepulveda allegedly told the manager to say that Sepulveda’s car was the one that had been damaged in a hit and run. Internal Affairs allegedly later found footage showing that Sepulveda was the perpetrator.

Sepulveda made $196,412 of salary in 2024 and $3,000 of “other pay” for a total of $199,412, according to records obtained by OpenTheBooks.

One senior NYPD official told The City that Sepulveda is “in a lot of trouble.” Other sources said he has a reputation for disciplining his employees when they damage their own city-owned vehicles.

It’s unclear when the crash occurred or why Internal Affairs thought to review the damage, and the NYPD did not answers questions from The City. The department is allowed to suspend Sepulveda without pay for up to 30 days before a potential disciplinary hearing.

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com.

Big salary, horrible example

Background: Sepulveda is the highest-paid employee in the New York City payroll records with the word “traffic” in his job title, but the city is paying even more to many of his fellow police officers.

There were 628 police employees who earned $200,000 or more in 2024, up to $347,512. Unlike in many other large cities, plenty of the police officers are earning high amounts even without large overtime payments. There were 377 officers whose base salaries alone were higher than $200,000.

Summary: A traffic ticket can often be expensive, but it’s nothing compared to funding a $200,000 salary for a traffic cop who can’t even report his own accidents.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.

This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.