NYPD bosses got federal $$ for helicopter training they didn’t need

The feds are looking into overtime abuse at the NYPD’s elite Aviation unit under ousted NYPD Chief Winston Faison — who allegedly approved payments for rescue training for cop cronies who had nothing to do with rescues, The Post has learned.

Lt. Lakeisha Smith, Lt. Winston Wright and Detective Tanesha Facey, Faison’s driver, made up to 20 overtime hours per month — funded by a federal maritime safety training grant administered by FEMA, police sources said. 

“They’re literally doing nothing for the training whatsoever except putting in overtime slips,” one source said.

Smith’s total pay for 2024 rose to $185,405 from $122,892 the prior year — or more than $60,000 thanks to overtime and other extras, like differentials for working later shifts or holidays. Facey’s pay went from $115,923 to $159,249.

Lt. Winston Wright’s haul increased to $177,654 in 2024 compared to $135,595 the year before, according to state payroll data.

None of the three are licensed pilots or mechanics or have anything to do with the training maneuvers, three sources said. The three officers didn’t return messages.

Faison was transferred by the NYPD last week as the Federal Aviation Administration investigated safety issues at the unit, reported exclusively by The Post. He has since retired, NYPD documents show. Smith filed her retirement papers Wednesday, sources said.

The FAA went to the unit’s headquarters earlier this month and demanded to see records about safety issues, including a hard landing and tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage to an aircraft during a hovering exercise, The Post revealed last week.

“This matter is under investigation,” an NYPD spokesman said in response to an email asking about the safety and overtime issues.

Faison, has only a few hundred hours of flying time under his belt in comparison to other unit pilots with thousands of hours, also took at least one off-the-books trip with the unit’s Bell 429 helicopter that was not properly recorded in the aircraft’s log book, the sources said.

Faison took the pricey helicopter to Farmingdale Airport in Long Island on June 27 — where he keeps his personal plane and runs a non-profit called Aviate4Us to encourage inner city youth to become pilots, records show.  The group has had about $20,000 in contracts with the city Department of Youth and Community Development, city records show.

Facey was with Faison on the trip but he failed to include her when he filled out the helicopter’s log book, which is supposed to show who was on the flight and where it went, records obtained by The Post show.

“When Faison put it over on the radio, he said ‘Faison airborne,’” a law enforcement source said.

But the supervisor on duty knew he wasn’t alone and incuded Facey in the master log book entry he made, according to records.

Faison also didn’t get permission from headquarters at One Police Plaza to leave the city and fly to the airport, which is required, the sources said. He also didn’t record that he landed in Farmingdale and instead noted only a stop in Islip where the NYPD’s keeps its spy plane.

The FBI is looking at the misuse of the overtime grant money as part of a larger investigation that began after The Post exclusively reported bombshell allegations that disgraced NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey paid Lt. Quathisha Epps overtime for sexual favors, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation said.

“It’s a massive investigation,” a second law enforcement source said.