Feb. 16, 2026
The former head of the NYPD’s school safety division solicited and accepted bribes from the CEO of a Florida-based tech company in a bid to snag a multi-million deal to put his panic button software in New York City’s public schools, federal prosecutors charged Thursday.
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The former NYPD chief, Kevin Taylor, and the executive, Geno Roefaro of Saferwatch, were both arrested and charged with bribery.
Starting in July 2023, Roefaro plied Taylor with $70,000 in cash and vacations for him and an unnamed female paramour to the Bahamas and Vegas, the indictment alleges. The Vegas bribe included tickets to a helicopter tour and a “medieval-themed dinner theater,” the indictment says.
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The alleged bribes were part of a broader scheme by Saferwatch to snag a major city contract that also involved ex-Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III and ex-Schools Chancellor David Banks, both appointees of former Mayor Eric Adams, as well as another Banks brother named Terence.
As part of this campaign, Saferwatch hired a consultant firm Terence set up, enabling it to snag meetings with both of his brothers, Philip and David, as first reported by THE CITY.
That CITY article caused Taylor to worry that his behind-the-scenes effort to transform a pilot program he’d set up for Saferwatch into an $11 million contract would be exposed, prosecutors revealed in their 29-page indictment.
The case brought by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton alleges that Taylor “on multiple occasions” boasted to vendors seeking contracts about his close ties to Mayor Adams and Deputy Mayor Banks. Records show Taylor met with Phil Banks about the “panic button.”
The indictment says Saferwatch began its campaign to win a big New York City contract in the summer of 2022, the first year of the Adams administration.
The company first hired former Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who met with David Banks in December 2022 and then with Phil Banks and his chief of staff in January 2023, pitching the firm’s product.
But at some point, Saferwatch also hired Terence Banks’ firm, and Phil Banks later confirmed he’d spoken with his brother about the firm.
According to records reviewed by THE CITY, Phil Banks met with Taylor a few days after the pitch by Johnson. In September, Taylor arranged a no-bid purchase order of $19,000 to start a pilot program at five schools. That November, Taylor testified to the City Council that he planned to roll the panic button out citywide.
In between, prosecutors say, Roefaro began handing Taylor wads of cash, starting with $20,000, then $15,000, then another $35,000, while Taylor began recommending to his superiors that the NYPD award Saferwatch the $11 million contract.
The CEO also allegedly funded a Las Vegas vacation that September that included air fare, a luxury hotel room, a helicopter tour of Vegas and a night of retro fun at a “medieval-themed dinner theater.” That was followed in November by a trip to the Bahamas, the indictment alleges.
By that December, however, Roefaro began to complain that all of his payments to Taylor weren’t turning into an actual contract. Using the encrypted Signal app, he texted Taylor, “I’ve got nothing from you, brother, and I’m already in for hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Taylor responded, “You got nothing from me? You can’t play with the big boys and piss like a puppy.” (Prosecutors say they were able to recover some Signal conversations because the participants screen-grabbed and saved them).a
With the end of 2023 approaching, Roefaro’s tone darkened dramatically. In a Dec. 22, 2023 text to Taylor, he wrote, “It’s been fun but it’s not fun or funny anymore.” Demanding results by end of year, he stated, “If not I’m fucked and you don’t want me to be fucked. I’m both your whore and your sugar daddy all in one. I need you to take this seriously.”
Taylor got as far as arranging a mid-January 2024 press conference with Department of Education officials to announce a deal with Saferwatch, but at the last minute, the presser was cancelled. Saferwatch didn’t get any contracts, and Taylor was removed from his role as commanding officer of the School Safety Division a few weeks later, demoted to a lesser role within NYPD.
That Sept. 4, the FBI and the city Department of Investigation seized the cell phones of several top officials in the Adams administration, including Philip and David Banks, as well as electronic devices from Terence Banks, as first reported by THE CITY. Saferwatch received a subpoena at the same time.
Five days later, when THE CITY published a story describing Saferwatch’s hiring of Terence Banks and meeting with his brothers, Taylor texted a link of the story to an unidentified individual expressing concern that Saferwatch’s CEO “could incriminate Taylor if approached by law enforcement.”
The unidentified individual agreed.
Taylor’s attorney, Richard Langone, and Roefaro’s lawyer, Danya Perry, did not respond to THE CITY’s requests for comment late Thursday.
This press release was produced by The City. The views expressed here are the author’s own.