An NYPD lieutenant who has struggled with daunting health issues passed out yesterday while being quizzed about an increase in crime in his precinct, sources told the Post.
Squad Lt. Nicholas Fiore, an 8-year-veteran, fainted while on the podium in front of dozens of colleagues at Police Headquarters during a crime-stat meeting.
“He was just looking down at his paperwork. His head dropped, and he fainted,” a witness said. “He was being asked a lot of tough questions.”
Chief of Department Philip Banks III was grilling the lieutenant about a recent increase in bodega robberies in his 72nd precinct, which covers Sunset Park, Brooklyn, when Fiore blacked out.
After the fight of his life with cancer, the lieutenant has only half a thyroid.
He was rushed to Beekman Hospital for treatment. Fiore’s family then took him to a Staten Island Hospital for more testing, since it was not immediately clear why he blacked out.
“He’s a strong, hard-working man who battled thyroid cancer,” said his mother Theresa Fiore. “He’s dedicated, he takes all his time and gives it to the police department.”
Although Fiore may have fainted from an underlying medical condition, police sources said the stat meetings at 1PP are extremely taxing on cops.
“The structure of Compstat puts immense pressure on commanding officers to account for their’s command’s performance, possibly affecting their career,” said one source. “It can definitely affect one’s bearing, confidence, and health during the course of the 3-hour long meeting.”
But cops who know Fiore say he has always had grace under pressure. ““He’s not a faint-of-heart guy,” one police source said. “He’s a really good guy, a hard worker.”