NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell, the first woman to lead the nation’s largest police force, resigned Monday.
“I have made the decision to stop down from my position,” Sewell said in an email blasted out to every cop’s smartphone. “While my time here will come to a close I will never step away from my advocacy and support for the NYPD and I will always be a champion for the people of New York City.”
Sewell maintained a relatively low profile in her 1 1/2 years as commissioner, giving few sitdown interviews and often holding press conferences in which she would only take questions about the topic at hand.
She battled the persistent belief at Police Headquarters and City Hall that Mayor Adams and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks were calling most of the shots, particularly regarding high-level personnel decisions.
Still, she and the mayor were in virtual lockstep on some of the key issues in the city — from their support of the new gun unit, formed last year, to their constant criticism of the bail reform and discovery laws.
But Sewell raised eyebrows last month when she agreed with the Civilian Complaint Review Board, which substantiated a complaint that Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey abused his authority by voiding the arrest of a retired cop who had been accused of threatening a group of teens with a gun.
Adams has consistently backed Maddrey, saying he believes the chief “handled it appropriately.”
The mayor thanked Sewell in a Monday statement.
“The commissioner worked nearly 24 hours a day, seven days a week for a year and a half, and we are all grateful for her service. New Yorkers owe her a debt of gratitude,” Adams said.
Sewell, who has final say in all disciplinary matters, has been accused of declining to prosecute more than 300 cops in 2022 after CCRB substantiated complaints against them.
She had the same option with Maddrey, but chose instead to go forward with the case, though Maddrey, who could lose up to 10 vacation days, has vowed to fight it.