NY cop sent herself mean texts, claimed it was fellow police officers, DA says

A New York police officer has been arrested for allegedly sending herself mean text messages and claiming her co-workers sent them.

The New York Post reports Emily Hirshowitz, a 36-year-old cop at the Ossining Police Department, was charged Wednesday at the Westchester District Attorney’s Office with four counts of third-degree falsely reporting an incident, along with three felony counts of first-degree filing a false instrument.

The D.A.’s office said Hirshowitz filed a report in May 2022, claiming she was receiving menacing text messages from multiple numbers. She said “a fellow police officer or multiple police officers at my department are involved,” according to court documents.

She complained again in July and August, saying she received texts urging her to commit suicide; calling her “useless,” a “dumb [expletive],” and a “reject”; and other “increasingly threatening content.” The Post reports Hirshowitz later sought to drop the complaint, but the police department still asked the D.A. to investigate and Ossining Police Chief Kevin Sylvester called a department-wide meeting to discuss the messages.

Investigators soon discovered Hirshowitz controlled several of the phone numbers where the messages had come from and said she likely sent them herself. Another police officer, Louis Rinaldi, was brought up as a possible accomplice; he resigned in the spring over separate disciplinary charges, the Journal News reported.

Hirshowitz, who joined the police force in 2016, has been suspended with pay. She is scheduled to appear in White Plains City Court on July 12.