White undercover NYPD detective sues city for discrimination

A white NYPD officer is taking legal action against the city claiming that his colleagues of color discriminated against him because of his race. 

The undercover detective, John Olsen, said that Hispanic, Asian and black officers would not back him up during violent confrontations because of his race, leading him to quit the force in fear for his life.

The former Marine filed a lawsuit against the NYPD on Tuesday at Manhattan Supreme court, for unspecified damages, citing discrimination based on race and military service.

The lawsuit claims the veteran could have been killed when his colleagues refused to intervene when he was attacked twice during drug buys gone wrong in 2019.

'I genuinely felt like my life was in jeopardy if I continued,' Olsen, 34, told The New York Post. 

Olsen first entered the force in January 2015 as a patrolman assigned to public housing in the South Bronx before being chosen for the specialized Anti-Crime Unit

The former marine said that his bosses made 'his life as uncomfortable as possible' including a superior who made a comment about his military service

'They did everything in their power to make it miserable for me' he wrote. 

Olsen joined the force in January 2015 as a patrolman assigned to public housing in the South Bronx before being chosen for the specialized Anti-Crime Unit, according to the court records.

He then became an undercover officer and was transferred to the Northern Manhattan Detective Bureau in February 2019. 

Olsen said he was left uncomfortable when he was the only white officer during the training for undercover work. 

 A senior detective commented: 'A white undercover, this will be fun' Olsen alleges. 

In 2019 Olsen claims he was surrounded and punched in the face in front of a car full of detectives during a drug buy in Harlem.

The other detectives photographed the attack but did not intervene because they didn’t want to risk 'being tainted by association with a white undercover,' Olsen said in court papers.

'They watched [the attacker] walk back inside the housing projects,' Olsen said. 

The former Marine filed a lawsuit against the NYPD on Tuesday at Manhattan Supreme court, for unspecified damages, citing discrimination based on race and military service

'It was totally against our rules for narcotics to let that go.'

'The second an undercover’s life is in danger or someone gets assaulted, the field team is supposed to move in immediately to apprehend the person and rescue the officer,' he added. 

Olsen alleges that the lead detective on the case said 'Sorry kid, I’m not doing anything, this isn’t 1992' after he raised concerns. 

In a separate incident in July 2019 Olsen says he was forced to chase down and fight a drug dealer who pulled a knife on him in Hamilton Heights.

During a violent confrontation tore his labrum and rotator cuff during the scuffle, which sidelined him until January 2020, according to his lawsuit.

'My life was in danger and I know that no one is coming to save me because of that last time so I had to do what I had to do,' Olsen said.

The former marine also claims his colleagues were offered more overtime opportunities and that his bosses made 'his life as uncomfortable as possible' including a superior who made a comment about his military service.

He said ‘I’m going to make your life very miserable, I’m going to be on top of you …everything you do I’m going to be looking for mistakes,'” Olsen claims. 

'And I don’t know why, but at the end he said, ‘It’s because you’re a military guy.'

'I did not expect that at all,' Olsen added. 'He said it was because I was a military guy, but I think it was also because I was a white undercover and they were trying to get rid of me.'

 John Scola, representing Olsen told The Post: 'Rather than transfer our client to a situation where he could thrive, his bosses forced him into increasingly dangerous situations without backup in an effort to force him to leave the unit due to his inability to bring in numbers due to his race.'

Adding: 'This flippancy toward Detective Olsen’s life forced him into multiple fights with drug dealers…and ultimately led to his resignation out of fear for his safety.'

The NYPD declined to comment on pending litigation. 

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