Table of Contents

New York City police commissioner has resigned following the seizure his cellphone. taken in a federal probe

New York City Police Commissioner Edward Caban has resigned from his position. The announcement was made on Thursday. It’s less than a week since his phone was seized during an investigation conducted by the federal government.

NEW New York (AP) — New York City Police Commissioner Edward Caban quit on Thursday the week following it was discovered that his cell phone was taken in the course of an investigation by the federal government which involved several members of the Mayor Eric Adams’ inner circle.

Caban was the head of the country’s biggest police department for more than 15 months. He writing in the form of an email sent to team that he made the decision to leave when it became apparent his “news around recent developments” have “created an unnecessary distraction for our police department. “

“I am unwilling to let my attention be on anything other than our important work, or the safety of the men and women of the NYPD,” the officer wrote in an email received by The Associated Press.

In a press conference on the previous day, Adams praised Caban for “making our city safer” and announced that he has chosen Tom Donlon, a retired FBI official, as the interim police chief.

Donlon was the director of the FBI’s National Threat Center and once directed the company’s private Office of Homeland Security in New York, before starting his own security firm in 2020. He was the main investigator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and was part of the investigation into in the U.S. Embassy bombings and USS Cole bombing.

Donlon declared in in a statement declared that the he is “honored and humbled” to be the head of “the greatest law enforcement agency in the world,” and that his primary duties include the removal of firearms used for illegal purposes from the local communities.

Caban’s resignation marks the first significant departure in Adams the administration. Adams administration was in turmoil since federal investigators took phones on September. 4. from a number of people in Adams the inner circle, which comprised two deputy mayors as well as the chancellor for schools as and one of Adams the most senior advisers.

The subject of the investigation conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan isn’t clear, and also is the issue of how federal agencies were investigating information connected to one investigation or even more.

Caban’s lawyers, Russell Capone and Rebekah Donaleski, said in a statement issued on Thursday that they were informed by officials of the government to “he is not the target of any investigation initiated through authorities in the Southern District of New York and that he is expected to cooperate completely with the authorities. “

It is the way that the Justice Department defines a target of an investigation as someone against whom a grand jury or prosecutors have uncovered evidence linking the person to the commit of a criminal act. This differs from the concept of “subject,” which refers to a person whose actions do not fit within the context that of an probe. However, the definitions of “subject” are wildly varying and anyone who’s not technically targetted at the time may end up being a target when new evidence is discovered.

The US authorities are also investigating the Caban’s younger brother, James Caban James Caban who was an exformer NYPD sergeant who is responsible for an operation to ensure the safety of clubs, according to a source with access to the matter. The source did not want to divulge specifics of the investigation, but he spoke to AP under the condition they remain secret.

James Caban “unequivocally denies any wrongdoing,” his lawyer, Sean Hecker, said in the statement. “His work – as a consultant and acting as a liaison between the Department and a private company – is perfectly legal, especially given his previous career as a NYPD officer,” Hecker continued.

James Caban was dismissed in 2001 by NYPD in 2001, following an incident during which the NYPD recorded the recording of him illegally detaining a taxi driver that claimed he was receiving $100, and threatened to seize his vehicle.

According to people familiar with the situation, other people who’s devices were confiscated recently included those of the First deputy Mayor Sheena Wright. Philip Banks, the deputy mayor in charge of public security, as well as his Brother David Banks, the schools chancellor, as well as Timothy Pearson, a mayoral advisor who was previously an extremely high-ranking NYPD officials. The people spoke under the basis of anonymity since they were not legally authorized to discuss the investigation.

Adams was a reelection Democrat, was subpoenaed in July, just eight months after the time federal agents confiscated his cellphones as well as an iPad after he left the venue at Manhattan. Federal authorities have not officially declared that Adams or any other official is guilty of any kind was guilty of any crime and Adams denies any wrongdoing.

The investigation that resulted in Edward Caban’s gadgets being taken away isn’t believed connected to the investigation that prompted federal authorities to seize Adams equipment in November, according to two sources knowledgeable about the matter. They spoke with the understanding that they keep their identities private because they weren’t allowed to make public appearances.

Caban of 57 was the first Latino to lead the 179 years old NYPD. He started his career as a police officer in 1991, in Bronx located in the Bronx which is where he brought up. He worked in various precincts in the city before being elevated to the rank of captain. His father detective Juan Caban, had served alongside Adams who was a former police captain when they were both in an Urban Transit Police unit. 3 of his brothers were police officers.

The department’s second-incommand prior to his appointment as the department’s commissioner in December last year.

Caban was succeeded by Keechant Sewell in the role of one the first woman to head the NYPD. She was fired after 18 months after the time and was later smacked of the notion that she was not in charge.

As Commissioner, Caban presided over continuing reductions in important crime categories, such as shootings and murders. Caban was also criticized for his handling of police discipline, including two officers who were not subject to any internal discipline in the shooting that killed a Black man, Kawaski Trawick at the Bronx apartment in 2019.

The selection of Donlon will be only the second time in nearly two decades that an individual without any previous experience with any local force takes command of NYPD. The NYPD’s close-knit members have described the choice as strategically smart and risky.

“It gives the mayor some credibility at a time when his police department and administration are facing federal investigations,” said Jeffrey Fagan, a Columbia Law School professor who studies working with police. “At simultaneously, how will an individual with no experience of the complex municipal police department and with no authority base be able to get this mess cleaned up? “