Mayor Eric Adams has chosen Edward Caban, a longtime New York Police Department insider, as the first Latino officer to lead the NYPD, the New York Times reports. The move comes just over a month after Commissioner Keechant Sewell, the first woman to serve in the role, resigned after only 18 months, frustrated in her attempts to act with autonomy. Caban, who previously served as first deputy commissioner, had remained close to the mayor through Sewell’s tenure. He will oversee roughly 36,000 officers and 19,000 civilian employees.
When Adams pushed for Caban to become deputy commissioner, he bypassed the department’s ranks of chiefs to make the promotion. Caban, along with Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, another close associate of the mayor's, frequently called him directly about department business, circumventing Sewell, according to several officials with knowledge of the relationships. Caban, who joined the department in 1991, grew up in the Bronx as the son of a Puerto Rican transit police detective. Former NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce told WABC he is happy with the decision. "City Hall is comfortable with him. He breaks continuity, and they trust him that's important with any with any job, you grow into it, and he's already has one leg up to be the first deputy. So I'm really happy with this. And I think the whole job is better off for it and the city as well," Boyce said. At a press conference announcing his choice on Monday, Adams credited Caban with helping Sewell preside over the department as shootings and homicides dropped, a decrease that reflected a national trend. Adams praised Sewell as he announced the ascension of Caban, saying he had “a tough act to follow.”