NEW YORK — Four high-ranking former NYPD chiefs are suing Mayor Eric Adams, claiming they were forced to retire from the department after complaining that his “unqualified” friends were being placed in prestigious police positions, sometimes after allegedly bribing their way into the jobs.

The lawsuits, filed late Monday, also name former Police Commissioner Edward Caban and former NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey as defendants, alleging they participated in a conspiracy with the mayor to punish the four senior ex-cops. Two of the suits also name ex-Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks and current NYPD Chief of Department John Chell as defendants, alleging they also participated in the scheme.

Banks and Caban resigned last year after their homes were searched and phones seized in federal corruption investigations separate from the probe that resulted in the mayor’s September 2024 bribery and campaign finance fraud indictment. They have not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Maddrey stepped down in December in the wake of also coming under federal investigation over allegations he forced a subordinate to perform sex acts on him in exchange for overtime pay.

The four ex-chiefs, James Essig, Matthew Pontillo, Joseph Veneziano and Christopher McCormack, all retired in the second half of 2023 as part of a department shakeup.

In their lawsuits, the four ex-chiefs alleged they were forced to resign after they raised concern about an allegedly systematic problem within the department whereby allies of Adams were being put into elite NYPD units despite scant experience.

“The overarching theme is whistleblower retaliation,” said Sarena Townsend, an attorney representing all four ex-chiefs. “These are people who were in the department for 30 to 40 years who knew what was right and wrong. What Adams and his group wanted to do was cut corners, do things against policy, do things that were unconstitutional.”

Essig, the highest-ranking ex-cop of the quartet who served as the NYPD’s chief of detectives, alleges in his suit that the practice first started around January 2023, when he noticed that Maddrey, a longtime friend to Adams, was trying to get friends placed into senior units within the department’s Criminal Task Force Division. Many of the Maddrey pals getting the top jobs were “unqualified and/or incompetent,” according to Essig’s suit.

Essig allegedly went to Caban, at the time the NYPDs’ first deputy commissioner, to complain.

“We can’t be doing this,” Essig told Caban, according to the suit.

But according to the suit, Caban rejected his complaint and shot back: “Do you have a problem with this?!”

Essig alleged Caban ignored the complaint because he was engaged in a similar practice, having “hand-picked friends and cronies” for discretionary promotions that bypassed official procedures.

In a bombshell claim, Essig alleges, citing “information and belief,” that Caban engaged in that practice because he was “selling promotions” to cops for “up to $15,000” a pop. Essig’s suit, also citing “information and belief,” says Caban “is currently under federal investigation for selling discretionary promotions.”

Spokespeople for Adams and the NYPD didn’t immediately return requests for comment. Lawyers for Caban, Maddrey and Banks didn’t immediately return requests for comment, either.

According to the lawsuits, Caban, Maddrey, Banks and Chell threatened all four chiefs with steep demotions after they raised their complaints. They alleged that left them with no other choice but to retire.

The suits alleged that Caban and the others acted “with the express authority of Mayor Adams” in doling out the punishments.

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