NYPD Commissioner Sewell Resigns

By Reuvain Borchardt

NEW YORK — NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell resigned suddenly Monday after less than 18 months on the job.

In an NYPD-wide email announcing the resignation, Sewell wrote, “I have made the decision to step down from my position,” without detailing a reason.

“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,” she wrote. Her letter focused heavily on officers’ wellness, and said, “There are people all over this city who want and appreciate you. They want safe streets, transit and housing. They are families, workers, tourists, business owners and students, and they depend on the NYPD. Please continue to do what you do well to secure this city.”

A spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams told Hamodia that Sewell’s resignation would be effective at the end of the month.

Sewell, now 51, became NYPD Commissioner at the start of Adams’ administration in January 2022. Adams had promised that his initial hire for the position would be its first woman.

Sewell’s job status had been whispered about in police circles for months.

On Sunday the New York Post reported, citing unnamed police sources, that Adams had taken away Sewell’s power to make promotions. While Sewell did not have much power anyway, she lost more ground last month after proposing discipline for Chief of Department Jefferey Maddrey, who is close with Adams. The discipline was for a 2021 incident in which Maddrey allegedly intervened to get charges dropped against a former NYPD officer accused of pulling a gun on children who busted a security camera outside his place of business. Maddrey previously served as chief of Community Affairs, chief of Housing and chief of Patrol, before being named Chief of Department, the highest-ranking unformed officer, last December.

A mayoral spokesman on Sunday, responding to the Post’s story, said Sewell “has Mayor Adams’ full support and she . . . is trusted to lead her agency. . .   Mayor Adams asks every commissioner to provide justification for promotions for senior level positions at each agency. There is no different protocol for the NYPD.”

Upon taking office, Sewell was tasked with lowering crime — the predominant plank of Adams’ victorious campaign — in a city that had suffered from rising crime since the summer of 2020. However, her first full year on the job saw a 22% increase in the major index crimes, with only murder seeing a decrease (by 11%). In 2023 through June 11, index crimes rose just under 1% overall, though murder decreased by 13%.

Adams has blamed crime increases on factors and actors beyond the control of city government, including bail reform passed by the state Legislature in 2019.

“We’re doing our job — NYPD’s taking thousands of guns off the streets,” Adams told a Hamodia reporter last summer. “We are making … a high level of arrests for violent crimes. You’re seeing that that which is within our span of control we’re doing it to the maximum … the criminal justice system has several pieces to it — every piece must work,” including “judges, lawmakers, prosecutors.”

In a statement issued after Sewell’s announcement Monday, Adams thanked her “for her devotion over the last 18 months and her steadfast leadership.”

“Her efforts played a leading role in this administration’s tireless work to make New York City safer,” the mayor said. “When we came into office, crime was trending upwards, and thanks to the brave men and women of the NYPD, most of the major crime categories are now down. The commissioner worked nearly 24 hours a day, seven days a week for a year and a half, and we are all grateful for her service. New Yorkers owe her a debt of gratitude.”

Sewell’s email Monday did not mention the mayor.

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rborchardt@hamodia.com