The Baltimore Police Department’s deputy commissioner overseeing internal affairs and officer discipline has been suspended.

Deputy Police Commissioner Brian Nadeau was placed on suspension, the department’s chief spokesperson, Lindsey Eldridge, confirmed.

She said the department was “aware of an investigation involving allegations made in reference to a member of our command staff.” She did not divulge the nature of the allegations.

Nadeau’s police powers are suspended pending the outcome of the investigation, Eldridge said. Nadeau could not be reached immediately for comment.

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In a rare move, the weekly meeting of commanders called Comstat was canceled, sources said.

Nadeau, who spent more than 20 years with the FBI, joined the Baltimore Police Department in 2019 at a pivotal time, agreeing to oversee the newly formed Public Integrity Bureau amid implementation of a federal consent decree requiring reforms to the department.

Nadeau regularly stands alongside the police commissioner at news conferences, explaining the circumstances of police shootings.

On Monday night, along with Police Commissioner Richard Worley, Nadeau appeared virtually at the monthly meeting of Baltimore’s Police Accountability Board, at one point stepping in to answer a question from the body about a backlog of trial boards for officers investigated for misconduct.

He’s also been the target of a number of lawsuits in recent years by officers alleging disparate treatment in the disciplinary process.

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A federal complaint filed in August on behalf of a former detective who worked for the department for 15 years alleged Nadeau became “personally and intricately involved in investigations that were of interest to him, routinely directing detectives on how to proceed, whom to interview, and what findings to reach.”

The lawsuit accused Nadeau of leading internal affairs detectives to “recommend preordained findings consistent with his desired outcomes” and coercing and intimidating administrative officers to dole out discipline in line with his desired outcomes.

The former detective, David Johnson, was fired in 2023 for a “low-level timekeeping infraction,” according to the complaint. The lawsuit alleges investigators recommended a one-day suspension for Johnson, but that Nadeau overrode their recommendation and “drove the matter to termination.” The lawsuit is ongoing.

While at the FBI, according to an official police department biography, Nadeau led an investigation that led to the indictment of several members of the East Haven, Conn. police department for civil rights violations. In 2012, he was made chief of the FBI’s Public Corruption Unit, overseeing public corruption cases across the country.

Nadeau’s salary in 2025 was $231,000, according to city records.

This story may be updated.