Mayor Adams says NYPD training chief’s ouster came after ‘difference of thoughts’ with Commissioner Sewell

Mayor Adams acknowledged Monday that former NYPD Chief of Training Juanita Holmes’ abrupt exit from the department came amid a “difference of thoughts” on policy between her and Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell.

Holmes, a 36-year NYPD veteran, stepped down from her high-ranking police post Thursday to become Adams’ Department of Probation commissioner.

As first reported by the Daily News, the job shuffle came after Holmes infuriated Sewell by going behind her back to secure support from Adams for a Police Academy training policy overhaul. Sewell was also irked by Holmes’ decision to invite rapper Cardi B to an NYPD event last month without consulting her, according to police sources.

In a Monday morning appearance on WABC radio, Adams confirmed that, ahead of Holmes’ ouster, Sewell told him there were internal disagreements about the training chief’s push for scrapping a Police Academy policy that requires NYPD recruits to complete a 1½-mile run in 14 minutes and 21 seconds.

“In our normal briefing, the commissioner and I, we sit down, have a briefing. In our briefing, she brought up the conversation about the run, and I simply asked her, you know, ‘What are the thoughts of those who are in training, what are their thoughts on it?’” Adams said. “She said, ‘There appears to be a difference of thoughts on how to deal with this.’ I said, ‘Bring everyone in, and let me hear the different points.’”

In the next breath, the mayor appeared to confirm Holmes then pitched him directly about rolling back the running requirement — but dismissed the notion that there would’ve be anything problematic about that from a chain-of-command perspective.

“If people are saying that underlings or those who you supervise can’t come and bring good ideas — that is not how I run my administration,” he said. “If a teacher has a good idea that’s in contrast to what a principal believes, I want to hear both sides.”

Last week, Adams and Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Phil Banks were less forthcoming about the Holmes dilemma, refusing to answer questions about it at two separate briefings Friday.

The Police Academy fitness requirement ended up being rescinded, a shift that angered Sewell, who viewed it as lowering the standards for becoming an NYPD officer, sources said. Holmes — who was at one point under consideration to become Adams’ NYPD commissioner before he picked Sewell — lobbied for doing away with the policy because she reasoned it would allow more female recruits to make it through the academy, according to the sources.

On the Cardi B front, Sewell grew irritated with Holmes for not looping her in on a decision to have the “Bodak Yellow” rapper appear at a Feb. 24 “Girl’s Talk” session at the Police Academy. According to sources close to Sewell, the commissioner viewed it as problematic to have Cardi B appear at the academy, given the rapper’s run-ins with the law and loose affiliation with gangs.

Cardi B told GQ in 2018 that when she used to hang out with members of the Bloods. In the same interview, she said she left the gang life behind once she was out of high school, but that she still reps it, “because I been repping it for such a long time.”

In Monday’s radio appearance, Adams did not address Sewell’s distaste for Cardi B — but reiterated that he believes it was appropriate for Holmes to invite the rapper.

“If one were to say that Cardi B should not talk to young girls on how they should improve their lives because she was arrested, then what does that say about me? You know, I was arrested as a child, and that was a learning experience,” Adams said, referring to his burglary arrest as a teen. “And so hats off to Commissioner Holmes for understanding that and doing the right thing.”

Adams also pointed fingers at the press for creating “palace intrigue” over the NYPD shakeup.

“You know this business, you know if it bleeds it leads. You can create a controversy without any,” the mayor said. “Basically, that’s the job of the media.”

With Rocco Parascandola