Federal authorities have raided the home of New York Police Department Commissioner Edward Caban.
“The Department is aware of an investigation by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York involving members of service,” the NYPD said in a statement to BBC News.
Other top New York officials appointed by Mayor Eric Adams – who has faced a corruption probe – saw their homes raided on Thursday, including First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III.
According to a lawyer for New York City Hall, investigators have not indicated that anyone in the mayor’s office is a target of an investigation.
The US Attorney’s Office and the FBI, which reportedly participated in some of the raids, declined to comment.
As of Thursday evening, no official reason had been given for the raids.
Sources told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, that at least one of the raids involves an investigation regarding NYPD executives’ electronic devices.
Ms Wright and Mr Banks’ mobile phones were reportedly seized during the search of their homes on Thursday.
Mr Caban has led the NYPD since 2023. He is the city’s first Latino police commissioner and is considered a close ally of Mayor Adams.
Ms Wright shares her home with David Banks, the city’s school chancellor and the brother of Phil Banks, the other city official whose home was raided.
It is unclear if both Ms Wright and Phil Banks were targets of the raid, or if just one of them was the focus.
Investigators have not indicated to Mr Adams’s office that “the mayor or his staff are targets of any investigation”, City Hall chief legal counsel Lisa Zornberg said in a statement to the BBC.
“As a former member of law enforcement, the mayor has repeatedly made clear that all members of the team need to follow the law.”
Phil Banks, a former NYPD chief, has faced legal issues in the past. Federal prosecutors identified him as a unindicted co-conspirator in a police bribery scheme during the past mayoral administration.
Banks left the department in 2014 and was never charged with wrongdoing.
Mr Adams’s time as mayor has been beset by law enforcement investigations.
The FBI raided the home of Mr Adams’s chief fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, last year as part of an investigation believed to be focused on whether the Adams campaign received illegal campaign contributions from the Turkish government and other foreign sources.
Other city officials and advisers saw their homes searched as part of that probe and Mr Adams himself was subpoenaed.
The mayor has previously said that he is co-operating with all investigations and emphasised that he has not been accused of wrongdoing.
By BBC News
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