Sewell shakes up NYPD’s top cop ranks; Maddrey named chief of department

Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell reshuffled the NYPD’s higher ranks Friday as she filled vacancies left behind by the departure of Chief of Department Kenneth Corey and the heads of three other key bureaus.

The moves included promoting Chief Jeffrey Maddrey to the NYPD’s Chief of Department, making the 31-year NYPD veteran and one-time chief of patrol and Patrol Borough Brooklyn North leader the highest raking uniformed police officer in the city.

All told, Sewell moved 19 chiefs and inspectors into new spots across the city.

Key reassignments included tapping Assistant Chief Michael Kemper, the former head of Brooklyn South, to run the Transit Bureau and pulling Assistant Chief Martine Materasso from her high-profile spot as chief of counterterrorism to lead the Housing Bureau.

Chief Thomas Galati, the former head of the NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau, will move into a newly created spot as chief of intelligence and counterterrorism, which combines both units, the NYPD noted.

Chief John Chell was named chief of patrol to replace Maddrey.

In addition, Assistant Chief Wilson Aramboles was made the acting chief of special operations, replacing retiring Chief Harry Wedin. Assistant Chief Miguel Iglesias will serve as the new head of Internal Affairs.

Aramboles previously served as head of the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit. Iglasias had a high-ranking position in the Detective Bureau.

“This strong team of law enforcement leaders will propel us forward in our everlasting work to keep our communities safe and never waver in our fight against crime,” Sewell said Friday.

The reshuffling comes three days after retiring Chief Kenneth Corey served his last day as the NYPD’s chief of department. On Thursday, Wedin, chief of housing Kathleen O’Reilly and chief of transit Jason Wilcox all announced they will be leaving the department at the end of the month.

Chiefs with two or more stars, like Wedin, O’Reilly and Wilcox, serve at the discretion of the police commissioner.

A high-ranking police source has said none of the three departing chiefs were dismissed from their jobs, and that none of them did anything that prompted Sewell to seek their departures.

The moves are meant to “consolidate and streamline the organizational structure of bureaus within the department to achieve maximum efficiency and an effective use of resources,” the NYPD said in a statement.

As of last Sunday, the NYPD had seen an 11% decrease in murders and a 16% decrease in shootings in 2022.

But overall crime this year is still up by 27% over the same period of 2021, the NYPD’s data show.

The increase includes a 34% rise in grand larcenies and a 30% increase in robberies.