Baltimore Deputy Police Commissioner Brian Nadeau has been suspended pending an investigation, the department confirmed — another command-level leader accused of corrupting the very oversight mechanisms meant to hold bad cops accountable.
The suspension lands on top of an already-expanding lawsuit alleging Nadeau personally intervened in internal affairs investigations to protect officers under his command and waged intimidation campaigns against those who pushed back. If the allegations hold, the deputy commissioner tasked with policing the police was instead rigging the system — and rank-and-file officers, plus the communities they serve, paid the price.
Baltimore Police would only say they are "aware of an investigation involving allegations made in reference to a member of our command staff," according to FOX45 News. The department declined to specify the nature of the allegations behind the suspension.
But the sworn affidavit from retired Major Stephanie Lansey, filed in February 2025 and obtained by FOX45, paints a damning picture of command-level corruption inside the Public Integrity Bureau. Lansey, who supervised internal affairs from February 2018 to April 2021, stated under oath that "Brian Nadeau routinely utilized discrete scare tactics to influence investigations and manipulate the outcomes of investigative hearings."
Lansey said Nadeau required PIB detectives to give him "a step-by-step accounting" of ongoing internal affairs investigations and personally discussed next steps — effectively seizing control of outcomes meant to be independent.
The affidavit supports claims in a January 2025 lawsuit brought by BPD employees Jeffrey and Raquel Lilly, who allege the department's internal affairs unit targeted them after they tried to regain ownership of French Bulldog puppies tied to a family business. That business involved another officer assigned inside the PIB. The Lillys' attorneys, Patrick Jennings and Michael Turiello, told Spotlight on Maryland that Nadeau improperly seized control of an internal affairs complaint against one of his own PIB officers and ran pressure campaigns to intimidate the Lillys.
Lansey wrote that the Lillys' claims matched her own professional observations.
The affidavit also alleges Nadeau used racist language in front of subordinates. Lansey recounted a Command Staff Meeting where Nadeau spotted two Black men walking across a parking lot and said to her: "look at those mopes coming in here." When Lansey asked what he meant, she wrote, "he could not reply." Lansey says she reported the incident to the police commissioner and his chief of staff. She was subsequently granted a transfer out of the PIB to lead the Eastern District at the same rank.
NBC News and CNN, which covered a separate measles outbreak story, had no reporting on the Baltimore police suspension — a striking omission given the national implications of a major city's police leadership facing corruption and racism allegations from within its own ranks. When legacy outlets look the other way on urban police dysfunction, communities stuck with broken leadership are the ones who suffer.
The open question: Will this investigation produce real accountability, or will Nadeau — like so many before him in Baltimore's revolving door of failed command staff — quietly resurface in another role while the public is left to pick up the pieces?
