NYC is set to get its first female police commissioner to lead the country's largest police department. Mayor-elect Eric Adams appointed Nassau County Chief of Detectives Keechant Sewell.
"Keechant Sewell is a proven crime fighter with the experience and emotional intelligence to deliver both the safety New Yorkers need and the justice they deserve," Adams said in a statement to CNN. "Chief Sewell will wake up every day laser-focused on keeping New Yorkers safe and improving our city, and I am thrilled to have her at the helm of the NYPD."
The formal announcement of Sewell's appointment to commissioner is set to come Wednesday morning (December 15) at a public development in Queens, Adams' Office confirmed.
The Police Benevolent Association of NYC, the union representing NYPD officers, released a statement, welcoming Sewell as the new commissioner.
"We welcome Chief Sewell to the second-toughest policing job in America," PBA President Patrick Lynch said. "The toughest, of course, is being an NYPD cop on the street."
Lynch called for change in the department, noting that officers "have passed their breaking point," and "we need to fix that break in order to get our police department and our city back on course."
Sewell will take over for outgoing Commissioner Dermot Shea who is set to retire at the end of the year.
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