New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban resigned a week after it came to light that federal authorities had raided his home and seized his phone, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced.
The federal government has launched multiple criminal probes into the city government that have involved officials including Mr Caban, the city’s first Latino police commissioner.
Mr Caban’s resignation left Adams to appoint a new leader of the world’s largest police force for a third time in three years.
He picked Tom Donlon, who ran the FBI’s National Threat Center and helped lead the agency’s investigation into the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City.
During a brief news conference on Thursday afternoon, Adams praised Mr Caban’s tenure as head of the NYPD, saying that there was “a drop in crime for 13 of the 14 months he served as commissioner”.
He then thanked Mr Donlon, a native of the Bronx, “for stepping in during this critical moment”.
He noted that Mr Donlon also helped probe the attacks on US embassies in Africa and the USS Cole in Yemen by al-Qaeda.
In a statement, Mr Donlon said he was honoured and humbled to become the interim commissioner.
He said he would seek to “uphold the highest standards of integrity and transparency”.
Mr Caban first announced his intention to resign in a letter – obtained by BBC’s US partner CBS News – that was sent to members of the NYPD on Thursday morning.
“The NYPD deserves someone who can solely focus on protecting and serving New York City, which is why – for the good of this city and this department – I have made the difficult decision to resign as Police Commissioner,” he wrote.
Mr Caban had led the NYPD since 2023. He was considered a close ally of Mayor Adams.
He wrote in his letter that the raid on his home and the accompanying investigation had “created a distraction for our department”.
Other top New York officials appointed by the mayor – who has faced a corruption probe that appears to be unrelated to this case – also saw their homes raided last week.
They included First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III and Chancellor of New York City Public Schools David C Banks.
US attorneys seized their phones, along with the phone of Mr Caban’s twin brother, as part of their investigations.
There is no indication whether Mr Caban or other city officials have been involved in wrongdoing, or are the subjects of the investigations.
Since being sworn in on the first day of 2022, Adams and his colleagues have been put under increasing federal scrutiny.
The FBI raided the home of his chief fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, and other members of his campaign last year as part of a probe believed to be focused on whether he received illegal campaign contributions from the Turkish government and other foreign sources.
A source familiar with the matter said last week’s searches did not seem to be related to the Turkey investigation
By BBC News
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
