New York City Mayor Eric Adams formally named a new NYPD commissioner Monday nearly a month after Keechant Sewell’s departure as department head.
At a press conference at the NYPD’s 40th precinct, Adams named First Deputy Commissioner Edward A. Caban as his new NYPD Commissioner.
Caban, now the city’s first Latino commissioner, had been serving as interim commissioner since Sewell’s resignation went into effect on June 30.
The 40th precinct is where Caban first began his career at the NYPD as a police officer more than three decades ago in 1991, patrolling the streets of the south Bronx.
First Deputy Commissioner Edward A. Caban waves as he arrives for a press conference at the NYPD 40th Precinct on July 17, 2023 in New York City.
In 2022, Caban became the NYPD’s First Deputy Commissioner, leading a broad range of agency functions according to the strategic vision of the Police Commissioner, including: policy development, personnel management, recruit and in-service training, and overall supervision of the department’s discipline system, according to his department bio.
He was designated the Acting Police Commissioner of the City of New York by Adams on July 1.
Caban’s father, Juan, was a New York City Transit Police Detective, who also served as the President of the Transit Police Hispanic Society.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and then-NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell attend a New York City Police Academy Graduation Ceremony at Madison Square Garden on April 24, 2023 in New York. (YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images)
Sewell, the first female and third African American NYPD commissioner, penned a resignation letter to colleagues in mid-June.
“I have made the decision to step down from my position,” she wrote, without offering an explanation. “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.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a press conference on gun violence at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner on June 26, 2023 in New York City. Adams was joined by First Deputy Commissioner Edward A. Caban. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“I was acutely aware of the challenges you faced both before I arrived and what you experience daily,” Sewell said. “That is why I made your wellness one of my priorities. We cannot be expected to deliver the type and quality of police services that New Yorkers deserve unless we care for and protect the guardians of this city.
Her departure came just 18 months after Adams first appointed Sewell to the position in December 2021. Most recently before then, Sewell was chief of detectives in Nassau County.
