NYPD cop sues the force after nude pic she sent her lieutenant beau 12 years ago spreads ‘like wildfire’
A striking NYPD officer, who had previously been suspended for intervening in a traffic stop involving her purported drug-dealing boyfriend, is now accusing the department of derailing her career after her topless photo was circulated among fellow officers, according to a lawsuit.
Alisa Bajraktarevic, 34, joined the force in 2012 and alleges that she sent the revealing image to Lt. Mark Rivera, whom she dated briefly that year, as stated in her lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.
According to Bajraktarevic, Rivera shared the photo in a group text with other officers, leading to its widespread distribution. However, she claims that union representatives advised her against filing a complaint, saying, “You are not the first or last woman this has happened to or would happen to.”
The photo resurfaced in April when Bajraktarevic was accused of interfering with police who approached her while she was with her then-boyfriend, Kelvin Hernandez, 33, in the Bronx. Officers surrounded her car, prompting both Bajraktarevic and Hernandez to inquire about the situation.
Bajraktarevic denied that her boyfriend was involved in drug dealing, while Hernandez, who was filming the encounter, was charged with resisting arrest, according to his own lawsuit against the department.
As news of the investigation spread, so did the topless photo, circulating in NYPD group chats and text message chains along with personal information such as her parents’ address, she claimed.
“You do things in confidence. It doesn’t warrant you being treated like a piece of sh-t,” Bajraktarevic told The Post.
“It’s pretty repulsive. For 12 years they decided to keep this on their phone?” she said. “It spread like wildfire.”
She was alerted to the resurfaced pic by a union delegate who told her a retired officer sent it to a group chat — and she then received nearly daily messages from colleagues who saw or heard about it, Bajraktarevic said.
“It’s bullying. I’m not the first and I’m definitely not the last but, when is it going to be enough?” she said, weeping. “Because someone is definitely going to harm themselves over it. It feels like everything was swept under the rug.”
Bajraktarevic insisted in the litigation that Hernandez is not a drug dealer, but she was suspended 30 days without pay and ordered to stop associating with him after an Internal Affairs probe. But the NYPD has failed to investigate those who spread Bajraktarevic’s topless image without her consent, an act which is now against the law.
The “illegal invasion of privacy” highlights the NYPD’s “disregard for the treatment of its women officers,” said her attorney, John Scola. Bajraktarevic, who is seeking unspecified damages from the city, Rivera, and another supervisor she claims sexually harassed her in 2022, said she always wanted to be a police officer — and wants her colleagues to understand the impact of their actions.
“The part that nobody talks about is how we bully each other — it’s disgusting,” she said.
The city Law Department said it would review the lawsuit. The NYPD declined to comment on the litigation but said it “does not tolerate discrimination or sexual harassment in any form and is committed to respectful work environments for our diverse workforce.”
Comments