Keechant Sewell, currently the chief of detectives in Nassau County, will become the first female commissioner of the NYPD. Incoming mayor Eric Adams confirmed the forthcoming appointment on Tuesday night.
Adams, a former NYPD captain, called the 49-years-old “a proven crime fighter with the experience and emotional intelligence to deliver both the safety New Yorkers need and the justice they deserve.”
The New York Times reports on the selection process:
A person close to Mr. Adams said he had been impressed by Chief Sewell’s confidence and competence, and her experience working undercover. Her interview process was rigorous and included a mock news conference about the shooting of an unarmed Black man by a white police officer, the person said.
In 23 years with the Nassau Police Department, Chief Sewell, who grew up in Queens, worked in the narcotics and major cases units, and as a hostage negotiator. She was promoted to chief of detectives in September 2020.
“She didn’t sit behind a desk.” Adams explained. “She was out there learning the job and learning how to be better for the job.” He praised her “full breadth of experience,” and said her elevation sends “a powerful message to girls and young women across the city. There is no ceiling to your ambition.”
At a press event on Wednesday morning, Sewell said “I bring a different perspective to make sure the department looks like the city it serves.”
“We’ll arrest violent criminals, take them off the street, and help build the cases to keep them off the street,” she continued.
CNN provides additional context:
Sewell will take over a department struggling to tamp down a startling rise in gun violence in murders since spring 2020. NYC has had 443 murders so far this year, surpassing last year’s total and a 45% increase from just two years ago, according to NYPD data.
The Times reports:
Mr. Adams has promised major changes for the Police Department: bringing back plainclothes police units that were disbanded last year; diversifying a department where Black officers are underrepresented; and speeding up the disciplinary process for officers accused of wrongdoing.
“I will have the backs of my officers but they must have the backs of the public,” Sewell said Wednesday morning.
“To all the little girls within the sound of my voice there is nothing you can’t do and no one you can’t become,” Sewell added. “It is said the NYPD is the best of the best. We’re about to get even better.”