Edward Caban to become first Latino NYPD commissioner

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) announced Monday that Edward Caban will be the next head of the city’s police department, making him the first Latino officer to lead the branch since its establishment.

“We knew we had to get it right. We knew we had to appoint the right person. And I saw in Eddie long ago, the possibility. I knew that there was something special about Edward Caban,” Adams said. “I’ve watched him, his discipline, his attitude, the diversity of the people who constantly told me what he meant to them.”

Caban was serving as the acting commissioner since former New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Keechant Sewell resigned from the post last month after 18 months. Caban, a son of a Puerto Rican transit detective, grew up in the Bronx, where Adams announced his appointment Monday.

Caban was met with chants and cheers from the crowd as Adams announced his pick to lead the nation’s largest police department. Adams said Caban was “instrumental” in decreasing crime around the city over the past 18 months.

Caban began his career in a precinct in the Bronx in 1991 and was promoted to deputy inspector in 2008, Adams said. He was then promoted to be the first deputy commissioner in the NYPD last year and has been serving as the acting police commissioner since a few weeks ago, the mayor added.

Caban said that when he started, the top police officers in the department “didn’t really look like” him. He added that his parents were mentors to him, noting that his father pushed him to join the department.

“My journey with NYPD began over 32 years ago, a young Puerto Rican kid from Parkchester standing on a foot post in the South Bronx, just like thousands who came before me and thousands who have come after me,” Caban said. “In those days, the top officers of the police department didn’t really look like me. Police Officer Eddie Caban could not walk into the full precinct, look at the leadership photos hanging on the wall and envision his future.”

“Now it’s not lost on me that today’s announcement is also a first,” he said. “Given how many great leaders of Hispanic descent have come before me in the NYPD, to be the first Hispanic police commissioner is an honor of the highest measure.”

Adams also announced Monday that Tania Kinsella will be the first woman of color to serve as the first deputy commissioner of New York City.

“As a mother, I’m always thinking of my own children’s safety and well being,” Kinsella said. “And as the commanding officer of the 120th precinct in my home borough of Staten Island, I have been determined to protect all of our children and families and make a difference in the place I love to call home.”

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