New York City’s first female police commissioner, Keechant Sewell, announced on Monday that she would step down — and sources say that City Hall was both blind-sided by the move and responsible for it.
Sewell, 51, was appointed by Mayor Eric Adams and sworn in on January 1, 2022 but has apparently tangled with the mayor’s office in recent weeks. And according to a report from The New York Post, she may have felt as though City Hall was making it more and more difficult for her to do her job effectively.
In a memo to some 55,000 NYPD officers and staff, Sewell shared some of her thoughts but did not give an official reason why she was leaving the position.
“I have made the decision to step down from my position. 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, adding, “Since I joined you almost a year and a half ago we have faced tremendous tragedy, challenges and triumphs together.”
“I have witnessed your compassion, heroics and selflessness on a daily basis. They have reaffirmed to me what people around the globe have always known: you are an extraordinary collective of hard-working public servants dedicated to the safety of this city, engaging our communities and sharing what we know with our partners for the benefit of the world,” she continued.
According to several of The Post’s sources, Sewell had to receive approval from City Hall before promoting police officers — something police commissioners are typically authorized to do on their own.
“She was fed up. She was tired of being their puppet,” one source told the Post, while another added, “They tied her up. There’s no executive choices on her behalf. If a cop distinguishes himself and she wants to promote him, she can’t do it.”
Sewell also reportedly angered City Hall when she backed the Civilian Complaint Review Board’s decision to discipline the city’s highest-ranking uniformed officer — Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey — for abuse of power in a 2021 case. Sources told The Post that City Hall had wanted Maddrey to “get a pass.”
Sewell’s resignation was still reportedly a shock to the mayor, one source said: “The mayor was caught short. They did not think she would be leaving today. The earliest they thought it was later in the summer.”
“She was great, someone who genuinely cared about cops, the public and the rule of law. If she was given more authority she would have done great things for this job,” another source said of her departure.