Edward Caban steps down as head of the New York City Police Department

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The nation’s largest police department has a new commissioner after federal authorities launched an investigation into its top cop. Edward Caban stepped down as head of the New York City Police Department earlier today. WNYC’s Bahar Ostadan joins us from Manhattan. Hi, there.

BAHAR OSTADAN, BYLINE: Hi.

SHAPIRO: What happened today?

OSTADAN: Like you said, our police commissioner, Edward Caban, resigned just a week after federal authorities seized his cellphone in an ongoing investigation. Caban was the first Latino head of the NYPD, which has 36,000 officers. He said in an email today that news of the investigation became distracting and, quote, “for the good of the city and the police department, he’d made the difficult decision to resign.” An hour after that, New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, took the stage and appointed an interim police commissioner. Here’s what he had to say at a news conference.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ERIC ADAMS: I was as surprised as you to learn of these inquiries, and I take them extremely seriously. I spent more than 20 years in law enforcement, and so every member of the administration knows my expectations that we must follow the law.

SHAPIRO: And this is just the latest after a lot of bad news. What is going on? – bad news for Adams and his inner circle, anyway. Tell us what’s happening.

OSTADAN: That’s right, Ari. We’re talking about four federal investigations here. The IRS is looking into the police commissioner’s twin brother’s business as a nightlife consultant. The Feds took phones from him, his twin brother, his chief of staff and three other police officials last week. Also last week, the FBI raided the homes of several people inside Adams’ inner circle. That was the city’s deputy mayor for public safety, his brother, who’s also the city’s school chancellor, and that man’s partner, who’s the city’s first deputy mayor.

SHAPIRO: What did policing in New York City look like under Caban?

OSTADAN: You know, it’s really been about cracking down on low-level crimes, like people sneaking onto the subway without paying for their ticket, drinking in public and also stop-and-frisk. The NYPD has stopped tens of thousands of New Yorkers in the last couple years. Just 5% of those pedestrians stopped were white. Caban also was tasked with one of Adams’ main campaign promises to the city, and that was, make the subway safer following the pandemic. Now, on the accountability front, he’s been lighter on discipline against officers than his predecessors and, frankly, not so great with the press.

SHAPIRO: Well, who’s the new guy?

OSTADAN: His name is Thomas Donlon – came as a surprise to a lot of people I talked to today but really is a smart political move for Adams. He appointed a former FBI official as the FBI investigates his own inner circle. It’s rare to appoint a non-cop as the city’s top cop, so to speak. Donlon worked as chief of the FBI’s National Threat Center. He was also New York’s director for the office of homeland security, and he also ran the FBI NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force.

SHAPIRO: What’s the reaction been in New York?

OSTADAN: All eyes are really on Adams, who’s been having a rough go in recent months. He’s also looking ahead to the mayoral election next year. You know, I spoke to a couple rank-and-file police officers who said it’s been a blow to morale for them to have an external figure sort of come in and take charge of the department. Only a couple times has that happened in history – having a non-cop be appointed to the role. Also, three New York City council members have been calling for Caban’s resignation leading up to today, so we’ll sort of have to wait and see how the remainder of these investigations pan out.

SHAPIRO: It’s WNYC’s Bahar Ostadan. Thank you.

OSTADAN: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.