Howard Redmond, head of de Blasio’s NYPD detail, suspended amid obstruction probe

NYPD Inspector Howard Redmond, who headed former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s security detail, has been suspended amid an obstruction probe by Manhattan prosecutors, records show.

The NYPD informed commands about the suspension of the inspector who used to head de Blasio’s detail, in a department-wide email Tuesday. No explanation was provided.

“The following member(s) of the Department is/are hereby suspended without pay,” the email stated, with Redmond’s name alone listed below.

Redmond has been under investigation by the Manhattan district attorney following a referral by the city Department of Investigation for potential prosecution in late 2021.

DOI made the referral in tandem with a report finding de Blasio had misused his detail for a variety of personal and political purposes, including bringing NYPD protection along for out-of-state campaign trips as part of his failed 2020 presidential bid.

In the report, DOI said Redmond had taken extraordinary steps to scuttle its probe into de Blasio’s detail scandal, including deleting text messages requested by investigators and giving “not credible” answers while under oath.

Since the referral nearly two years ago, the Manhattan DA’s office has been tight-lipped.

A Bragg spokesman declined to comment or confirm the investigation Tuesday night. Redmond could not be reached for comment.

Redmond was recently brought in for an interview at Bragg’s offices, according to the sources. All NYPD detectives assigned to de Blasio’s detail at the same time as Redmond have also been quizzed by Bragg’s investigators, the sources said.

City payroll records show Redmond earned more than $230,000 as an NYPD employee last year.

A city government official familiar with Redmond’s job duties said Redmond had been assigned to the city’s Emergency Management agency. His exact job capacity was not immediately known, but it’s not unusual for police officials to work within the agency, which is responsible for the city’s disaster preparedness.

Word of Redmond’s potential legal exposure comes on the heels of the Conflicts of Interest Board ruling that de Blasio has to cough up nearly $475,000 to the city for his misuse of his NYPD detail during his doomed 2020 presidential quest.

The watchdog agency said earlier this month that the ex-mayor inappropriately brought along his NYPD protection on 31 campaign trips to states like Iowa and South Carolina between May and September 2019, with room, board and other expenses for cops on the detail costing taxpayers nearly $320,000. De Blasio was ordered by the board to pick up that tab and also pay another $155,000 in fines, for a grand total of $474,794.

The fine is the largest ever levied by the board, which based its decision on the the Department of Investigation’s findings.

De Blasio filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court seeking to overturn the board’s ruling within hours of it being finalized. An attorney for the former mayor called the ruling “dangerous, beyond the scope of their powers and illegal.”

De Blasio, who has maintained for years that his detail use was above board, stood by Redmond after DOI first referred him for potential prosecution.

In an October 2021 press conference, de Blasio told reporters the NYPD inspector is a ”devoted public servant” who worked on his detail throughout his eight years in office.

“I found him to be an incredibly devoted public servant, a person of a real integrity who served this city now almost 30 years in the NYPD,” de Blasio said at the time. “That’s what I know.”