James Burke, Police Chief: Loeb Beating, Cover-Up, and Gilgo Beach

James Burke is the former Chief of Department of the Suffolk County Police Department who was convicted in federal court of beating a handcuffed prisoner in 2012 and orchestrating a years-long cover-up that eventually reached the county’s district attorney. As police chief, Burke commanded roughly 2,400 sworn officers in one of the largest police forces in the country. He was forced out in October 2015, pleaded guilty in 2016, and served 46 months in federal prison. He has since been publicly accused by former colleagues of obstructing the Gilgo Beach serial killer investigation during his time in charge, and was arrested again in 2023 in an undercover sex sting at a Long Island park.¹

How He Became Chief Despite Warnings

Burke started as a New York City police officer in the mid-1980s before transferring to Suffolk County, where he worked his way up through the ranks.² In 1995, an Internal Affairs investigation found him guilty of “conduct unbecoming an officer” for having sex in police vehicles, maintaining a sexual relationship with a convicted felon involved in prostitution, larceny, and drug dealing, and twice failing to secure his service weapon. The penalty was described as small, and he kept his job.³

In January 2012, incoming Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone named Burke Chief of Department. Before the appointment, Bellone’s transition team received an anonymous letter from officers inside the department warning against the choice. It alleged that Burke frequented prostitutes, had committed an armed home invasion to recover a stolen service weapon, interfered with Internal Affairs, and threatened subordinates. Bellone showed the letter to Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota, who had employed Burke as his chief investigator since 2002. Spota called the allegations baseless and vouched for him, as did county Democratic Party chairman Rich Schaffer.³

The 2012 Beating of Christopher Loeb

On December 14, 2012, New York State Probation officers and Suffolk County police arrested Christopher Loeb at his mother’s home in Smithtown for probation violations. A search of the house turned up stolen property from more than a dozen vehicles, including items taken from Burke’s department-issued SUV: his gun belt, ammunition magazines, a box of cigars, a humidor, and a canvas bag containing toiletries, clothing, sex toys, and pornographic videos.⁴⁵

Burke went to the scene, personally removed the duffel bag in violation of police procedure, and drove to the Fourth Precinct, where Loeb was handcuffed and chained to an eyebolt in the interrogation room floor. According to prosecutors, after Loeb called Burke a “pervert” over the contents of the bag, Burke punched and kicked him in the head and body in front of at least three officers. One detective eventually stepped in and told Burke, “Boss, that’s enough.”⁶⁷ Loeb later said Burke had also threatened to kill him with a “hot shot,” a lethal dose of heroin, and had threatened his mother.⁸

The Cover-Up Inside the Department

After the assault, Burke summoned the witnessing detectives to SCPD headquarters in Yaphank and pressured them to agree on a false account.⁹ Prosecutors said he sent a group text message to ten officers asking them to help conceal what had happened.⁷ In October 2013, one detective who had been in the room testified falsely under oath at a state pretrial hearing in Loeb’s case, denying that any assault took place.⁴

Prosecutors described the department under Burke as a “reign of terror.” Officers subpoenaed by the FBI were interrogated by superiors about their cooperation. A commanding officer was assigned to warn witnesses of retribution if they talked. A union official falsely claimed that Burke and other top officials had obtained FBI memos listing cooperating officers. Prosecutors also said Burke used subordinates to surveil his girlfriends and had a contractor illegally place a GPS tracker on a high-ranking civilian official for potential blackmail.¹⁰

Federal Charges and Prison

The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York opened their investigation in May 2013.⁴ Burke resigned from the SCPD in October 2015, and Bellone later confirmed he had been fired after it emerged that Burke had lied about the assault.³ On December 8, 2015, a federal grand jury in Central Islip returned a two-count indictment charging him with violating Loeb’s civil rights and conspiring to obstruct the federal investigation. He was arrested the next day, and U.S. District Judge Leonard D. Wexler denied bail.¹¹ At least eleven current or former officers and detectives testified before the grand jury.⁷

Burke pleaded guilty to both counts on February 26, 2016.⁹ At sentencing on November 2, 2016, Judge Wexler imposed 46 months in prison and three years of supervised release, calling Burke “a dictator” and giving little weight to the 87 letters submitted on his behalf. Burke apologized and described the assault as “a single incident in a 31-year career of service.” Loeb told the court Burke had shaken his trust in law enforcement and that he would never feel safe with police again.¹² Burke served most of his time at the Federal Correctional Institution in Allenwood, Pennsylvania. He moved to a residential halfway house in November 2018 and was scheduled for full release in April 2019.¹³

The Spota and McPartland Convictions

The federal case did not stop with Burke. In October 2017, a grand jury indicted District Attorney Thomas J. Spota and his Government Corruption Bureau chief, Christopher McPartland, on charges of conspiracy, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, and acting as accessories after the fact to Burke’s deprivation of Loeb’s civil rights.¹⁴ Prosecutors alleged the two used their positions and the threat of retaliatory prosecution to keep witnesses quiet, and that their efforts caused the initial federal investigation to be closed for roughly eight months.¹⁵

Spota left office on November 10, 2017. After a six-week trial that began in November 2019, a federal jury convicted both men on all four counts on December 17, 2019.¹⁴¹⁵¹⁶

Allegations He Obstructed the Gilgo Beach Investigation

Burke’s time as chief overlapped with the Gilgo Beach serial killings, and several former officers and FBI agents have said publicly that he blocked his department from cooperating with the bureau. Former Suffolk County Detective Rob Trotta and former FBI Senior Agent Geraldine Hart both said Burke and Spota resisted working with the FBI even though the bureau offered to cover expenses and provide specialized personnel. Trotta said Burke refused to allow subpoenas for cell phone tower records, calling them “too invasive,” and issued a directive requiring officers to notify a supervisor if any outside law enforcement agency contacted them.¹⁷ Timothy Sini, Suffolk County Police Commissioner from 2015 to 2017, confirmed that detectives had been blocked from sharing information with the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit.

Burke’s lawyer has denied that he impeded the Gilgo Beach investigation.¹⁷ The question resurfaced after Rex Heuermann was charged with several of the Gilgo Beach murders. Heuermann’s defense attorneys asked for FBI files related to Burke, arguing it was worth investigating whether the former chief had suppressed or tampered with the original inquiry.¹⁸

The 2023 Park Sting Arrest

On August 22, 2023, Burke was arrested at the Suffolk County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park in Farmingville. County park rangers running an undercover operation in response to complaints about sexual solicitation at the park said Burke solicited sex from an undercover officer and exposed himself. He was charged with offering a sex act, indecent exposure, public lewdness, and fifth-degree criminal solicitation, and reportedly tried to invoke his former position to avoid arrest.¹¹⁹

The solicitation and offering-a-sex-act charges were dropped shortly afterward. The remaining indecent exposure and public lewdness charges lingered for years, in part because Burke’s attorney said his client had been cooperating with the District Attorney’s office on the Heuermann investigation. In April 2026, prosecutors told the court the case could not proceed because the three park rangers involved were no longer available to testify; two had been discharged and one had resigned. A Long Island judge ruled that the charges would be dismissed on October 28, 2026, if Burke stayed out of trouble in the intervening six months. His attorney, James O’Rourke, said his client “wants to just go back and live a peaceful life and put all this behind him.”²⁰²¹

Loeb’s Civil Settlement

Christopher Loeb sued Suffolk County, Burke, and six other officers in federal court in 2015 over the beating. The county settled in 2018 for $1.5 million and admitted no wrongdoing. The settlement did not cover Burke personally, and Loeb’s attorney said at the time they intended to keep pursuing the case against him.²²²³ The Suffolk County Legislature separately voted to sue Burke under the “faithless servant doctrine” to recover the salary and benefits he received through his resignation, and Bellone signed the measure and directed similar suits against Spota and his top aide.²⁴

1
Newsday. James Burke Arrest, Corruption, Prison Sentence
2
CityNews Toronto. Ex-New York Police Chief Who Once Led Gilgo Beach Probe Arrested on Sexual Misconduct Charges
3
Newsday. Steve Bellone Was Warned James Burke’s Past Would Lead to Scandal
4
FBI. Former Suffolk County Police Chief Indicted on Civil Rights Violation and Obstruction Conspiracy
5
People. Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke Sentenced to Prison
6
New York Post. Police Chief Beat Junkie Who Stole His Porn, Sex Toys
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ABC7 New York. Bail Denied for Ex-Suffolk Police Chief in Alleged Revenge Beating Cover-Up
8
CBS News New York. Alleged Police Brutality Special Prosecutor
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U.S. Department of Justice. Former Suffolk County Police Chief Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison for Assault and Obstruction
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ABC7 New York. Ex-Suffolk Police Chief Gets 46 Months in Revenge Beating Cover-Up
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NBC New York. James Burke Suffolk County Police Chief Arrest Indictment
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WSHU. Ex-Suffolk Police Chief Sentenced to 46 Months
13
Newsday. James Burke Cover-Up Arrest
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Newsday Projects. The Politics of Corruption – Thomas Spota
15
U.S. Department of Justice. Former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas J. Spota and Government Corruption Bureau Chief Sentenced
16
News 12 Long Island. U.S. Court of Appeals Upholds Convictions of Former Suffolk DA, Top Aide
17
Newsweek. Who Is James Burke, Long Island Cop Criticized in Gilgo Beach Murders
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WSHU. Alleged Long Island Serial Killer FBI Files Rex Heuermann
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NBC New York. Two Charges Dropped Against Former Suffolk County Police Chief Arrested in Sex Sting
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News 12 Long Island. Charges Including Public Lewdness to Be Dropped Against Former Suffolk Police Chief James Burke
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NBC New York. Indecent Exposure, Lewdness Dropped Against Former Long Island Police Chief
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WSHU. Suffolk County Man Sues Police Department for Exposing Corruption After 2012 Beating
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Barket Epstein. Long Island/Suffolk County Settlement Report
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TBR News Media. County Legislature Passes Bill to Recoup Compensation From Ex-Police Chief