Dominating headlines in New York City last week was the resignation of NYPD commissioner Edward A. Caban amid a federal influence-peddling investigation into his twin brother, a former member of the city police force, per Politico. While no charges have been filed yet, Caban’s resignation and the interim appointment of Tom Donlon, the department’s third commissioner in less than three years, contributes to the perception that the NYPD’s executive ranks have lacked stability under Mayor Eric Adams, whose own inner circle is being investigated.
New Yorkers should be concerned, not only because of what the episode might say about the integrity of those in power but also because it will give ammunition to the department’s political adversaries, some of whom intend to challenge Adams in the next mayoral primary. Many have already seized on the investigation to bolster their efforts to overhaul how the city is policed.
Zellnor Myrie, the state senator from Brooklyn who has announced plans to enter the mayoral primary, said that Caban’s resignation was part of a “concerning pattern of instability within the Adams administration” characterized by “constant turnover and distractions.” Other progressive leaders and potential Adams challengers, including New York City public advocate Jumaane Williams, former city comptroller and Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer, state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, and City Council speaker Adrienne Adams, piled on as well.
None of these powerful figures is particularly fond of law enforcement. In the last mayoral primary, Stringer supported defunding the NYPD. Williams was among the loudest voices calling for the same, and cosponsored the recently enacted How Many Stops Act, expanding officers’ reporting requirements and further burdening a department already facing staff shortages and increases in calls for service. Adrienne Adams orchestrated the successful passage of that act, which required overriding Mayor Adams’s veto. Mamdani supported a reform proposal entitled the “Agenda For Decarceration,” back in 2020, which, among other things, would have fully eliminated cash bail and re-enfranchised felons. And Myrie has focused much of his time in Albany pushing various criminal-justice-reform measures, including the recently enacted Clean Slate Act, which seals certain former prisoners’ previous convictions.
Their radicalism underscores the stakes of this controversy. The department needs not only capable and stable leadership but also a legal and political environment that enables it to execute its crime-fighting mission. If the corruption investigation that led to Commissioner Caban’s resignation finds evidence implicating the NYPD, police critics throughout the state will use it to bolster their anti-police agendas. This would jeopardize the modest but crucial public-safety gains made in the city over the last two years, which are due, at least in part, to the NYPD’s increased enforcement efforts.
The men and women of the NYPD consistently subordinate their safety to that of the communities they serve. They deserve better than a leadership using power to pursue personal gain and politicians exploiting scandals for political advantage.
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