The administration of Mayor Eric Adams, New York Police Commissioner Edward A. Calling for Caban’s resignation. Less than a week after the agents were seized The commissioner’s calls are among several federal investigations that have engulfed City Hall, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
Commissioner Caban has been under increasing pressure to step down since last Thursday, when news broke that federal agents had taken his cellphone as well as the phones of several high-ranking Adams administration officials.
The mayor, a retired police captain who served on the force with and was close to the commissioner’s father, appointed Mr Caban in July 2023, appointing him The department’s first Latino commissioner.
But the seizure of the phone of the man in charge of the nation’s largest police force sent shock waves through the agency’s headquarters and City Hall. Agents last week also seized the phones of the first deputy mayor, Sheena Wright; Her partner, school chancellor David C. banks; Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, Philip Banks III; and the mayor’s senior adviser, Timothy Pearson, a retired police inspector who is one of the mayor’s closest confidantes.
The mayor’s own phones were seized in a separate earlier investigation.
No one has been charged with a crime, but the raids rattled Mr. Adams’ administration, which was already grappling with other legal problems. That includes a federal investigation into whether Mr. Adams and his campaign conspired with the Turkish government to collect illegal foreign donations in exchange for forcing the Fire Department to sign a new Turkish consulate in Manhattan, despite safety concerns.
It is unclear whether Commissioner Caban will actually resign. The police department had no immediate comment.
On Monday, when the mayor was asked during a briefing with reporters if he could guarantee that Commissioner Caban would still be running the department after two months, he gave a vague answer.
“I don’t think anything in life is guaranteed,” he said. “I will say this, when I chose Eddie, I chose him for his experience and what he brings after 30 years of service.”
The mayor said he did nothing to feed “rumors” that the commissioner would be asked to step down.
Fabian Levy, the mayor’s spokesman, declined to comment Monday and said, “If we have an announcement to make, we will.”
Councilmember Robert Holden, a Democrat from Queens and a vocal supporter of law enforcement, said “for the good of both the department and the city, the police commissioner should resign.”
“Even the appearance of incompetence casts a dark shadow over the integrity of our police department,” Mr. Holden said in a statement. “The magnitude of this issue is very significant, causing many disruptions.”
On Thursday night, The New York Post, a pro-police voice, said Mr. Adams should ask Commissioner Caban to resign. “And boldly take the right step to get out of this waste.”
Left-leaning council member Lincoln Restler said he agreed with the editorial.
Commissioner Caban leads an agency of about 36,000 officers and 19,000 civilian employees.
The investigation involving the commissioner is one of several focusing on the mayor, his campaign and some of his most senior aides. In all, at least four inquiries appear to have been conducted by federal prosecutors in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Manhattan federal prosecutors are leading the three. One is investigating whether Mr. Adams and his campaign conspired with the Turkish government. Another focuses on senior city hall officials, and a third includes Commissioner Caban, his brother, and other police officers.
The Internal Revenue Service is also involved in that investigation, according to two people familiar with the matter. The investigation centers at least in part on a nightclub security business owned by James Caban, the commissioner’s twin brother, a former police officer who was fired from the department in 2001. James Caban’s phone was also seized last week. people
John Chell, chief of patrol, said on Newsmax on Sept. 6 that federal agents “requested cellphones” from department members and “they were given them.”
“We are going to fully cooperate and let the process play out,” he said.
The mayor and Edward Caban have been close since Mr. Adams was Brooklyn borough president. Mr Adams pushed Mr Caban, then just a police inspector, to become deputy commissioner in 2022 under then-Commissioner Keechant Sewell, the first woman to hold the top police job. Mr. Adams ignored the deeper ranks of more qualified heads of department to make the promotion.
Mr Caban was appointed Commissioner in July 2023 to replace Ms Sewell. She resigned after just 18 months, repeatedly ignored by the mayor and some of her senior aides, including Philip Banks and Mr. Pearson, according to those close to her.
At a news conference announcing the promotion last year, Mr. Adams called Commissioner Caban’s appointment “historic.” He praised him for his “discipline, his attitude” and “reputation in a diversity of people”, who constantly told me what they meant to him.
During Commissioner Caban’s tenure, he and Mr. Adams repeatedly noted a drop in crime rates from epidemic heights as enforcement increased. The 15 murders in August were the lowest in more than three decades, according to police figures.
But Commissioner Caban has also been criticized for contributing to a culture of discipline. Last month, he dismissed disciplinary charges against Jeffrey Madre, a top chief who intervened in the arrest of a retired officer who chased three boys while armed. Commissioner Caban also stopped short of criticizing top police officers who attacked journalists and some city politicians on social media.
From Mr. Adams Appointed himCommissioner Caban has prevented 54 officer disciplinary cases from going to trial, more than any other commissioner. According to an analysis of oversight board data by ProPublica that was published by The New York Times in June. In response, the commissioner said that he has handled many more cases than past department heads.
Commissioner Caban is known as an affable leader who emphasizes his Puerto Rican heritage and often defers to more junior officials, such as Chief Chell and Deputy Commissioner of Works Kaz Daughtry, letting them lead news conferences.
On many nights, Commissioner Caban is photographed at police and community galas, and he stays close with the police’s fraternal organizations. On Monday, a spokesperson for the Police Benevolent Association declined to comment on whether the commissioner should resign.
It is not clear who will replace Commissioner Caban if he resigns. Since last week, when the News broke that his phone had been confiscatedMany within the police department floated Mr. Putri’s name. Other possible successors include Tania Kinsella, the department’s first deputy commissioner, and Tariq Shepard, the department’s deputy commissioner of public information.
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