Jeffrey Maddrey, who abruptly resigned from his position as NYPD chief of department Friday, steadily rose through the ranks over more than three decades at the agency.

In 2015, after a ceremony at which he was promoted to commanding officer of Brooklyn North, Maddrey told reporters, “I’m excited and happy that the leadership of the department believes in me and believes in my ability, and I’m not going to let them down.”

But Maddrey would go on to face various accusations of wrongdoing, including a lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct and a 2021 incident in which he was found to have improperly voided the arrest of a former officer.

Yet he consistently had the backing of Mayor Eric Adams.

“This is a person who has dedicated his life to his city, and I’m proud to have him as chief of department,” Adams told reporters in April 2023. “And I don’t think he would do something that’s inappropriate.”

The mayor’s support for Maddrey reportedly created friction with his first police commissioner, Keechant Sewell. Sewell had signed off on a report from the Civilian Complaint Review Board, an independent oversight body, that found Maddrey abused his authority and recommended docking him 10 vacation days.

After pushback from City Hall, Sewell resigned.

There was much more turmoil to come. The mayor’s second police commissioner, Edward Caban, resigned in September after federal investigators seized his cellphone.

Then came the resignation of Tim Pearson, a top adviser to the mayor on police matters who is facing several investigations into his own conduct, along with sexual harrassment allegations that are the subject of multiple lawsuits.

Days later, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks, whose phones were seized in a separate federal investigation, announced he was stepping down.

And on Friday, Maddrey resigned after he was accused of demanding sex from a subordinate, Lt. Quathisha Epps, in exchange for overtime. Maddrey has denied the allegations through statements to the media made by his attorney.

But the mayor did not defend him this time.

“The allegations are extremely concerning and alarming,” he told reporters Saturday.

In an interview with Fox 5 on Monday, he sought to clarify his past remarks.

“I’ve never defended any accusation of any inappropriate behavior,” he said. “I’ve defended his police record. He has had an exceptional police record on dealing with public safety, community building," Adams said.

Maddrey’s exit appears to be part of housecleaning effort by new Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Last week she also replaced the NYPD’s chief spokesman, Tarik Sheppard, another Adams ally.

According to The New York Times, she’s also reassigned dozens of officers, including many high overtime earners, several of whom worked under Maddrey.

It’s a remarkable changing of the guard, but also one the mayor himself seemed to foreshadow when he appointed Tisch.

“Police departments are extremely conservative on taking any changes,” he said last month. “They are afraid of change. That is the history of policing. And I don't want that.”