A supervisor from a city sheriff’s office has raised allegations that she was reassigned after she refused to bypass comprehensive background checks for over 80 deputy sheriffs recruited last year. The supervisor claims these deputies were rushed through the training academy to meet the department’s goal of hosting a record-breaking class size.
With about 15 years of experience in the department, the supervisor, who requested anonymity, revealed to The Post that Sheriff Anthony Miranda was determined to swiftly recruit a substantial number of deputy sheriffs by 2025. According to her, candidates were allowed to enter the academy despite incomplete background checks.
“Miranda is focused on hiring in large numbers,” she stated. “But he seems indifferent to the qualifications of those he hires.”
She further expressed her concerns, saying, “This isn’t the right approach. You can’t just put firearms in the hands of people roaming the city without proper vetting.”
The veteran employee reported being removed from her background checks duties in March 2025, a month after the new academy class was inducted. She was told that the decision came directly from the sheriff.
“I raised concerns that we weren’t following due procedures,” she explained. “Eventually, they took me off the background checks completely because I was considered a problem.”
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.”
