Chief Douglas Zeigler, the head of the NYPD's Community Affairs Bureau and the highest uniformed black officer on the force, was off duty and sitting in his department-issued SUV on a street in Queens when two plain clothes officers approached.

Supporters of the two officers -- both white -- claim that the vehicle was parked near a fire hydrant, giving them just cause to question the driver.

For reasons that are unclear, Zeigler apparently identified himself as a fellow officer but his ID badge wasn't trusted.

Doubts have been expressed anonymously about the behaviour of the officers.

"How you can not know or recognise a chief in a department SUV with ID around his neck, I don't know," according to an unnamed source inside the force.

The NYPD appear to be taking Zeigler's side, with their official spokesperson claiming that the officers attempted to wrest open the door, even after the chief had made efforts to identify himself.

"He dealt with the chief in a discourteous manner, which is unacceptable," said Paul Browne for the NYPD.

The incident is the latest in a long line of controversies involving race and the NYPD.

There have been recent protests against the acquittal of three police officers accused of killing an unarmed man as he left his own stag party.

"You can't make this stuff up!" said the Reverend Al Sharpton, in his condemnation of the Zeigler incident.

"The problem isn't that they didn't recognise him."

"It is that they don't recognise our rights!"

Criticism of the officers' behaviour also came from New York politicians.

"Something is wrong with our Police Department and their interactions with people of colour," said State Senator Eric Adams, a former police captain representing Brooklyn.

One of the officers involved, Michael Granahan, has now been stripped of his badge and gun.

He has now been placed on 'modified duty', pending a full investigation.