Embattled NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell is stepping down from her post after just 18 months on the job, Mayor Eric Adams confirmed in a Monday statement.
The news of Sewell’s departure, first reported by the New York Post, comes just two days after the very same paper published a report citing sources saying she had little power within the department she was charged with running. It included the revelation that Sewell has had to consult City Hall every time she wished to promote detectives to higher-ranking positions or cops to the level of detective.
The tension between Sewell and the mayor reportedly hit a breaking point when she, late last month, recommended discipline against NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey for intervening in a 2021 gun arrest involving one of his former colleagues. Adams is an ally of Maddrey’s and has defended his handling of the case in question, saying he handled it “appropriately.”
Sewell’s resignation is to take effect at the end of this month, the mayor’s office confirmed to amNewYork Metro.
A mayoral spokesperson, however, denied there was any friction between Adams and Sewell in the Post’s report and said Adams asks all agency heads to consult him about “high-level” hiring decisions
Yet Hizzoner, in the statement, appeared to partly credit Sewell with reigning in the city’s crime rate since she took over the department in January of last year.
“I want to thank Police Commissioner Sewell for her devotion over the last 18 months and her steadfast leadership,” Adams said. “Her efforts played a leading role in this administration’s tireless work to make New York City safer. When we came into office, crime was trending upwards, and thanks to the brave men and women of the NYPD, most of the major crime categories are now down. The commissioner worked nearly 24 hours a day, seven days a week for a year and a half, and we are all grateful for her service. New Yorkers owe her a debt of gratitude.”
Sewell’s resignation marks the latest in a string of high-ranking Adams administration officials to leave their posts. Just last month, the mayor’s chief housing officer, Jessica Katz, announced she’s exiting City Hall in July. And Adams has already cycled through his first chief of staff, first deputy mayor, Department of Buildings and Department of Social Services commissioners.
It’s currently unclear who will replace Sewell as the city’s top cop.
While Sewell did not explicitly say why she’s stepping down, in her resignation letter obtained by amNewYork Metro, she did say said she’ll continue to support the department and its officers.
“I have made the decision to step down from my position,” Sewell said. “While my time here will come to a close, I will never step away from my advocacy and support for the NYPD, and I will always be a champion for the people of New York City.”
Sewell made history in 2022 when she became the first female police commissioner in NYPD history. Adams, a former police captain himself, announced the appointment of the former Nassau County Police Department commissioner to the post days before he took office as the city’s new chief executive.
Within days of taking office, Sewell was confronted with a rash of shootings involving NYPD officers, the worst of which occurred on Jan. 21, when two members of the 32nd Precinct were fatally shot while responding to a domestic violence call in Harlem.
Over the following six months, Sewell would lead an effort to combat the surge in gun violence that plagued the city post-pandemic. She helped launch controversial Neighborhood Safety Teams, reminiscent of the defunct Anti-Crime Teams, which aimed to combat gun crime in areas of the city hardest hit by the violence, but were disbanded by former Mayor Bill de Blasio due to unsavory police tactics they employed.
Murders and shootings across the city have been on the down-swing for more than a year, but the Neighborhood Safety Teams have fallen under scrutiny. Last week, a federal monitor reported that the teams had been engaging in illegal, discriminatory stop-and-frisk tactics — something which Mayor Adams and the NYPD had vehemently disputed.
Even so, the NYPD’s overall efforts to tackle gun violence bore fruit in the latter half of 2022, with gun crimes spiraling downward — a trend that has continued through this year.
“Our shootings are down, our homicides are down, our number of victims are down. Our gun arrests are at a 27 year high,” Sewell recalled in an exclusive interview with amNewYork Metro earlier this year. “And we are actually down in major crime for the month of December in the fourth quarter. We’re going to be down in crime as well.”
During her tenure, she also visited communities across the city hit hardest by crime, from Brooklyn to Staten Island — forging stronger ties between the NYPD and the areas they serve.
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