The resignation of New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban sent the department into uncertainty and turmoil, as he became the second top leader to leave in 18 months. Mayor Eric Adams a former police captain, must find a law enforcer to preside over a department that he has seeded at high levels with friends who have been ensnared in disciplinary matters and ethical questions, the New York Times reports. The new commissioner would join an administration that has been rocked by at least four federal criminal investigations, including one that forced Caban's resignation. Adams faces what could be a difficult re-election campaign next year.
Adams named Thomas Donlon, a Bronx native and former director of the New York State homeland security office, as interim commissioner. His arrival might end an era of parochialism in the largest U.S. police department, which has been dominated by Brooklyn, the borough where Adams was a captain and where many of the top commanders he elevated also worked. “The Brooklyn party is over,” said Kevin O’Connor, a former assistant commissioner who retired. Donlon “has got to get the right people in place,” O’Connor said. “He can’t keep this going. The show is over.” While the budget allows for 35,000 officers, for the past two years it has had only about 33,500. The Police Benevolent Association attributes the staffing shortages to long hours and mandatory overtime. City officials, civil rights activists, and many retired police chiefs and officers still in the agency have watched with alarm as top leaders in the department have gone after reporters and politicians, insulting them on social media, and throwing journalists out of headquarters. Civilian complaints against the department have kept rising, while the perception that department leaders have not taken discipline seriously enough has grown.