A city sheriff’s office supervisor is accusing the department of reassigning her after she refused to sidestep complete background checks for more than 80 deputy sheriffs hired last year – who she says were hurried through the academy to fulfill the promise of a record-setting class size.
The sheriff’s office employee of about 15 years – who spoke on the condition of anonymity – told The Post that Sheriff Anthony Miranda was so eager to quickly hire a “huge” number of deputy sheriffs in 2025 that he permitted candidates to enter the academy, even when their checks were incomplete.
“Miranda’s responsible to hire bodies, right?” the employee said. “But he doesn’t care who he wants to hire. He doesn’t care who he hires.”
“But that’s not the proper way to do things,” the worker added. “You can’t just hire people carrying guns around the city, you know?”
The longtime worker claimed to have been pulled off the background checks role in March of 2025 – a month after the academy class was sworn in – with a boss saying it was “the sheriff’s decision.”
“I brought it up to them that we’re not doing everything properly,” the employee said. “Eventually they took me off of backgrounds entirely, because I was giving them trouble.”
Miranda – who became the city’s 123rd sheriff in 2022 – told The Post in a statement that while the sheriff’s office makes recommendations on its new hires, it does not get the ultimate sign-off, and “final approval is completed by the Department of Finance.”
“Every candidate goes through the same process and standards,” he said. “Individual investigators do not set their own standard or impose their individual beliefs.”
“Background investigations are a confidential process and any release of information is a breach of confidentiality,” he added, noting that anyone with concerns should contact the DOF or the city’s Department of Investigation.
A spokesperson for the city’s Department of Finance, which oversees the sheriff’s office, said that the agency has now asked for external help with background checks.
“We have asked DCAS to assume responsibility for the background check process for upcoming classes while DOF’s new commissioner evaluates options to improve the process internally,” a spokesperson said Wednesday.
In September of 2024, Miranda boasted that the 2025 class of sheriff’s deputies would be 90-strong, marking the largest in the office’s history, Gothamist reported at the time.
The promise came as the office grappled with high vacancies and was tasked with shutting down thousands of unlicensed cannabis shops citywide, according to the report.
A total of 83 deputies graduated from the academy in June. Former Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry boasted on Instagram that the class was the “biggest class in the history under [former Mayor Eric] Adams’ administration.”
Among the hired deputies were some with shady pasts, the former supervisor claimed – including a former Corrections officer who allegedly had an illicit relationship with a detainee.
Those hired also included a candidate who owed about $500,000 in federal and state taxes, and another who was convicted of assault in Florida, the reassigned worker said.
“No one had a full background done based on our training, the way how we’re supposed to do things legitimately,” the employee said.
The deputy said nothing will likely change while Miranda is in charge.
“HR knows that once he got here, things changed,” the deputy said. “He completely changed things.”
