A former high-ranking New York Police Department official has been charged in federal court with taking bribes from a businessman who wanted to sell “panic button” devices to the city’s public schools and law enforcement, prosecutors said. In the indictment, federal prosecutors said Kevin Taylor, who at the time served as commanding officer of the NYPD’s School Safety Division, attempted to steer an $11 million contract to the company SaferWatch.
Prosecutors alleged that Taylor accepted $35,000 in cash along with luxury travel perks and other benefits in exchange for his help. They said SaferWatch’s product was marketed as a “mobile panic alert system” intended for mass shootings and other emergencies, and prosecutors described the effort as connected to a broader federal investigation that began with the SaferWatch probe emerging in September 2024.
The indictment said SaferWatch founder Gene Roefaro showered Taylor and Roefaro’s “romantic partner” with gifts that included luxury hotels and airfare to the Bahamas and Las Vegas, helicopter tours, tickets to Broadway musicals, and a “medieval-themed dinner theater,” along with multiple cash payments. Taylor pleaded not guilty to bribery and wire fraud charges in federal court on Thursday, according to the charging documents as reported by the Associated Press.
Roefaro, whom prosecutors also charged, faces similar allegations including bribery and wire fraud. An attorney for Roefaro said it was “puzzling and deeply concerning” that prosecutors chose to pursue charges against him while “alleging — and seeking to prove — that he was the victim of an extortionate shakedown,” the report said. An emailed inquiry to Taylor’s attorney was not returned.
The case is described as part of a wider series of corruption and favor-trading allegations involving officials connected to former New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The Associated Press report said that while the Trump administration later abandoned the case against Adams itself, some probes into Adams-linked associates remained active, including an ongoing bribery case involving Adams’ former chief advisor.
Prosecutors said the investigation into SaferWatch first surfaced as part of the sprawling federal probe into the Adams administration and that the company was among several that hired a consulting firm run by the brother of two top Adams officials, who both resigned after federal authorities searched their homes. Federal prosecutors further alleged that in 2023 Taylor helped secure a no-bid contract to pilot Roefaro’s products within the command center of the School Safety Division.
As the program faced difficulties, the indictment described Roefaro as becoming frustrated. It said Roefaro at times characterized himself as a “sugar daddy” who had “made a MAJOR investment and zero return,” and prosecutors cited an alleged text from Roefaro in late 2023: “It’s been fun, but it’s not fun or funny anymore,” adding that “Our company (ME) needs to report something real and significant that is in place prior to end of year.”
Prosecutors also said that days later Taylor attempted to put together a press conference to announce that his division would be procuring a tip line from Roefaro’s company, but that event was later canceled. During roughly the same period, the indictment said Taylor was trying to solicit $75,000 in bribes from two businessmen involved in a company that sold bullet-resistant vests to police, and that both men declined his solicitations, prosecutors said.