Shockwaves were felt across the department and City Hall after NYPD Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell abruptly announced on Monday that she would be stepping down as the city’s top law enforcement official.
As of Monday evening, it was still unknown who Mayor Eric Adams would choose to lead the country’s largest police department. However, rumors abounded, and several of Hizzoner’s allies were mentioned as potential replacements, according to law enforcement officials.
As is customary with such high-level departures, city officials have not stated whether Sewell’s resignation announcement to the nearly 55,000 members of the NYPD would go into effect right away or in 30 days.
Here’s a list of people who have been shortlisted to lead NYPD as Commissioner
1. Deputy Commissioner Edward Caban
The top cop’s first deputy, in this case, Edward Caban, would take over as commissioner in the event of a vacancy.
Caban has worked for the NYPD for more than three decades and, according to sources, is particularly close with Adams.
Since Adams’ inauguration in January 2022, he has held the position of first deputy commissioner and created history by being the force’s highest-ranking Hispanic employee.
Caban enjoys good favor among his peers. Before being chosen by the mayor’s transition team for the second-highest position, he was an inspector.
He would be the first Hispanic police commissioner in the NYPD if chosen, making history.
Despite being exonerated of all charges, Caban was embroiled in the mid-1990s NYPD exam scandal. He also received a 20-day penalty for using his work car for personal use.
2. NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey
The department’s highest-ranking police officer, Jeffrey Maddrey, has also been mentioned.
When Maddrey succeeded Chief Ken Corey last November, he reorganized the leadership after boasting even before Adams took office that he would head the agency under the mayor.
Maddrey, who is also the mayor’s personal ally, has been hounded by controversy.
The Civilian Complaint Review Board most recently upheld complaints against him, finding that he abused his power by overturning the arrest of a former police officer who was accused of pointing a gun at three children in Brooklyn in late 2021.
After Sewell opted to punish the chief for the event, the complaint reportedly generated more unrest in the upper ranks last month. This contributed to a power struggle between the commissioner and City Hall as well as a standoff between Maddrey and the CCRB.
3. Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Phil Banks
Another person whose name has come up frequently is Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Phil Banks.
As an unindicted suspected co-conspirator in one of the biggest corruption scandals involving the NYPD, Banks comes with his own baggage.
Another longstanding buddy of Adams’, the deputy mayor, served as the NYPD’s chief of department under former Police Commissioner Bill Bratton before unexpectedly departing in 2014.
He stated the reason at the time as a disagreement with Bratton. Later it was discovered that his departure also coincided with the federal authorities being interested in “hundreds of thousands” of money in Banks’ account.
Right now, everything is all speculation, one insider claimed.